 Well, welcome to another episode of the non-profit show is Jarrett Ransom the non-profit nerd set Friday is our best day and we are here every Friday with our ask-and-answer segment which is really an interesting twist and thing that we've come up with but we're here because of our sponsors our sponsors Blumerang your part-time controller The American non-profit Academy the non-profit nerd herself Jarrett Ransom fundraising Academy staffing boutique non-profit thought leader and the non-profit Atlas so many great people behind us supporting us again If we haven't met I'm Julia Patrick. I've been joined today by Jarrett Ransom The non-profit nerd CEO of the Raven group. Hey Jarrett before we get going today I wanted to take a moment and honor the sad news that we received last night about one of my favorite guests It's passed away Jim Ogle Jim ran an amazing organization. He was on several times Died very young Of course, it seems young to me because he was my age of cancer and He ran a tourism like umbrella non-profit for if I think it was 57 members Wasn't that then that was like 57 Non-profits that that he that served up to his umbrella non-profit and they did historical like living museums and tourism in in the in middle America in Kansas Yeah, fascinating fascinating guy will be dearly missed I was so sad to see the news and happy to honor him And I really hope his legacy continues on I think so I think it well He I think he and I clicked because he had been In the media for for almost 30 years, but he was in sports media Which you know is like a totally different Wackadoo world and you have to manage a lot of personalities a lot of schedules a lot of things Ups and downs and ins and outs and drama and all this and so I could see how his profession Could move him into the non-profit sector and managing these things and so Wow, what a lovely man and you know He will be missed and I do think that this is a lesson for all of us to Learn about the people that were with and honor them, you know while we have this time So I just wanted to mention that and move forward But with that, are you ready sister to answer some questions? I'm ready. Absolutely Okay, you want to go I'll read it. This is Shelly from California and Shelly writes in and asks the question I've been using my own laptop during COVID and work from home I need to get a new laptop and I could use some advice on how to make my CEO Understand why this is important. Please help. Oh Shelly What do you know what we had a question similar to this where and this was like a long time ago I bet this was like a year and a half where a woman wrote in that her husband was torqued because He couldn't get on till it was like the family computer. Do you remember that? I vaguely remember and he was like look This computer is like our family computer and you're working on it And I want to get on and you know do whatever it was and yet she was using this computer because She had all of a sudden like all of us had to work from home and Hey, there's got to be a technology budget and you've got to my first thing that I was thinking about was Cybersecurity and you know all the things that might leave you vulnerable to Problems and if you're dealing with anything that's HIPAA related or working with minors or youth That's even like more important. So Yeah, plus, you know, plus the financials if you're involved in that There's so much that can happen Shelly And so I'm really not a big fan of bring your own device and bring could be anywhere, right at the comfort of your home Or wherever you might be I really do think there needs to be a technology budget Julia as you mentioned And then I also know that the Microsoft suite is changing and so we will all be forced to To get a brand new kind of like system. I don't know what exactly that means because I'm not a tech nerd I'm a nonprofit nerd But there's so many other ramifications when it comes to the data and the institutional knowledge Shelly I really want to see this on a company laptop and a company at set and that really needs to be Safeguarded through the company. I'm sure you mean no ill will so please know that, you know I know for you you probably think oh, I have this laptop. It's been working now I need to get an upgraded laptop So I'm gonna take on that but it really needs to be done by the organization In a very processed streamlined manner. Maybe a tech audit is needed for the organization. And so it's not just Sorry, tough love. It's not just you Shelly It all employees need to be considered for this and all employees need to also know What systems they're using so that you have a device that supports your workload, right? Like it really needs to support what you're charged to do so Talk to your CEO let Let them know that this is of importance. This is why you need an updated system I am again would really champion the fact that the organization needs to buy it and it becomes their asset Well, and I love what you said and it makes me think to Jared it kind of echoes the concept about going, you know Structurally across the organization Because if Shelly from San Rafael decides that she's gonna quit or she is ill or whatever She can hand over that asset to somebody else to pick up the slack You know, but that's not gonna happen if you're using your own home technology You know, so yeah, really interesting. Well, good luck Shelly I think that you're probably looking at something that a lot of our nonprofits are looking at and struggling with and I agree with you Jared, there's some new updates or some new products, but shoot just think about the nonprofit show and all of these tech companies Oh, my god, and talk about what they're doing. This is where we are and where we're going. It's all computer-centric. So Yeah, I mean, okay. All right. You ready for the next question ready Sean from Chicago, Illinois We're trying to refresh our community breakfast and we'll be back to a live event this summer of 2022 What do you think about selling sponsorships to this event? We are a bit divided on this and have never done it Are we even too late? This is a question that's going around the nonprofit sector. I know I love sponsorships for these Community breakfast and what I would do is you could have a a coffee sponsor. You could have, you know Um, like the table setting. There's so many different sponsors a valet sponsor if that's something that you offer Um, so Sean, there's so many ways to look at this But I would really look at your list of partners like who has been a really dedicated loyal partner with you for Previous breakfast, maybe some new partners that aren't aware of this opportunity I really like to have a package and that I go to my partners with annually So it's not a you know tap tap tap every month or every quarter We're having a very thoughtful mindful discussion about the annual partnership In which the company can benefit from us. We can benefit from the company Um, and the community breakfast should be part of that. That's my belief Um, I'm all for sponsors. So, you know, especially if this is something maybe that Um, your guests are coming for free I know that's a really big model that the community breakfast have that free ticket Um, so you need to cover the cost and you're really looking to do that as well. So Um, I'm all for it. What say you Julia First off, I absolutely agree. I know that the community breakfast that really, you know in this model Raising more money or the benavon model started by the great terry axl rod You know as always said never do this don't you know, give away the free breakfast But don't sell sponsorships. I agree with you. I think sponsorships are important and I love the different levels I think they should be part of that engagement and it is marketing for these organizations that demonstrates their benevolence and their community engagement It's a win-win two things I would go to your board because so many of your board members are going to have Um, their own companies or companies they represent that can do this That will have clients and then the other thing that we don't really talk about Is that you know, the nonprofit sector spends a hell of a lot of money Go back to your vendors And to say look vendor. We just spent xyz dollars with you How would you like to partner with us on being the valet sponsor or being the whatever? We spend a lot of money And we don't often go back to our vendors and there's nothing wrong with that That doesn't mean that we look away from You know them and other deals or whatever. It's it's just something like to your point. Jared if you have a strong deck Then you can you know You can lay that out and in front of them and say these are the opportunities. Are you interested? I'm glad you mentioned the vendors. I feel like that is a lost group, but it's fruit And it's really, you know, you go to your accounting or finance person Ask for them to provide you a vendor list. I like to go back three five years What are our vendors? How much money have we spent with them over time? What kind of partnership have we ever discussed and again, shon? You can take this hopefully Annual package to them and say here's all the ways and how we would love to To play with you in this part partnership one thing Can't hit julie and I like to do is with our amazing sponsors. We say hey What are your goals? What are your marketing goals? What are your branding goals? What are your promotional goals and how might we Exactly be able to help you with that and so that's you know part of the conversation and I wish you the best shon and Go get them get those sponsors go get them and then he he did ask are we too late? And you know what I don't think I don't think we're too late I think that You're gonna have to push and you have to work hard and you're gonna have to crank it up But you know a lot of things have been on hold and so it's You know, I just think it's where you're gonna go. I mean chicago in the summer That's their get time man. Things are busy. There's a lot going on So just to secure space and to get things, you know moving along you got to go go go Wow, that's exciting I want to know how they do Yeah, reach out shon reach out better yet. Come on as a guest and tell us Now that would be fun. That would be fun invitation delivered exactly until you go Okay, edward from denver, colorado writes in how often should we be reworking our website? I'm trying to get our budget pulled together and could use some help We have not refreshed our website for about three years Oh I see cobwebs and dust And all kinds of creepy crawlies Um, so I'm going to say your website is an ever changing platform we had You know Heather with us joining us from hammer smith support And uh, they're doing a whole new, you know rebrand for nonprofits You know she mentioned too that you really want a partner that helps with your website so that it's constantly refreshed, right? Um, edward if you've ever owned a home or you've ever heard this saying where it's like There's always work to be done in your home, right? There's always work to be done on your website It could be updating a program. It could be updating your staff page. It could be, you know changing your your donate portal So there's so many elements to your website But what I learned from heather so very greatly was Every single page needs a purpose So go through your website and figure out what every single page's purpose is And that might help you with a refresh Um, when it comes to the budget, you know, again, I would set this as as an A monthly thing. I think you may be even part of your your marketing website line item um Get some quotes best practice is is to get at least three different quotes for a nonprofit um And you know just keep it ever changing. I think it's people people want to see and and they go to your website to get updates Well, and I think the point that was made too and it has been made often with Different guests tech guests is that you know within the rankings and the seo work When you make changes that actually pushes your site up And so, you know, that's important. You want to be able to have that especially if you have A nonprofit that might have a name that sounds similar to another organization doing similar work I mean, how do you differentiate yourself? You got to be Making sure that you move up on the the search engine ranking and I I I loved what you said Jared about the marketing thing because ultimately it's the marketing folks That are going to be plugging in material content images And so how does that dovetail to their budget? A do they have the talent that can work with this structure and b Do will they understand that they've got to be the primary driver of new content? That's right because if they don't There's going to be some problem, you know, they'll they'll be some struggles And they should work together so interesting Who the website stuff? I know. I mean, I have my own Julia. We have one for the show You have one for the american nonprofit academy I was just in my site last night just making some like minor changes And um, you know, I'm I'm able to do that. I know not everyone's able to do that Edward But you know just to take a look to say, okay, how can we refresh it? Maybe it's not a huge overhaul But you know making some changes as Julia mentioned that seo That's what you want to bring up man. It's really important and Yeah, and you know, don't be afraid to invest in this because it's going to probably be the front line of Of your donation engagement and donor engagement. And so it's got to be good to go really good luck them Good luck. Oh, okay, you know And city withheld I know you love these. I love these What is the process or thought behind having our staff sign nda's? Non-disclosure agreements are seeming to pop up a lot in discussions with other nonprofit leaders in my community Please do not use my name That's your love language Julia. I think they're talking to you it is I have never seen a staff sign an nda. I'm going to be honest with that. I've seen board I've seen volunteers. I've seen contract workers Um, but I've not seen staff in particular sign nda's I feel and this is kind of a broad stroke response that a lot of that is delivered in the onboarding employee manual when they step in in that employee status And that is delivered and shared in the onboarding process as a new hire And reiterated of course, you know throughout the year There's many different access to information. I typically work on that executive leadership Which has a lot of access to information as well as the development side Which also has a lot of access to donor information including credit cards including home addresses including, you know, so many other net wealth assets And it really is, you know, a whole code of conduct that you want to ensure Is built into your culture, but I've not seen a staff nda you Julia You know No But what I have my my sense of when I when I read this Is that um, it's popping a lot popping up a lot in discussions with other non-profit leaders in my community It might be that something happened in this community And then everybody gets freaked out and feels like oh my god, we have to do this But I think you are right and I loved your approach And I wouldn't have necessarily thought about this but the onboarding Piece of it is really where this gets done as a policy and sometimes, you know I've seen organizations that have their their new hires and sometimes A refresh with the entire team Where all the policies are discussed and then they sign off on it, you know, I have read this I understand it. I've taken the training whatever This happens a lot if you are an organization and we said it earlier today if you are If you are all connected to the HIPAA laws that are legislative items in our country That deals with health care and insurance if you deal with children Children and that means under the age of 18 minors under the age of 21, right? So those are three areas depending on what your organization what you're serve who you're serving You're going to have a higher degree Of confidentiality and and you're going to be your risk to Legal exposures greater and maybe that's where this is being driven But yeah, I think that I love what you said about that onboarding piece and and the training You know, how do we reconnect with our teams? And our boards to say this works and this doesn't this is appropriate. This is not Yeah, you need to do it. You need to do it, but yeah Really, really interesting really interesting And you know, I think Jared I loved what you said about You know the sensitivity of the wealth information that can lead to a lot of other issues This is something we need to protect. We need to we must be protecting our donors. Absolutely Okay, jay from lexington. I think it's important to start submitting our staff Individual people and programs for awards. Oh You know, you and I've kind of talked about this. Yeah My ceo does not think this is a good idea and a waste of time I think it would help us in marketing and branding thoughts Hallelujah jay, and I'm sorry your ceo does not see the value of this This is great for leadership for your board for, you know, your your c-suite of the organization And anywhere that your staff falls in there's a lot of 40 under 40 20 under 20 You know, these are great real goods for your staff. They are low Cost feel goods, right? And so why not when you really do have a rock star and stellar talent Why not elevate them, right? Why not applaud them? Absolutely, it helps your marketing and branding and that is a great way as long as you're also Leveraging that into your social media platform sharing it with your newsletters Like you don't want to just submit the application You want to recognize this across your platforms as well as internally So jay, I am all for it really I am I think this definitely does help to up level your marketing and branding Including your ceo, right? Like all of that we've already talked about I feel like when it comes to the the time maybe the waste of time is really looking at how long it takes to fill out an application But truly once you have their bio you have their accomplishments you have a photo It's pretty quite simple and the process kind of takes on takes on itself It doesn't take or shouldn't take really A long time so I hope that you get approved to do this because I yeah, I can't support it more Julia. What do you think about doing this internally like employee of the month or You know Warrior of the month whatever. I mean, how do you how do you feel about that because to me? This is a similar thing. It that's right. It has phenomenal marketing ability. It makes you feel good It makes um the other team members Look for goodness, right? Look for the joy in what their teams are doing I mean, do you have a sense of that or you know, I think when we're looking at retaining talent And we're also looking at building and creating a culture of collaboration Empowerment and leadership I don't think that you can do bad by that, right? Like I think that's a good opportunity I think maybe it should be housed within your HR department if you have one Yeah, I do not all organizations have a dedicated HR, but there's someone that can take this on regardless of the size of your organization Um, you know, you could even have a You can have a quarterly, you know board member spotlight where here's the board volunteer of the quarter Yeah, volunteer all all of that. So I don't think that you can go wrong ever with acknowledging people for their great work Yeah, you know, it's it's interesting. I'm going back to the the question submitted by Um, our friend, I think in chicago that was looking, you know talking about doing summer events You know, that would be a time where maybe you do something that recognizes You know, those people if you do a program or even if you just do a slide You know a power point revolving slide during Before and after you know something that's subtle or you could recognize those those volunteers board member staff I mean, you know, you could even do things like, you know part Supplier or you know, something like that if you're a vendor vendor partner of the quarter Yeah, because there are a lot of vendors that do go above and beyond for us Across the sector and it's a quiet thing. You know, they don't always get No, you know that notice or or even that appreciation and so maybe it's a bigger conversation that goes beyond just Some typical things that you do it. It's it's a somebody to champion Um, the the reward of of the people that work with you, you know, I've heard Julia, I like what you said No, you're the non-profit nerve Wow, it is great and you know, I've never because maybe even that community breakfast, you know That's that's a great place to to recognize people. I know it's not the purpose But I don't think it can hurt It well and it can be done subtly It doesn't have to be like a major portion of your breakfast because those those things have to go fast But it could be literally on a poster or on a slide that gets circulated Before the event even starts or as the event ends. I mean, there are a lot of ways that we can we can do these things But to your point Jared, I liked what you said and that is, you know We need to highlight those people that we work with and we need to lift them up And it doesn't really cost us a lot to do that. It's just time and attention. So Wow, well, what a great week Jared ransom the non-profit nerd who's who joins me day in and day out It's just an amazing brain. I just love having you again I'm Julia Patrick CEO of the American non-profit academy Jared we passed our 500th episode We did not do anything other than we're like, did we do 500 episodes? Which is horrible It's from the norm, you know About it being a labor of love and in the very beginning three years ago People say I cannot believe you produce this much content and and we at one point were like, uh, yeah Us either but we've both really learned, you know, our gains gained a love for this Intellectual stimulation is my jam. I know it's your jam Absolutely has to have these these high level like analysis conversations Get me going. It is. It's really exciting. Well, I'm super proud of us We tease our executive producer Kevin pace quite a bit But we want to make sure that we thank him and extend our true appreciation You know, he is the employee of the month. Let's just say oh, I know he is the month the quarter of the year He keeps us going We also have to remind you that any of these archive episodes You can find them Roku fire tv vimeo So many other platforms and we're on podcast form. Thanks to our sponsors You can see here Bloomerang your part-time controller american non-profit academy non-profit nerd fundraising academy staffing boutique non-profit thought leader and the non-profit atlas So wherever you stream your podcast, make sure you tell your smartphone to queue up the non-profit show Gotta love that. That's the best. Hey everybody, we are drawing upon the weekend We hope that you get some respite And that you can refresh yourself Because we got another busy week ahead of us and as we like to remind ourselves and everyone watching and joining with us Stay well So you can do well. We'll see you back here on monday everyone