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Nonprofit Radio for January 6, 2017: 2017 Legal Tips & This Year’s Board Retreat

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Erin Bradrick: 2017 Legal Tips

The New Year means a close look in the corners. We’ve got the legal issues you need to fine tune. Erin Bradrick is senior counsel at the Nonprofit & Exempt Organizations law group (NEO).

 

 


Greg Cohen
: This Year’s Board Retreat

Done right, your retreat will energize and focus your board and get them working as a team. Greg Cohen knows how. He’s senior associate at Cause Effective.

 

 


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Hello and welcome to tony martignetti non-profit radio big non-profit ideas for the other ninety five percent happy new year for sure, the new year twenty seventeen my voice just crack together come a fourteen year old it’s incessant with the voice i got to get lessons or surgery or something. Happy new year, that’s much more important, i hope twenty seventeen is going to be very successful for you. I hope you’re going to be doing some introspection and inspection and buy two guests today. You’re goingto talk about some topics for you to be the introspective about. Oh, i’m glad you’re with me. I’d be hit with ryan ola thigh assis if i got a whiff of you missing today’s show twenty seventeen legal tips are first introspection topic the new year means a close look in the corners we’ve got the legal issues you need to find tune aaron bradrick is senior counsel at the non-profit and exempt organizations law group neo and this year’s board retreat done right, your retreat will energize and focus your board and get them working as a team. Greg cohen nose out he’s a senior associate at cause effective tony steak too. Charity registration. We’re sponsored by pursuant full service fund-raising data driven and technology enabled, you’ll raise more money pursuant dot com. And by we be spelling supercool spelling bee fundraisers. We b e spelling dot com. I’m very pleased a real pleasure to welcome aaron bradrick when she calls in, we had her, but she’s gone, it wasn’t her. Okay, aaron bradrick is not here yet, but she ought to be calling in very shortly at ten a m pacific time, which is one o’clock eastern. So let’s see, well, some of the things that she and i are going to talk about, of course she’ll have the detail. Um, we’re going to start with this topic of charity registration, which i’m planning to fill in a little more on in tony’s take two, but you know, the general idea that you need to be properly registered in each state where you solicit our first introspection is the introspection show our first introspection topic for twenty seventeen. Yes, you need to be probably registered wherever you’re soliciting donations, you need to be registered with the state authorities, and we’re also going to talk about a board calendar. I’m not. Sure, i don’t know, maybe non-profits doing this routinely, i mean, i go to board meetings, but i don’t know whether they are planning the full year. Maybe they are. I’m not saying i’m not saying it’s not happening. Maybe greg cohen has all inside, and tonight we might talk about that later on, but it ought to be there ought to be a yearlong calendar of topics for your meetings, however often their car so that you got some strategy around it and some common sense. Um, let’s, see what we’re going to? Uh, yeah, all right, we’ll take a break and we’ll see if we can get i mean, i didn’t mind i don’t mind summarizing, frankly, but it’s bothering sam sam’s bothered sam doesn’t like it. I don’t know father was like, all right, it’s, my shot duvette piela i want, but i’ll take the advice. We’ll take a break, we’ll see if we can get aaron burr. Aaron bradrick on the phone. If not, well, you’re going to stay with us anyway. Nobody’s going anywhere, we’ll see what happens. It’ll be an adventure for everybody. Stay with us. You’re tuned to non-profit radio tony martignetti also hosts a podcast for the chronicle of philanthropy fund-raising fundamentals, is a quick ten minute burst of fund-raising insights, published once a month. Tony’s guests are expert in crowdfunding, mobile giving event fund-raising direct mail and donor cultivation. Really, all the fund-raising issues that make you wonder, am i doing this right? Is there a better way there is? Find the fund-raising fundamentals archive it. Tony martignetti dot com that’s marketmesuite n e t t i remember there’s, a g before the end, thousands of listeners have subscribed on itunes. You can also learn maura, the chronicle website, philanthropy dot com fund-raising fundamentals, the better way. Hello, i’m j c. I’m joan, and welcome to twenty first century entrepreneur. We bring education in sight, knowledge, awareness, trouble, craziness and fun for you, the entrepreneur who’s looking to build your business and your community. Listen every friday from noon toe one eastern on top radio dot n y c, and you can tweet us at twenty first c e radio or talk alternative. Talking alternative radio twenty four hours a day. Welcome back to big non-profit ideas for the other ninety five percent, and we did get aaron. It appears that i may have made a mistake. There’s an allegation that i made a mistake. I’m pulling a trump. This is me and i’m pulling a donald trump. This is alleged hacking. This is a land that there’s a mistake. I’m going to go back and check the record. I actually, you know, on dh i’ll apologize in advance, erin, because there’s a good chance. I did make a mistake. I’m usually pretty good, but maybe i did let’s see let’s give her air informal introduction she’s a senior counsel at the non-profit and exempt organizations law group in san francisco where she is calling from she’s, a regular contributor to the very popular non-profit law block dot com and the practices devoted solely to non-profit and exempt organizations she’s at aaron bradrick and the firm is at neo-sage group dot com welcome, aaron the same story and sorry for that computer and i was planning to call in at ten. Thirty. So, uh, sorry about that, but i’m glad to be here. That’s okay, i may be the one who’s. Supposed to say sorry? I thought we ok, obviously i thought we said i i thought i said ten pacific, but i made you know, you there’s a good chance for because i’m booking a lot of guys glad. Glad we’re on now. Yes, and thank you for doing it. Spur of the moment. Okay, so i gave a little introduction into just a couple of the first two topics that you and i we’re going to talk about the filing requirements for charity registration and the board calendar, but i just gave glossy overviews so let’s talk about this charity registration filing thing. You think this is something good to look at in the beginning of the year? Yeah, i mean, i think the basic idea is that the new year it’s, good climb for organizations, kind of take a look in the mirror and see what they have coming up for the next year, make sure they’re organized, ready to go with a fresh start. And i think one of the things that we’re seeing lately is particularly at the state level regulatory agencies really cracking down due to the lack of compliance with registration and filing requirements. And it could be something that’s easy for an organisation to overlook. We recommend kind of the beginning of the year taking a look at what deadlines you have coming up for various filing requirements, which often turned on when your fiscal year and for the organization. I’m not just the annual returns that are filed with the irs and potentially with state tax authority, but also with potentially a charitable oversight and sees which is the attorney general and any ongoing filing requirements with the secretary of state or department of state and creating a calendar for you the year of when the silent or do and making sure you have a point person who’s designated to make sure the organization doesn’t miss the deadline. Yeah, that could be that could be a tough one for smaller organizations where the organization has a lot of filings to keep up with it’s it’s it can be difficult for someone to devote, like a quarter or a half of their time to these compliance issues. Yeah, absolutely. And particularly for all. Fall into your organizations where you don’t have a staff member, you can designate the responsibility of making sure these were met on the problem that we also see with a lot of these organizations is particularly when they’re all volunteer run when there’s a change in the officer structure there’s a change in the board, they don’t update these regulatory agencies with her new address, so even if they do miss a filing deadline, mostly agencies will send out reminders or have notices that the deadline has passed and that you have not seen an opportunity to make this filing before their adverse consequences from missing the deadline. But if you haven’t updated with a new address, sometimes organizations aren’t even receiving notices at all, not even aware that they’re missing with that fine, but we’re seeing greater consequences for missing these types of filing requirements, so it is really important for organizations to make sure they have some sort of system in place to make sure things don’t fall through the cracks. There’s something related to that that happened a few years ago? Now i know you’re talking about going beyond what’s required by irs, the form nine ninety whichever variation on organization may do based on their size, but but it was like three years ago or so ah, a couple of hundred thousand non-profits lost their tax exempt status for failure to file their version of the nine, ninety. Yeah, so the irs regulations we’re past that said that if an organization fails to file on exempt entity return for three consecutive years, then immediately upon the third missed filing, they’re exempt. Status will be automatically revoked. There’s no discretionary basis for preventing that automatic revocation. So if you missed three years of your nine nine year whatever for my ninety year required to file, then you can be automatically revote. There’s there’s some leeway, but for many organizations, if you are automatically revoked, you have to apply all over again to have your exam status reinstated. We’re actually up to almost seven hundred thousand organizations that have been automatically revoked over the last, i guess, six years, seven years now. Oh, okay, i didn’t know it was that large, and maybe that maybe that initial wave was now that the first wave of, like, three hundred thousand that wasn’t six or seven years ago, was it? No, i believe i believe they started them in two thousand ten, but i’d have to confirm falik automatic. Revocation put into effect, there was a big there was a big serge, a bubble, whatever in one year, but i think i was only, like three years ago or so roughly because because i know this show is six and a half years old, and it didn’t come at the beginning of that. I mean, those may have been happening, but then there was that huge one. Like i said, like close to three hundred thousand or so. All right, so okay, look in your look, look in the dusty corners, check your filing requirements, basically let’s say let’s, go to the let’s, go to the board calendar. You do you do you think most non-profits are setting their agenda for the year in advance? Are they doing that? I think probably not, but i think it could be a very effective tool. I think some larger organizations previewed organizations with large staff that helped to kind of coordinate the board meetings or, more likely, that be setting some sort of calendar for a full year. But i think he’d be helpful even for smaller organizations are entirely volunteer run organizations as well. I think it can just help. To set expectations for various meanings in advance to make sure the meetings are effective and efficient and that the board really covers everything it needs. Teo during the meetings throughout the year, yeah, it makes great sense. You you look at the whole year plan and make sure that everything is covered. So maybe you have some training on financials are you want to cover programs and you want make sure i would think you give equal time to all your programs or maybe wake them based on the preponderance that they proportion that they bear to your organization’s revenue or activities or something. But you won’t make sure everything is covered. It makes sense tow look at it for the whole year. Um, and you also suggest leaving some space for things that are going come up at hawk, of course, you know, it would be nice if we could predict in advance everything that was going to arrive throughout the course of the year, but i think that’s a very rare occurrence. So it’s important to make sure that in scheduling kind of topics for a board meeting, you’re not so rigid that there’s not opportunity for the board to discuss the really pressing issues that arise throughout the course of the year. You, uh you call this stargazing? I like that on time. Stargazing. I’ll have to give credit. I think jean takagi uses that term a lot. My colleague at any old locker. But we like the idea that, you know, a big part of the board function is really thinking big for the organization. So it’s not just necessarily thinking about the financials and the more procedural and legal aspects of government, but also thinking about, you know, what the organization can really accomplish, what its mission is, what is exempt purposes are and how it can best carry those out with the assets that has access to the kind of thinking big picture thinking about the potential of the organization. In fact, that could be a problem with a lot of boards is that they do get mired in the detail and they ignore the the larger role that they that they should be filling. Yeah, look at that time that’s looking critically at markets and competition and potentials, maybe scrutinising current activities to decide if we should be doing everything that we are doing etcetera, so these bigger picture items um and i think one of the hardest things for boards is actually to take a critical look at current programs and to make the tough decisions so, you know, if something isn’t working as well as it may be ought to be here isn’t necessarily the best use of the organization’s asset. Is there some kind of big changes that need to be made and those air filter big conversation? You know, there’s, not one that just happened in a short, you know, fifteen minutes section of ah one board meeting, so making sure that there’s room on the calendar for any of those types of conversations that should be taking place and perhaps will come up organically, you like to take a look att governance policies and there there are some that are in new marais tid in the form nine, ninety let’s get you why don’t you take those off? Go ahead. Yeah, the form nine ninety asks about a section has a section in the form nineteen doing be about policies, and it does actually say on the form nine, ninety itself that these policies aren’t required under the internal revenue code, but it is possible it somewhere required under applicability student law, so it is important for an organisation to be aware of any state laws that apply to it. But the policies that are mentioned on the form nine ninety are conflict of interest policy, a whistleblower policy and the document retention and destruction policy. The fact that they’re even included on this in a return form is just signal, i think, from the irs with either things that the irs was kind of thinking are important towards good governance of an organisation and are things that the organization doesn’t have in place, even though not legally required could be advisable and recommended from governance perspective. And then also from a marketing perspective, the ninety is so widely available that potential donors volunteers boardmember sze doing due diligence, whoever’s looking at your your nine ninety e i think it just doesn’t look so good to say no, we don’t have the conflict of interest policy, whistleblower policy, etcetera. Even though the irs, even though the form says they’re not required, i think it looks bad to check off those no boxes. Yeah, i could potentially and you’re right, you know, particularly, i think funders have access to nine, nine years and we’ll take a look at them and they are publicly available document the last three years, as you noted, so again, it it could be, you know, while not legally required, it could be a signal that you have good governance policies and good governance practices in place. You do, in fact, have these policies, of course, though having a policy in and of itself is of no use if you’re not actually making sure everyone is aware of the policy and following it and enforcing it so that’s another part of what we recommend, kind of the beginning of the year or some other time that the organization designate was appropriate based on its annual calendar, but taking a look at what policies you do have in place, whether they’re working for the organization or whether any changes should be made, whether everybody actually knows where to find the policies and his reviewed copies of them, and then also whether there are any gaps in your policy so there’s something that, you know, it would be helpful to have a policy on and you don’t yet and would it be appropriate to kind of put that on your task list in terms of coming up with an appropriate policy on that topic? Ok, one that’s coming to mind is it policy and the use of private personal devices for for organizational purposes? Do we allow it? What what do we require if we do allow it? You know, etcetera, what do you feel about that policy? We don’t see that as having been adopted by many organization, but i think it’s just becoming increasingly more relevant in the way that most organizations operate today, so it actually could be advisable, particularly for larger organization with larger staffs are a lot of volunteers that are potentially using technology resources that belonged to the organization. The use of of resources also comes up, particularly in the context of lobbying activities and political activities, which for five whillans trees you know, obviously, lobbying activities for public cherries have to be an insubstantial amount of their overall activity, but political activities are completely prohibited, and even you seven organizational resource for improper campaign intervention activity could be problematic, and i think a policy could be particularly effective in that area as well. Okay, lobbying ceo compensation is one that you like to see? Yeah, sometimes it doesn’t necessarily need to be in a formal policy, but it is something that the organization often need to be aware of the importance of and make sure it’s falling some sort of i’m specific process for determining appropriate ceo compensation, particularly here in california, we have a requirement that the combination of the ceo be approved by the board or unauthorized committee when it’s first offered, when the period of employment is renewed and then whenever it’s modified, even if it’s modified data word. So there are certain requirements in place with respect to ceo compensation and then also at the federal level under the internal revenue code there’s certain requirements with respect to how you determine whether compensation amounts are appropriate for having a policy in place could be good, particularly for an organization that has significant turnover. Andi it’s in its board, where there might not be a lot of awareness of what practices and policies should be followed with respect to determining compensation. Jean and i have talked about the competition hyre the presumption, etcetera, it’s, it’s in a previous share we’ve we’ve we’ve done something on that listen, sentiments and california because i said you’re in san francisco, but what are you hearing about the suspicion succession movement? Are we going? We’re gonna be down to forty nine six for you to start off the flag. It’s going to be a balance, therefore, i think probably not in my lifetime. I don’t think you do. People talk about a lot of talk about it. Do people talk about, like, over drinks and dinners and things? The result of the election have led to many conversations over drinks in my circle. I will. I will certainly say i’m not searching me. People are christian. Too hard for succession, but it’s definitely been floated. Okay? Yeah. All right, so it does come up. Okay. Okay, forty nine is, uh i was you were talking. I was thinking to forty nine as a prime. It would be hard to be weird to have a prime number, aziz Numbers, but not a prime 7 times seven is forty, so i was wrong there, but i mean, i hope it doesn’t happen. I there, there those who will we’ll send you off. Gladly, but i’m not among them. I hope we still, i’m glad to hear that way. In your mind. We’re keeping you in the union intact. Idealware okay. Let’s see so oh, and then, you know, we haven’t talked about any fund-raising policies, but you might have a gift acceptance and crediting policy and that’s something i work a lot with non-profits and i often find an existing one is not being followed. So in terms of either acceptance, i mean there’s a lot in there that non-profits forget is in there and then same thing with crediting they, i find it’s a policy that gets created and then often ignored. So, yeah, i can often be the problem with particularly these types of policies that are kind of thought of as the core required policies. People might even forget that they’re out there. So i think having some sort of process in place where the policy they’re easy to access and everybody that needs to be aware of them is well aware of what you know what they actually say. And i think the gift acceptance policy in particular, i think there’s often this conception that misconception, maybe that every gift is a good gift, but sometimes the strings that come with gifts for gift that aren’t actually easy to divest us can you be a little bit of a curse in disguise, i guess. And so it can be important to make sure that if there is a gift that isn’t no cash and there’s something that is more complicated or difficult to get rid of for the organisation or turned into value and that there’s some sort of process, we’re reviewing that gift and just making sure that acceptance really is in the best interest of the organization. Real estate comes to mind when you suggest that there may not be great. Real estate can be an enormously valuable and wonderful gift for non-profit on the other hand, i’ve had situations where it was a disputed strip of, like, four feet wide or so maybe ride, and it ran the depth of the properties. I was like two feet wide, one hundred feet deep, and somebody is trying to give it to us, you know, because it was denied and it was easier to give it to a third party and let us a trifle hassle with it. So there’s two ends of the spectrum, it can be magnificent, but around real estate in particular that’s, real estate’s, not the only kind of risky gift. But in particular you really you got to do your due diligence before your organization name goes on the deed for that property that let’s go to aa financials. You won’t take some time in the beginning of the year to do financial oversight. What do your thoughts here? Yeah, i think particularly for an organisation on a calendar year that has just wrapped up. You know, its last its last year. It could be a good time for the board and perhaps it a rather high level. But just take a look at what financials that has access to it. You know, the beginning of the year for the last year’s performance and then think about, you know, what needs to change in the future and then how it can arrive after those desired financial changes. So do any changes to the budget that’s been adopted for this coming here need to be made based on last year’s performance? Basically, just kind of taking stock. Obviously, reviewing the financials is, you know, an important part of board service and should be done more than just once a year. But i think reviewing it kind of that year and can be particularly important, i’m gonna have a guest next week. Diane leonard is going to talk about grant program, a grant calendar for the year, and one of the things that we’re going to talk about is timing your revenue with your budget when you expect when you’re expecting in her case, the grant revenue to come and make sure that’s appropriately timed so that you’re not, you don’t find yourself with cash shortfalls and a programming grayce program management, etcetera, timing those let’s see okay, oh, another thing with the financials to tony is that often you have boardmember zor even some gym staff members, they’re coming from just a range of backgrounds and have a variety of experiences, and sometimes not, you know, it’s not in everyone’s set of skills that they understand how to actually read financial statement something you could be really important as an organization to make sure that you have a process in place for providing some sort of basic level of training on reading financial statements, particularly for directors on denny cast members who don’t have that background, but who need to make sure that they understand the financial statements well, some people do it as part of an onboarding process with new employees or new directors and other organizations will set it up it’s kind of an annual or biannual sort of training that is available for anybody who hasn’t otherwise gone through it in the past elections. If you ah, if you’re going to be doing elections in the year, you want to make sure that you’re following your policy on elections, whatever your by-laws say, yeah, absolutely and, you know, we see sometimes organizations that have just always done their elections a certain way for years and years, and they’ve never taken the time to actually look back at what they’re by-laws actually say, and then one step further to make sure their current by-laws were actually in compliance with africa ble law right now, you’re by-laws were drafted twenty years ago it’s possible that the state law that governs elections and what has to actually be in yur by allies has changed, so can be appropriate to take a good look at what the legal election procedures are the requirements under the applicable law. Make sure your by-laws comply with that and then make sure you’re complying with your by-laws and it’s also kind of ties into the board meeting calendar we’re discussing a few minutes ago and making sure that if you do have elections that are required during this year that you have them scheduled in the calendar and notice that’s required in advance is also scheduled in the calendars that you’re not missing any deadlines, the risk there that he has some sort of disgruntled director or them voting membership organization and disgruntled member. If you don’t comply with the requirements of your by-laws or with law, then you could have potentially the decisions of the board or the or the members subject to challenge, and that just isn’t a good position to being from the organization we have just one minute left, aaron so let’s, let’s get teo, you want to review the articles and by-laws and are our purpose and mission statements? Yeah, and this is one of those things again that, you know, congested, good to counter for the beginning of the year. It was a good reminder. Take a look at what your articles say. The organization’s purpose is make sure whatever the bylaws say, it’s purposes is consistent with what’s in the articles and then take a look at what the organization is actually doing and make sure it’s still complies with the stated purposes. If the organization’s purposes have shifted somewhat over time, then it may be the right time to take a look your articles and by-laws and maybe make some appropriate revisions necessary. Okay, we’re gonna leave it there, aaron, thank you very much. Yeah, thanks so much for having me. Don’t you have a great day? I pleasure. Aaron bradrick, senior counsel at the non-profit and exempt organizations law group, she’s at aaron bradrick, and the firm is at neo law group dot com, and her boss is jean takagi at g tack. So if you want to comment on aaron, all good comments, of course, then you could you contact gene. Thank you, erin, thank you for any happy new year. So long. Thank you again by this year’s border treat with greg cohen is coming up first. Pursuant, they can train you in a thoughtful plan to reach your twenty seventeen fund-raising goals. It’s a. What they have is basically a map to your best prospects. Strong relationships. It’s, a four week webinar, siri’s there’s one a week, and it’s called fund-raising like a boss. I’m going to skip the kick reference this week, not that i was asked to skip case germans, i mean, it’s, my show, i do whatever i want. I just i’m choosing not to make the cake reference this week, and this siri’s fund-raising like a boss, starts on january eighteenth, voice cracked again. If you can’t make the live webinars they have you covered, you give access to their archive of each of the four you’ll find the siri’s fundez like a boss at pursuant dot com quick resource is training and then webinar siri’s. We’ll be spelling spelling bees for fund-raising it’s fun philanthropy. I like that philanthropy, it’s corny, but i’m not even sure i thought of it. It’s. All these things are only good when you think of them otherwise, thes puns are distasteful and hated, but if you think of it, you know it’s it’s genius, i’m not sure if i came up with this with a, i’m not sure that i saw it on their site, anyway. Philanthropy. It’s spelling bee plus comedy plus concert plus dance plus philanthropy that equals we be spelling. So that means spelling bee plus comedy plus concert plus dance equals we be spelling minus philanthropy if you move it over let’s change sign, but we’re well, we want to solve, for we’d be spelling, so keep over everything, everything else over on the left side, so don’t move it over so those things equal, we be spelling. Check out the video, the video there. Three minute video explains the whole thing highlights one of their fund-raising events. The video is at we b e spelling dot com now for tony’s take two, all right, i’m wagging my finger a little bit. Ah it’s an occasional admonition that i make around charity registration, which aaron and i touched on. I wanted to say a little bit more about your need to be properly registered in each state where your solicit donations it’s a morass, it’s awful. I wish it didn’t exist lots of people we should did exist, but it does it’s a morass because every state has its own forms and timetables and fees and definitions of what’s a solicitation, whether it talking, email or texting or u s mail, etcetera. So i’m just urging you to stay. On top of it, it is work that i do if i can help you, let me know, but it can be managed internally as well. However you do it, stay on top of it, please, because you don’t want to be the next headline. The trump foundation had a lot of problems with that. I did a video on that bunch of months ago, like, was that october november trump foundations very embarrassed that you don’t want to be the next headline. Stay on top of that and that is tony’s take two got to send live listener love the live love goes out tio, new york, new york, multiple new york, lovett, multiple new york, new york ah, union, new jersey red across the the river’s over there, the hudson river, staten island, new york. Right across the other way, actually, union and staten island. You could get to union through staten island. If you go across the verrazano and then staten island, then you go across the outerbridge, you get to union, so i don’t know if you all do. You all know each other just because you’re connected by bridges and i don’t know, stat now. Is with us, and so his union, the u k is with us. We don’t know which country and uk or it zing gland it is england, sam says, is england? We don’t know the city can’t see it korea’s with us on your haserot but we can’t see your city, but we know you’re with us. South korea always very generous. Thank you. We got hoochie minh city, vietnam and grow now germany! Good dog live listen love also to oakland, california, new bern, north carolina and, oh then go in south into obregon, mexico live listener love to you and the other live listeners podcast pleasantries over twelve thousand now. Yes, it’s the new year we’ve gone from ten, two thousand twelve thousand it’s happened. I’m ready to say it it’s it’s often enough that i’m calling it twelve thousand over twelve thousand podcast listeners each week pleasantries to you. I’m glad you’re with us and there’s affiliate affections to our am and fm station listeners throughout the country let your station no, please, that you’re listening whenever they fit us into your schedule throughout the week, i’m glad you’re with us affections to our affiliate listeners and i’m also glad that i can welcome back greg cohen he’s, a senior associate at cause effective, where he has trained and coached on fund-raising and governance for the boards and staffs of hundreds of non-profits since two thousand six, for over thirty five years, he’s been helping non-profits, including starting up and leading many he’s at greg cause the organization is at cause effective and that cause effective dot or ge. Greg cohen, welcome back to studio. I’m so happy to be here. Thank you. Cool topic. You brought it up to me late last year and i love it because we haven’t focused on this board retreats, border treats this can be valuable if you do it correctly and it could be a disaster if you screw it up that’s, right? So let’s talk about doing it right first they got don’t do things, but but just a little motivation. What can we get out of these if if we do them correctly what’s going to happen for our board? Well, this really fouls well from erin’s comments about shaping. You’re bored with intentionality. This is show has prepared, you know i’m gonna it’s it just happens and it’s beautifully coincidence, yes. So there it was on the menu. Okay, thank you. Start interrupting. So what you can gain if you think about your board is forming a high performing team? A zahren said for many of the things that she talked about, there isn’t time within the typical board meeting, particularly for areas that require reflection like let’s. Look at if our mission is still relevant to the activities of the community that we’re responding to. Maybe you’ve added knew board people and you have members who haven’t really gotten to know each other, like on any team you want people to bond, you want them to have a shared conception of their purpose, and you wanna have some ways of operating together might be the agreement on that schedule, that board calendar for the year of how we’re going to conduct our business, and what do we want to accomplish relative to the needs of the organization? So the retreat is about taking more time to reflect without the daily pressures on those key areas of governance and on how the board should perform itself as a team. Take out the bigger picture all these bigger picture items that aaron was referring to. Absolutely being more strategic and less, you know, in the in the in the forest stuck, and i’m stuck in the woods, right? It can range from how has our community changed other new populations and needs? It could be what changes in our revenue mixed dewey anticipating that’s going to be on the minds of everybody with a new administration in washington. And how do we get ahead of the possibilities and plan in advance and planning in particular as a governance function is best done at a remove from the monthly board meeting where you have a lot to accomplish in the agenda? How do you like to do these offsite weekend? How long? Give us a little flavour for right? Well, so it all depends, of course, on how much you want to accomplish and the availability of of your board. Ideally, i would say offsite someplace nice, relaxing that supports the conversation and people can into relate comfortably and there’s room for breaking out in smaller groups weekends, because that gives you blocks of time and i think it’s hard to do retreat in less than half a day. And many retreats actually go a whole day. Some organisations are extraordinary and devote a saturday in a sunday to a retreat. That’s a little unusual, but i think the more you remove it from the day to day constant context, the more you’re going to encourage people to interact and think differently. Okay? She liked to see a weekend day, right? You’ll also avoid people calling into their office checking email, you know, i mean, they you know, yeah. There’s. More of those distractions. You can control the circumstance of the meeting. That air offsite, it’s. Just a wifi ofthe exact it, of course. Those other access, but okay. All right. So what you want fairly distraction free, right? I mean, this is important. This is important time. Okay? Of course. That’s also going to depend on budget you have to spend for this. Maybe a board members home. Have you seen that? Can that work? Yeah. First for a relatively small group that can work very nicely. Okay. If there’s place tio sit around and actually deliberate, you need something like a conference table set up, but home can work very nicely. First board on the smaller side. Okay, okay. Um this, uh, could have some value around orientation for new board members. How we hardly fit that in? Yeah, absolutely, from okay, a number of perspectives, usually during a regular board meeting, there isn’t time to set context for the items under discussion. A retreat allows senior staff and bored leaders to explain a little history to put an issue into into context for new board members so that they get a better map of the environment in which the non-profit is working. Secondly, it’s really important that board members get to know each other on a social basis and interact, particularly if they’re deliberating on hard issues. It’s really good if you’ve had the chance to talk to someone more informally, you know, a little bit more about their background, what they do about their family, personal time, that makes for a stronger team, and you want to build team building activities into a retreat to make sure particularly there’s integration of those new members into what might have been, you know, a pretty cohesive group beforehand. It’s hard for the newest person to break into a club where everybody seems to have special knowledge way don’t have to do ah, walking over hot, broken glass. I love that you do? Yeah, i’m talking about what is it like? It was drew people to our board. What am i doing wrong? No, but i mean there’s, no question, a cohesive team. And you want to have interpersonal relationships that go beyond the business that’s conducted in the two hour board meetings every however often month, quarter, whatever you want to get to know each other exactly. And that’s one way not everybody is very forward and offering their opinions to establish some safety in the room for a really meaningful discussion of an issue. If i don’t really know how i’m going to be received by the person across the table haven’t built up trust, i’m probably going to be a little inhibited, particularly as a new boardmember from from knowing that i can speak my mind. Yeah, comfort with comfort level with that. Is there any favorite exercise? You have that the around team building and he, uh, like you play a little game? Yeah, all the classic ice breakers that involve won a lot of interaction between the board members and to some revealing at revealing some. Aspect of someone’s personal life that one wouldn’t ordinarily discover in the board introduction. I cross dress, you know, friends. Exactly. Exactly. That could be something. Could be a great accomplishment. I want philip boardmember to know exactly. Okay. Alright. Eso bringing drawing people out of right there. Business. And what do you do for a living and having them seeing in their full personality? Not just there. Jacket and tie image at the table. Okay. Okay. Um, let’s. See what else? What else? What else could we could we do around these do in this? Well, so retreats offer an important opportunity to develop leadership among the board, and we think planning is really important. So i know when i was an executive erect the first time i did a retreat, i waited too long. And then i realized g i need someone to run this. And the week before, i called someone who was a facilitator and said, can you run my board retread on saturday? And he said, well, what do you want accomplish? And i said, well, that’s, what i’m hiring you for and i really i recognize how unfair that was now that i look back. Because with a good border treat, you think you you wantto builds a common idea of what you want to accomplish during the day. So we like to form a planning committee of board members and staff and then a sine preparation roles so that many of the board members, if not all, get a chance to lead a part of the discussion and ah, shared leadership. Yeah, exactly. And that models the kind of back and forth and deliberation that you want to teach your board meetings. So this is a chance in a plan fashion to say each of us can have a role in guiding the discussion among our peers. So, like you rotating facilitators, friends, well, it might be on topic. So you have each chair, the chair of finances going toe provide an overview of how we did last year in finance and what the challenges are coming up in this year and that might be heavily supported by a staff person. But the key thing is it’s a boardmember who’s articulating it and the message below the the direct messages each of us can master this you like to see a facilitator? I was ah, instead of the board chair running the retreat, you don’t want to see that. I’d like to see every member of the team be able to participate in a full way without having to do that facilitator role of kind of looking down in saying how’s, this whole group interaction going that’s very demanding. Okay, we want full participation of the executive director and the board chair in discussions and save them from the facilitation role. Okay, facilitator is an outsider. It could be i mean, sometimes for the staff person broke, you know? Could be yes, it could be a fourteen year old like me. Okay. Ah, of course we a cause effective love it when people hyre outside facilitators. But if you had it a skilled staff person but that person could play that role too. I usually for the team building. If i’m working with an organization that uses that in their program, i have a staff person coming and running exercise like the ones they run with their clients. For instance. I see. Okay, we’re going out for a break. Greg and i are going to keep talking about this year’s board retreat on. Ghost. Gonna ask him to talk a little about what cause effective. Does stay with us? Like what you’re hearing a non-profit radio tony’s got more on youtube, you’ll find clips from stand up comedy tv spots and exclusive interviews catch guests like seth gordon. Craig newmark, the founder of craigslist marquis of eco enterprises, charles best from donors choose dot org’s aria finger, do something that worked neo-sage levine from new york universities heimans center on philantech tony tweets to he finds the best content from the most knowledgeable, interesting people in and around non-profits to share on his stream. If you have valuable info, he wants to re tweet you during the show. You can join the conversation on twitter using hashtag non-profit radio twitter is an easy way to reach tony he’s at tony martignetti narasimhan t i g e n e t t i remember there’s a g before the end he hosts a podcast for the chronicle of philanthropy fund-raising fundamentals is a short monthly show devoted to getting over your fund-raising hartals just like non-profit radio, toni talks to leading thinkers, experts and cool people with great ideas. As one fan said, tony picks their brains and i don’t have to leave my office fund-raising fundamentals was recently dubbed the most helpful non-profit podcast you have ever heard. You can also join the conversation on facebook, where you can ask questions before or after the show. The guests were there, too. Get insider show alerts by email, tony tells you who’s on each week and always includes link so that you can contact guests directly. To sign up, visit the facebook page for tony martignetti dot com. Lively conversation. Top trans sounded life that’s, tony martignetti non-profit radio. And i am his niece, carmela. And i am his nephew, gino. And i am the doting uncle brillo head sometimes called tony, at least over the dinner table. Um all right, i want teo, have you explain what cause effective does greg as consultants and non-profit itself? Because it’s an outstanding organization, i refer people to you when they ask questions that they and they need help that that i can’t give, i refer them to cause effect of what you people doing over there? Great. So first of all, we have been around for thirty five years, as you say, we’re a non-profit but were organized like a consulting firm and that we have specific engagements with clients, and we work together to find a way to fund that our focus is primarily on helping groups learn how to be more effective fundraisers in the area of relationship based fund-raising so not so much grantspace ship from government or large foundations or large corporations, but more that one to one kind of fund-raising typically when on organization wants to start raising money from individual donors, and that hasn’t been their emphasis, because maybe they got most of their funding from government of foundations. Now they want to diversify, they didn’t recruit aboard for that purpose and the board is saying, whoa, that wasn’t in our contract that’s when we step in and starting from where each organization is paint the dance steps on the floor that lead them to becoming effective in reaching out and building a sense of community among perspective and other donors that’s the most common type of referral that i’ve sent to you is someone is basically asking, how do we get to the next level? We’re all event driven, and we want to have individual donors, how do we do it? I send them to cause effective great. The other area that relates particularly board retreats is that we think boards are the vanguard of that individual relationship based fund-raising and the best motor motivation for a boardmember to go out and fundraisers to be is to understand the needs of the community and the mission and be driven to raise money. So the group has the resource is to fulfill that mission in the fullest way. So to do that requires really connecting every boardmember to the conception of the potential for the organization to realize its mission if it found the resource is cool. Thank you. Talk to them that you you do. You only work in the greater new york city area were primarily focused on new york city region because our work involves a lot of coaching and being in place. We like to say we embed ourselves with a client. So were present at board meetings that staff meeting staff trainings and there’s. A lot of trust building. So the work has tended to be done best when we are local within the tri state area. Okay, i don’t know what to say for the rest of the country. There are there are we do go out and speak and share our methodology at national conferences. Okay. Everything from the junior league. Teo bi annual conference for social change. You also have an excellent newsletter that i get that julie levine, the executive director, puts out. So, you know, you can sign up for the newsletter. This is all you’ll find. Because if that door okay, exactly. All right, let’s, circle back to the border, treat staff roll what’s the staff role in supporting this. You mentioned they might. They might be facilitating or maybe not facility, but leading cem. Session more supporting the board members to do that to lead those sessions. So i think staff always in relation to board is providing the legwork and context to board members to carry out their governance work so it might be collecting data and might be helping the board members identify what are the most important issues to be discussing in a retreat. Now, particularly exactly the partnership between the executive director and the chair is is always key. But you know, the development director might work with the head of the fundraising committee to say, what is it that’s going to be most helpful to emphasize? To get the board members particularly jazz for fund-raising in the coming year or get him ready for the gala are whatever are the key challenges in each area of governance for the year in the appropriate staff person who provides support to the board members in those areas, i will say, generally speaking, most board retreats on ly include senior staff there. Ah, sometimes there’s a portion where there’s joint board staff as portion of a retreat but really, i believe boards need their own time, so and their own focus. Oh! I’m not in favor of bringing in a lot of staff to a country of their own retreats. Or they might come in for a session exactly on dh, support that somehow and then depart. Yeah, that shouldn’t be here, right to have staff come in and talk about successes in their programs, to give boardmember sze in a nice taste of mission and to get to know a key staff person better even bringing a client for that purpose. But they come, they do their piece, and then they leave. Okay, okay. If we do this on a weekend saturday or sunday, do you like to see a dinner afterwards? Should we be asking people hang around for dinner or are people more likely to just leave when the business is concluded and not stay for the dinner? I i’d like to pull the board because if you have a board that has young children, for instance, they’re the boardmember probably less eager to skip dinner with the family on a weekend. If you have a board that’s older, they may be willing to devote more time and it’s lovely to have to finish with wood dinner together that i said, check in and see what the majority of the board feels. Okay, okay? You have some ideas about things that we want toe stay away from things teo avoid in our in our retreat buy-in you don’t want people doing a lot of reporting when that stuff that they could be doing in a regular meeting, right? So that’s a tendency to say, alright, this, as i say, we want to bring people up to speed and be on the same page, so we’re going to say the same thing to all of them in the room, but what happens is that they sit as passive recipients of that information, so better as you say, provide a report and then figure out how to structure a discussion that that brings in the latest information that you want people to absorb but make them do a little reading and then use that information in deliberation during the the retreat, i will say there’s an exception, there’s a portion of it of a retreat where providing information is appropriate, which is if you’re training for a new skill. So aaron mentioned more you mentioned providing the ability to read financial statements or something for us it’s typically fund-raising techniques like doing a practice, ask for money or practicing an elevator speech where there’s a piece of training involved and we’re really conveying information that’s appropriate for retreat, but for bringing people up to date on the daily activities of the organization. Save that for report and use the time when you’re reporting for the bigger stargazing issues. Okay, you also want to be judicious about what you include so that you’re not packing too much into the day and nothing gets adequate time. Exactly so ah, common issue is we didn’t do strategic planning this year. We need to get the strategic planning process done when we have everybody together, because we’re not gonna have together again in a room for five hours for the rest of the year, so let’s do fund-raising governance, strategic planning and, oh, by the way, we’ve got a bunch of other governance things that we didn’t do, i’m going to put it all, and then people feel overwhelmed and they don’t take away the key lessons well and everything. He’s done sloppy then examine those air such big issues, any one of them could could be a five hour planning planning session. Exactly. Okay, so so you got a pair it down to just a couple. So everything gets the attention that that’s, right? And i think some key years, their touch on touch on mission, touch on fund-raising touch on how the board is functioning in its overall governance, and then you can pick some issues that are specific to the group to focus on, even have a guest speaker who relates to ah, the area of mission for part of it. And the thing is to keep it lively, have it very participatory. I like to say a successful treat is one where people are disappointed that the day has come to an end and they say, why don’t we do this more often? Cool. Let’s. Wrap it up. We just have, like, thirty seconds left. You like to see good food? Absolutely. And wine to have wine, not overload the end. Yeah, absolutely wanted to paint at the end to celebrate the success is no that’s cool. Yeah, yeah, but if you’re bringing piela people giving their time on the weekend, you want to reward them with a with a pleasurable experience. No booze at lunch. Great going, senior associate itcause effective. You’ll find him at greg cause and again, the organization is cause effective and also at cause effective dot org’s. Thanks very much, greg. My pleasure. Good to have you back next week. Digital inclusion furthers your impact and your annual grants plan it’s with diane leonard. If you missed any part of today’s show, i beseech you, find it on tony martignetti dot com. We’re sponsored by pursuant online tools for small and midsize non-profits data driven and technology enabled and by we be spelling supercool spelling bee fundraisers. We b e spelling dot com. A creative producer is claire meyerhoff. Sam liebowitz is the line producer. Gavin dollars are am and fm outreach director shows social media is by susan chavez, and this music is by scott stein of brooklyn. Thank you for that, scotty. Be with me next week for non-profit radio. Big non-profit ideas for the other ninety five percent go out and the green. What’s not to love about non-profit radio tony gets the best guests check this out from seth godin this’s the first revolution since tv nineteen fifty and henry ford nineteen twenty it’s the revolution of our lifetime here’s a smart, simple idea from craigslist founder craig newmark insights orn presentation or anything? People don’t really need the fancy stuff they need something which is simple and fast. When’s the best time to post on facebook facebook’s andrew noise nose at traffic is at an all time hyre on nine a, m or p m so that’s, when you should be posting your most meaningful post here’s aria finger ceo of do something dot or ge young people are not going to be involved in social change if it’s boring and they don’t see the impact of what they’re doing. So you got to make it fun and applicable to these young people look so otherwise a fifteen and sixteen year old they have better things to do if they have xbox, they have tv, they have their cell phones me dar is the founder of idealist took two or three years for foundation staff to sort of dane toe add an email address their card, it was like it was phone. This email thing is fired-up that’s, why should i give it away? Charles best founded donors choose dot or ge somehow they’ve gotten in touch kind of off line as it were and and no two exchanges of brownies and visits and physical gift mark echo is the founder and ceo of eco enterprises. You may be wearing his hoodies and shirts. Tony talked to him. Yeah, you know, i just i’m a big believer that’s, not what you make in life. It zoho, you know, tell you make people feel this is public radio host majora carter. Innovation is in the power of understanding that you don’t just put money on a situation expected to hell. You put money in a situation and invested and expect it to grow and savvy advice for success from eric sabiston. What separates those who achieve from those who do not is in direct proportion to one’s ability to ask others for help. The smartest experts and leading thinkers air on tony martignetti non-profit radio big non-profit ideas for the other ninety five percent.

Nonprofit Radio for December 23, 2016: Fundraising and Finance Friendship & Your CEO/Board Chair Partnership

Big Nonprofit Ideas for the Other 95%

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Rich Dietz & Dan Murphy: Fundraising and Finance Friendship

Abila has a study about the challenges between your fundraising and finance folks, and the opportunities for collaboration that will make your nonprofit a happier and more productive organization. In the ring are the study co-authors: Rich Dietz, fighting in the fundraising corner, and Dan Murphy for finance. Can these pugilists make peace? (Originally aired 5/20/16)

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John Fulwider: Your CEO/Board Chair Partnership

How do you cultivate this critical relationship? What should they be asking each other? John Fulwider is a consultant and author of “Better Together.” (Originally aired 4/3/15)

 

 


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Hello and welcome to tony martignetti non-profit radio big non-profit ideas for the other ninety five percent on your aptly named host we’ve got a listener of the week robin jacobson, she tweeted, i learned about your show from liza dyer. I love what you’re doing lies. It was a show was a guest a couple weeks ago. Liza, thank you very much for sharing this show with robin. Robin, welcome to non-profit radio. So happy that you found us through liza. I love that you love what we’re doing. I thank you very much for that you can you can follow our listener the week she’s at robin ruin r o b i n r o u e n ruin, of course, the city in france. Common knowledge. Robyn. Welcome to the show. Thanks so much for being with us. Congratulations on being our listener of the week. Robin jacobson. Oh, i’m glad you’re with me. I’d be hit with blefary denied us if you inflamed me with the idea that you missed today’s show fund-raising and finance friendship abila has a study about the challenges between your fund-raising and finance folks and the opportunities for collaboration that will make your non-profit a happier and more productive place to be in the ring or the study co authors rich dietz fighting in the fund-raising corner and dan murphy for finance. How can these pugilists make peace that originally aired on may twentieth this year and your ceo board chair partnership? How do you cultivate this crucial relationship? What should they be asking each other? John fulwider is a consultant and author of better together and that originally aired on april thirteenth last year on tony’s take two thank you p s that hair we’re sponsored by pursuant full service fund-raising data driven and technology enabled, you’ll raise more money pursuant dot com and by we be spelling supercool spelling bee fundraisers, wee bey e spelling dot com now chek out rich dietz and dan murphy in the ring with fund-raising and finance friendship very pleased to welcome excuse me, rich dietz and dan murphy to the show rich dietz is director of fund-raising strategy for abila he has spent the last twenty years working with and in a wide variety of non-profit political and government organizations, as well as technology companies focused on the nonprofit sector. Dan murphy is product manager for my p fundacao n’t ing at abila. He has an extensive background in financial management with degrees in finance and accounting and over ten years of non-profit accounting experience and he’s aboard treasurer of a non-profit in austin, texas. Rich, welcome back to the show. Dan. Welcome to non-profit radio. Thanks for having me here. Pleasure. I did. I mr pronounce the name of the company that when i was first introducing its abila abila abila that is correct. In case i didn’t say that in the in the opening, that is the correct pronunciation and it’s a b l a. Okay, dan, you’re on the on the finance side, rich on the fund-raising side. Rich let’s, start with you. What was this study about fund-raising and finance all about. Why did you feel it was necessary? Yes, it’s. Kind of interesting, though. You know, as a software company focused on the non profit sector, we have products for fund accountants. You know, for accountant we have products for fundraisers, and dan works mostly on that finance side. I work mostly on the fund-raising side. We we we realized we’re not collaborating amongst ourselves. Even here at the office and then dan and i started talking, and we’re like, hey, we have all this all this anecdotal evidence from our past working at non-profits of this sort of adversarial relationship, and so we thought, hey, let’s, get there, especially get to what’s going on and actually ask non-profits is this, you know, collaboration? Or is it really an adversarial relationship? So we surveyed a fourteen hundred non-profits and we really wanted to dig into what is this perception of collaboration? What’s the biggest challenge is on and maybe some ways that we could, you know, help that that that collaboration actually increase. Yes, dan, a perception of collaboration. It’s it’s, not really all that collaborative, a lot of people feel that’s, right? Yeah, it actually turns out that more than half the fundraisers that we surveyed, as well as almost half of the financial professionals about that their relationship with their respective collaborates other departments was either not collaborative or very little collaboration was happening. So we saw there’s a lot of room for opportunity, both in the actual collaboration processes, as well as the perception of whether collaboration could be a value to the organization that is very glass half full of youto recognize it as an opportunity rather than are these kids? Yuki departments are not talking to each other on and there’s also some very interesting differences across the generations, which will, which we’ll get to you very shortly. Um okay. What? What are what are some of the problems? Let’s us stay with you, daniel what’s. What? What? What’s causing some of this lack of collaboration, sir. I mean, there’s a lot of contributing factors to, you know, why these organizations may not be collaborating as much as they could. They have different reporting metrics that they’re using to evaluate their success and their their progress toward their milestones. Some of them, you know, have very distinctly goes, especially on the financial side. You know, we talked about gap. We talked about cosby and there’s. All these other acronyms that we use that our counterparts and development may not be used to using may not understand very well as well. On the fundrasing side, you know, there’s there’s also the very specific acronyms and, uh, different ways of speaking that maybe a little bit different than what? The finance side of the house. Used to and then just in the Job you know what 1 sector down now? We have joined in jail on tony martignetti non-profit radio. So already you the finance trouble guy have ah, you’ve transgressed what you have to tell us what gap and fast b stand for everybody doesn’t know, okay, yeah gases generally accepted accounting principles. So it’s kind of a principal guiding philosophy of accounting in the united states and fast because the financial accounting standards board and their governing agency responsible for regulation of accounting practices. Okay, thank you. So we’re trying to bridget tronvig? Yeah. Okay. We’re trying to bridge the gap here. Let’s not make that right. Let’s not make a warrant and you make it work. So it just in daily activities, the two different development and finance department’s had very different priorities. So, you know, one side of the house is tryingto raise money to make sure that the organization can continue to find its activities and expanded commission on dh. Then, of course, the financial side of the house is wanting to make sure that the resources of the organization are responsibly managed. The finances are adequately classified and reported. The stakeholders so just two different philosophies to see the same mission organizations tryto rich over to you, the even metrics, right? What what metrics the two different sides look at are very different. Yeah, and this is interesting. Dan and i spent a lot of time talking about it because it first, so so we asked the fundraisers and the finance folks what’s your top five challenges and all that stuff and metrics and reporting was in both of their top five, and it was different metrics and reporting at first we were like, oh, wow, that that could be a problem, but then as we dug geever without no that’s, actually, right? I think the fund-raising teams and the finance team should have different metrics and reporting, they’re actually reporting on different things. The problem is when we don’t have common goals and and overarching goals that both of those metrics and reporting feet up into and so when we get into the recommendations in the report, that’s where we really start talking about joint goal setting before you even get to figuring out what you’re going to report on figuring out what the over our goals of the organization are, and then how to both those departments feed into those over our goals. We think that’s going to help overcome a lot of those of those differences that that people are saying a greater understanding way we need to meet in the middle and there’s a lot obviously that’s in common now everybody wants to advance the mission, they wouldn’t be there otherwise, but but let’s let’s find what’s comin and understand what’s outside the common areas for exactly yeah, all right, let’s, go out for a for a quick break and when we come back, the three of us we will we’ll keep talking all have our little ah, we’re going to find out more about the differences across generations. Very interesting. Stay with us. You’re tuned to non-profit radio tony martignetti also hosts a podcast for the chronicle of philanthropy fund-raising fundamentals is a quick ten minute burst of fund-raising insights published once a month. Tony’s guests are expert in crowdfunding, mobile giving event fund-raising direct mail and donor cultivation. Really, all the fund-raising issues that make you wonder am i doing this right? Is there a better way there is? Find the fund-raising fundamentals. Archive it. Tony martignetti dot com that’s marketmesuite n e t t i remember there’s, a g before the end, thousands of listeners have subscribed on itunes. You can also learn maura, the chronicle website, philanthropy dot com fund-raising fundamentals the better way. Oppcoll welcome back to big non-profit ideas for the other ninety five percent. Dan, you are ah, product manager for m i p fundez counting at abila now already. This is three acronyms from the finance side. We’ve had none from the fan fund-raising side, so i’m starting to see where the problems lie. What is m i p or mip? I don’t know. It’s micro information processes it’s a name that we’ve had for a significant amount of time. That’s very well recognized in the non-profit finance sector. Okay, very well recognized. The non-profit in the finance sector. Okay. That’s, right? We’re trying to bridge gaps now. Damn, i not break down bridges all right now. Okay. Um ah, rich acquaint us with some of the the difference is this is really interesting across the generations, boomers feel that three things everything’s fine and the millennials are not as content. Yeah, this is really interesting. That’s something we’re doing a lot in our research studies now is we’re kind of breaking out a lot of the answers based on generation, you know, boomer’s, gen xers and millennials, especially because that’s who’s in the work force right now on what we ask the questions about how they felt, you know, did they feel collaborative? We saw the boomers felt pretty collaborative on both the finance and the fund-raising side, fifty seven percent to sixty percent on the finance side. Ah, but the millennials felt way less collaborative on the fund-raising side on dh then and i talked about it. Dan actually had a really interesting theory on this, and i’ll actually kick it over to him so he could talk about that i thought was really interesting and something i think we can address. Okay, let me ask first, though, am i the only baby boomer in this in this conversation born before nineteen sixty four? I believe so. I’m a gen xer. You are. So we have one of each. Okay, dan, your millennial. Is that right? No, i actually fall into genetic. You’re ok. You have a baby face. Okay? Uh, that’s. Too bad. Because i was going to beat up on you as a representative of millennials. Why? Why? The millennials are causing so much havoc in the workplace. Why? They can’t be more content. But go ahead. What is your what is your theory? Well, my theory. Is that if you look at the data, there really seems to be a tendency for the boomers too collaborate together is somewhat, but to communicate definitely directly, but there definitely seems to be a tendency on the finance side of the house for both the djinn xers and the millennials to have more communication and contact with the senior members on the fund-raising side of the house and i suspect, and we’ll probably dig into this a bit more, but it’s most likely because of the, you know, i strive for efficiency and kind of just wanting to get to the the answer is something rather than build relationships focus. So i think a lot of that is probably more driven by the finance side of the house, which is why you can see the collaborators collaboration, sentiment hyre on that side. Unfortunately, i think that means that the millennials connectors on the development side of the house might be kind of circum bennett in some of these conversations on dh left out in some cases. What about personality, too? I’m generalizing here, but i don’t think you’re average finance side person is is as outgoing, you know, the relationship oriented extroverts, aziz, you’ll find on the fund-raising side. So i mean, i think that’s definitely fair to say not to say that accountants are incredibly wake up on and find accounting. I know beating on the accounting and finance side. I know i’m trying not to, but i don’t know that it’s a stereotype, but so, you know, call it that’s what that’s, what i’m doing, but i think fundez sorry, but i think fundraisers arm or, like, extroverted and so they’re seeking mohr collaboration than the people on the finance side of the same age, even well, i think you could also just very clearly make the argument that inherent in the development role is a focus on relationships that is part of that role within the organization that doesn’t exist as much on the finance side. Okay, all right. So you yeah, and so yes, certainly job responsibilities on the way the two the two sides are organized and what their purpose is our butt. And so i think as a result of that, you get personalities that are different in the two different teams. All right? I know you don’t agree with the personality theory. That we agree that degree of that and you’re back in the report when we get into the recommendations, we actually talked about kind of breaking down some of those personality, you know, division’s, like, actually start doing some joint activities, you know? Do you know i’m a big fan of doing something outside of work, a happy hour after work at the finance and fund-raising folks together outside of the workplace, you know, maybe have a drink and start talking about other things besides work went to get to know someone as a person and of course, on the fundraiser saying this because that’s what we did, you know, you go out and you get to know people you learn about their kids, their pets, all that stuff, and it makes that next conversation you have with them at work even easier. So we have to drag the finance people to this happy hour that’s, right, and then stopped them from just talking to each other, right? We have to penetrate their circle. I’m beating up on the, uh, okay, small organizations, let’s get that damn small organizations a lot more potential. Well, depends what you want to describe. It small organizations are a lot more collaborative. That’s, right? Yeah. We found that there’s a significant difference between large organizations and small organizations in the level of collaboration that’s happening. We also theorized that a large contributing factor to this is that in the smaller organizations you have smaller staff, and so people are forced to collaborate, you know, there’s fewer people to get the job done. A lot of organizations, people may wear multiple hats or, you know, play different roles in the organization. So there’s a hot a lot higher level of interaction, there’s, more frequency of interaction on a lot of time. People are, you know, just physically located closer together. And so whether you know it’s a small organization and only has a single office or small office space many times, these finance and development individuals responsible for those roles are physically closer to each other. And so there’s a lot of a lot higher level of interaction that leads to more collaboration. That makes a lot of intuitive sense. But i think it’s important to point out, you define smaller organizations as less than ten million dollars, right? Listen, krauz million annual revenue, so we’re not talking about necessarily tiny shops where it’s two or three people and obviously there more collaborative than bigger organizations. But, you know, a ten million dollar annual revenue that could have dozens of employees that’s, right and that’s a good point there, not there not, you know, five or ten person shops, but at the strategic planning level on the less than ten million dollar organizations we saw a lot hyre interaction in the strategic planning processes and the budgeting process is and, you know, kind of the key processes for each role. And so we also saw smaller staff size, and so their just was a lot higher level of interaction required to get things done. And so, you know, there’s kind of a necessity there for these these rules to interact more and there’s more opportunity for him to do so, as opposed to above ten million. There started to be, you know, significant layers within the organization that lead to inflation. Right? Right. Rich. Anything you want to add about the small versus large organizations? No, i think it’s pretty much what diane said. Where? You know, if you have a smaller office, you’re gonna bump into people in the hallway more and then you know, you’re not you’re not divided by department as much, you know, there’s, not a finance department over on floor four and the fund-raising department on floor three when you’re not even a ten million dollar zorg, you’re probably all in the same office and you beat each other in the break room and everything in those again hi. Always go back to the human interaction. That human interaction is what really breaks down those silos. Also reporting structures. No smaller organization like that have fewer vice presidents. So teams are more cohesive because they’re clustered together. Yeah, definitely. All right. So we got some problem areas, you know, lying around like goals and priorities. Language, metrics, personalities, let’s. Move to the positive now and start identifying some opportunities for ah, making things, making the world a happier place. So this is not a boxing match between fund-raising and finance. Rich want to stay with you? What? What? What’s. Ah, let’s. Talk about the social ideas first since you already touched on that. Yeah. I mean, definitely social ideas. It’s. You know, finding ways to get more human interaction there. And you’re like you’re saying, you know, dragging the finance folks out the happy hour again. A lot of them may not want to go to that happy hour, so maybe start with a brown bag lunch, you know, has at the office, everyone gets in the same room, bring your own lunch on dh. You know, watch a movie, you know, just talk about something else. Just start to get those interactions to start anyway, that you can do it, andi and you have to keep pushing that, you know, so that that would be not mayan number one tip. Okay? Yes, i like i like the social ideas, too. That’s. Why? I was i was glad you mentioned it, but we could be more formal to some training. Right? Some basic training. Dan that’s, right? Yeah. You can really structure your onboarding process and offer training to, you know, cross training between the two different departments to facilitate the interaction too. You know, in increase that cohesion between the two teams to work toward the joint mission of the organization. And that could be, you know, it’s. Simple as modifying your onboarding processes to have, you know, an explanation and as part of those processes of what the different departments do, what their goals are, kind of what they’re key processes are, and it could even advanced something where there might be a periodic schedule training where one department will train the other one. And you know what they do, how the reporting works, other systems work, or even just a collaborative meeting that’s on the calendar every month or, you know, every other week or however frequently it might be in order to keep each each other aware of what’s going on within your respective department so that you’re kind of synchronized on on what’s going on and what the priorities are across the organization and maybe in in orientation, we can have a day or so, you know, whatever, where the fundraiser goes over to the finance department spend or is at least onboarding by someone in finance, and so from day one, we’re getting a an empathy for what’s happening on the other side, right? And making sure that you understand how your processes are, you know, feed into the processes of the other departments, so for fund-raising maybe that’s gift entry and understanding how you know, downstream that goes into the accounting system and how that kind of goes through the financial reporting process. So you understand what you’re doing, it directly impacts the finance department and the reports that they produce and on the finance department side in accounting, understanding the gift solicitation process and what it takes to get that money in the door and entered into your serum or whatever your dahna records system is on dh, then how that gets to you an accounting. So you understand that full process because it’s, nobody really operates in a vacuum, so we’re really making sure that you connect the dots between the organizational department. Dan was a part of the tension. I thought i read that finance doesn’t understand the need for spending money on relationship building. Yeah, it definitely can be a challenge to understand why you would spend resources on something as abstract as relationships that that’s definitely a story that resonates more with some than it does others for accountants and finance related in, you know oriented individuals you want to be able to show direct outcomes for resource is used for money spent and its hard to quantify. That whenever you’re saying you’re investing in relationship, but you know that, but that is required to cultivate relationships with donors that will ultimately lead revenue in the front door. And so there is a return on that it’s just very hard to quantify that through reports, you know, through the traditional financial reporting process so it can be hard for to rationalize and justify spending funds or resource is in that way. But i think that through collaboration, that story can be told jointly from the department of, you know, development narrating kind of the relationship side of that and helping them finance to quantify what the return on that is and communicate that out. Do either of you know our master’s programs in non-profit management brake, bringing these these two department’s together, and helping people with the finance background understand mohr of fund-raising and vice versa? Do you know if that’s happening at the degree level or certificate level? Okay, i don’t know if it’s happening at the degree level. I do know that there are sort of think it’s available for non-profit management and leadership, that tie kind of the executive roles finance rolls, the development rolls it’s some degree the volunteer roles together for people that are enrolled in that program to give people have a three hundred sixty degree view of the organization. I don’t know that the intention is specifically for collaboration, but it is too kind of enhance the literacy of the participants in the various areas so that they can be effective leaders. Yeah, okay, i mean, i hope that’s going on. We have meteo thie. Only degree i have is a law degree, and i don’t have a certificate on, come on, classically under credential to even host the show. I don’t know what somebody’s looking like in front of me six years ago. I don’t know what happened. All right, a dan you start of ah alluded to this talking about the budget let’s, let’s jump over to rich, we can work together on our budgeting. Yeah, most definitely eye on me. And i touch on this earlier little bit is, you know, we have these different priorities and these different metrics that were that were held accountable for in both departments on and i think instead of starting at that point, which is where most budgets get put together, the fund-raising side says, we need this in the finance side says, well, i got all these departments say that need all this stuff, taking a step back and going to that joint goal setting and budgeting as step one look at the look at the big bucket first, and then break out into your department’s and trying to figure that out. I think some of the frustration we heard a lot in the in the open ended answers of the survey was, you know, fund-raising sango finance just gave us this number to go fund-raising it doesn’t really mean anything. They just pick the number out of the sky it’s not like, and i’m sure finances saying the same thing, you know, who are these fundraisers that are just throwing these numbers at us? You mean? And so if you just take a step back and out of that silo and do that joint gold setting and budgeting, i think that everyone knows where the where the basis is. And then we break and do and figure out our, you know, our specific goals in there, and then come back together again to make sure that those makes sense for everybody. So it is it’s really a three hundred sixty degree? Ah process there and again, just another one. Another way to break us out of those silos. And i think that’s going to increase the collaboration greatly. When you understand what the other side is struggling with, then you do a much better job of making sure your data clean. Making sure your data is getting to them in a way that they need. And then everything just flows better. Have you had any feedback on the survey that it’s stimulated conversations are? We used it as a way to start well, that’s stimulate the conversation or it helped bridge this gap any feedback like that? Way, actually have our vp of marketing test that gerard has some really good friends in the industry. And he talked to one of his fundraiser guys. And he said they took the report with the his counterpart on the thunder on the finance side, and they went out to lunch and just talked about the report. And they said it was one of the best conversations that they’ve ever had in, like, ten years. So we are getting really good anecdotal evidence that it just it gives you something to talk about, something to start with and then go. Okay, so how how do we match against that? Are we doing better? We doing worse? Where can we improve? You know, it’s sometimes easier to have at least something in common that you’re talking about. And then, you know, again, break down those silos. That’s, outstanding that’s, a that’s, a that’s, a grand slam. I hope some listeners will. You know, if you hear this first and then bring it to the people that can help start to start the conversation, you know, listening to this you can get the study at abila dot com slash collaboration study and abila is a b piela abila dot com slash collaboration study? Yeah, i mean, it’s, you know, it’s, great to hear. Okay, glad you got that kind of feedback. Excellent. Um we’ll see what else we can let’s drown. Another opportunity, dan let’s, go to you some some shared terminology we can we can put together, yeah, something that could help. And it can also kind of jointly work with the train and onboarding is to create a reporting in metric, so we call it t cheat and that is just a place where, you know, both apartments can kind of see what the critical metrics for each department are, how they’re being used, that kind of how they’re derived. And then what? The important reports that are being generated for stakeholder consumption for public use, whatever the case may be, basically, what the story of the organization that’s being communicated is through reporting so you could make sure that you’re both on the same page, that you’re being consistent in what’s being reported. And really, i mean both from a practical point of view to make sure that, you know, i don’t boardmember you’re not telling two different stories. To your board and also from a community and mission point of view to make sure that you’re really making the most out of the data that you have out of the stories the organization have, that you’re effectively communicating the missions so that you can raise the most and really, you know, put your best foot forward as an organization for your mission. It sounds like a cz much as the the the outcome of that, that that that deliver herbal will have value just the collaborative process of putting it together together. We’ll have value. Absolutely. We’re gonna work together. We gotta define what are unknown terms are to each other and things like that’s going to start the conversation, right? You have to be able to communicate effectively internally before you can communicate externally. Okay? All right, rich, we’re going to wrap it up, which is just, like, a minute or so. You have some opportunities around software integration. Yeah. Yeah, integration was another one. And, you know, we definitely go deeper into the into the report on that. But we ask, you know, how important was integration, you know, to to the finance and fund-raising quotes. And we saw some interesting things there, including it seemed the younger the person was, the more they wanted integration, which, you know you would would would make sense. Millennials have had their lives integrated online forever, so they’re very much into integration. Some of the older boomers, um, tended to be a little more skeptical of of integration. So there’s definitely some stuff to teo look at their what dan and i found on the integration pieces that there might be some fear around integration about, oh, that’s, our data and i don’t know if i trust, you know, a machine to actually move the data correctly. I’d rather do it myself manually. So i think we need to do a lot of training on dh showing folks that that that software integration, you know, data going from your finance from your fund-raising software to your finance up our can actually save a lot of time can actually save a lot of double entry on and and and keep your data very clean. So i think that’s something that’s going to take a little time for people to get comfortable with it powerthru deeds, director of fund-raising strategy at abila also dann murphy, product manager for was it micro integrated processes fund accounting my p my p my p i got it wrong in other words, okay, we’ll stick with that. Might be also abila, gentlemen, thank you very much. Thank you. My pleasure. Your ceo board chair partnership with john fulwider is coming up first pursuant. Check out overcoming the major donor dilemma it’s free as all their researches, they’re so generous with the stuff it’s unbelievable. This one is a ah white paper that will help you identify new major donors, help you engage them and optimize your major donor cultivation all wrapped up in one in one paper says unbelievable, overcoming the major donor dilemma you’ll find it at pursuant dot com quick resource is, and then content papers do it for pete’s sake, we’d be spelling spelling bees for fund-raising your word is shenanigans. Watch the new video and see how the contestants do it’s from a night that raised one hundred ten thousand dollars for hfc, which has helped for children. If you want to have a fun night with stand up comedy, live music, dancing, spelling on raising a ton of money, check out the latest video, please, at we b e spelling dot com now tony’s, take two. My latest video is thank you excuse me. I’m a little scratchy today. Thank you. It didn’t crack though it just broke. It was difficult to crack and break very different. Very different. Do not confuse them. I’m grateful that you are you’re with us, you’ve been with us through twenty sixteen. Thank you so much. We’re up over twelve thousand plus listeners now very often i should i’m hasn’t. You know i’m conservative in these things always say over twelve thousand all the time but it’s very frequent trust me over twelve thousand. So the ten thousand is fading, and i’m so grateful for that whether your loving non-profit radio by listening subscribing wherever you subscriber listen whichever platform, whether its affiliate or podcast or live if you are getting my insider alerts by email every thursday so you know where the guests are each week? You with me on facebook, twitter, youtube, youtube actually, youtube, twitter much better than facebook there’s a lot more going on there. Keep facebook active, but i have more fun on youtube and twitter wherever you are. With me with us with non-profit radio, thank you so much. Thank you, there’s. A ps to that video. That hair my hair is very long. You’ve been watching it grow if you’re with me on youtube and i addressed that issue head on, check out the video at tony martignetti dot com that is tony’s take two and to show my affection of course what comes eyes is only one way to do it live. Listen, love. We’re all over the world today. The uk, seoul, south korea multiple in new york, new york, norway italia, espana, san jose, california, about our china, uh, college station, texas. Killeen, texas. Multiple texas ho chin minh city, vietnam is with us. Okayama, japan i love it. I’m going to dispense with the languages today, you know, i know all the languages. I’m fluent in japanese, chinese, korean, the mexican spanish czech republic i know what you know. Fluent take my word for it affiliate affections they got to go out are am and fm listeners all over the country. Thank you so much for listening through your affiliate station and the podcast pleasantries to the very frequently over twelve thousand listeners. A week. Whatever you’re doing while you’re listening, i thank you for being with us. Thank you for having me in your ear while you’re carrying on your life. Podcast pleasantries to you here’s john fulwider from the april third twenty fifteen show your ceo board chair partnership john fulwider is with me. He helps non-profit chief executives, he combines coaching, teaching and training toe work exclusively with high achieving ceos. I want their leadership teams and boards to row in the same direction. His latest book is better together non-profits ceos and board chairs get happy and fall in love with the mission i hope the book is shorter than the title john he’s at john fulwider dot com and on twitter he’s at john m fulwider welcome john fulwider thanks so much, tony, its honor and pleasure to be here. Thank you. I’m glad and you’re you’re calling from omaha, nebraska. Is that right? Lincoln, nebraska lincoln, nebraska pardon me, i gave you live. Listen love to lincoln pardon me. That’s. Right, lincoln i hope you didn’t take me too seriously when i was admonishing you about requesting live listener love careful, they’re not at all ok, good. Don’t take nobody listens to me, it’s all in good fun. Okay, your book is ah siri’s of questions, which i love, that that ceos and board chairs should be asking each other. What? What shortcomings do you see in this relationship? That you want to be a partnership? You know, i wantto start with the possibilities that you can achieve from a really healthy and successful partnership before i get to the shortcomings. If i could. The possibilities are amazing. Too high achieving, growth oriented, talented, passionate people can really support each other and accomplishing together for themselves, for the organization and for the mission, something they wouldn’t be able to achieve a part. And so it can be a really fulfilling effort asked, spend their wanting two, maybe three years of the border chairs leadership term together, really accomplishing something that they could both feel proud of at the end of those years. Okay, um, but i’m still gonna ask my question. Don’t be an anarchist now taking over the show. What? What? What now? I got two shortcomings or what? You know what? What’s typical of the board chair ceo relationship that that you see and when? You build that strong partnership, you can avoid a number of pitfalls. One of them is just failure to develop trust and transparency in your relationship, which was really the bedrock for leading together at the start. Next up, you can sail to communicate often enough, and as a result, neither the board chair nor the chief executive gets what she or he needs in terms of information to even run an effective board meeting, much less provide some really inspiring strategic direction. Two the organization and the last thing that you can do is fail to establish clear expectations of each other. So you’re sort of casting about rudderless, not really knowing who’s. Responsible for what? And that’s not a fun or indeed the filling of productive position for either of the leaders to be. How about that trust the how do people in these positions let’s take it’s? Ah, new relationship. Either the board chair is new, or the ceo is new to the organization. How do we start to build build that trust? You know, it really just begins in conversation, tony change begins in conversation conversation with your most important partner that being your board chair if you’re the chief executive, the chief executive, if you’re the board chair, it’s just a matter of starting off the relationship, right with some open ended kind of deep questions that let you start to develop that trust and transparency from the very start in the book associate in the workbook associated with the book, i have a list of those questions that go from sort of short to medium so long, and you can kind of customize it based on the time you have, and you have them broken down into categories and then within the categories, there are lots of different topic areas, marketing and accountability, and that’s right succession planning. So i really like this question and answer that i mean, i they’re they’re all questions to stimulate conversation and conversation hopefully is going to be honest and open, and that helps us get to trusting partnership. Indeed, it is a virtuous cycle. Okay. All right. Let’s, let’s, talk about some of these questions. I like them so much. Um, you don’t mind if we start with marketing, do you? Would that be okay? No. Let’s, let’s. Go right into it. Ok, so you’re the way. It’s laid out is you give some perspectives, cem quotes for thinking for the people. Tto consider on the subject and then ask your partner and there’s lots of ask your partner questions and, uh, you know that you ask some very basic ones around marketing. What should our message be? Who needs to hear it? Where where does it need to be? Can two people, though sitting in a room together out, answer these, they can begin to answer them, tony and in a way that generates questions for other people, let me let me use one of your previous guests as an example of how this could work. So you have a guest one or two weeks ago talking about your board as brand ambassadors, and there was that there was that question, as i recall about, you know, what does our organization even do in terms of category where we capacity building organization? Or were we making social change organization? I believe your guest said, and and that’s a question that you and your board chair i’m just going to talk from the chief executive’s perspective because those of the clients i work with you can ask your board chair? Well, bored share? What the you how would you categorize our organization and then ask your board chair? How do you think your colleagues on the board would categorise the organization? And that helps the board chair decide? Well, hey, maybe i need to lead a discussion on this at the next board meeting because i’m not sure and i want to find out. So starting a conversation with your board chair starts conversations that she or he has with her or his colleagues. Okay, so these are not going to be questions that we’re going to sit down in a couple of our long meetings, and we’re going to have answers to no, we’re not going to figure it out for ourselves, but we’re going to we’re going to start the conversation. We’re going to use our knowledge at my knowledge as the chief executive of the leadership teams perspective and the board chair her knowledge of her colleagues on the board, their perspectives. We’re going to use it to narrow dance on our information, gathering our question, asking for our colleagues. Okay, by the way, that guessed that you were referring. Teo, your board is brand ambassadors two weeks ago was roger sametz, um, also with the also in one of your marketing questions, looking internally, how good a job are we doing? Getting our message to our own board and staff, you want some introspection here? Yeah, absolutely, i mean, one of the one of the challenges that that i i always here when i’m working with, not for for-profit is the staff in general are pretty dissatisfied with what they perceive as the board’s level of knowledge about and interest in the organization and then what i find when that when when we really examine it, the board tends to have more knowledge and information about the organization, then was the staff perception and so conversations about marketing and branding and the, you know, sort of internal outside perspective on the organization can be sort of a safe and comfortable way for people to get rid of negative assumptions they might have about their colleagues. I’m going to move to one that also i find interesting internal threats to the organiser from, like you ask who is a flight risk on the board who air flight risks on our staff? This is right. This is very, very good. You risked management. I would call it, too. Yeah, absolutely. And it’s it’s something not not every organization really has the time or bandwidth to consider, but it is pretty hard to attract high quality talent. You are not for-profit organizations for various reasons everyone’s familiar with so once we have a really talents and high achieving, competent person on board, we need to take special care to ensure that we retain that person by continuing to challenge her or him offering a clear way up in the organization and so on. That could be the downside of term limits. Indeed it can. On the on the board side and boy, you know, if we get into the question of term limits will get into the question of government governance structures, and this conversation will get too complicated and i will wind up in jargon jail well, but you’re well, i’ll i’ll put your there, i’ll put your but they’re easily so you may end up there anyway, but let’s not let’s, not let’s. Not underestimate the capacity of non-profit radio listeners. Very sophisticated audience. Ah lutely. So i think they’re up for ah governance. Conversation. We may. We may get there, you that’s one of the other topics that you have questions around governance and accountability. But oh, i mean, if i can, if i can address term limits for just seconds under under governance, you know, that’s one of the frustrations of building a partnership with your board chair is that it’s a short term relationship. You could be doing all this work that i recommend. And i recommend doing a lot of work on this relationship on ly to have that person term out of the board chair seat one year from now, maybe two years, probably at the most three years. So term limits are a big deal in this context. Okay, buy-in but as we’re identifying let’s say, you know ah, well, who’s, the who’s a flight risk on the board we should be. Then the next question is going to be, well, what’s our succession plan for for that well, flight risk or, you know, whether it’s term limits or whatever whatever reason president is going to in the position. So how do you how would you feel about having a neg zsystems chair and the planned successor? Whoever that is the vice chair. Whatever the the chair to be named in this conversation, could we do this is a three way. Sure, we definitely could do that. The first thing you need to do is have the two way conversation where you’re building the solid partnership with your board chair. And honestly, if that’s all the two of you have the time, space and bandwidth to do, just stop there because you’ll be ahead of many other people who are in a leadership partnership. But if you can, by all means bring device chair, they’re electing the president elect that sort of thing into your discussions and and talk about how we can keep the strong leadership goodness culture flowing. But then also talk about how we need to customize the relationship to the prospective, the incoming board chair, because the nature of building trust with that person setting expectations, clarifying rolls and the style and manner and frequency of communication. It’s all going to be different for that new person? Yes, customized not not cookie cutter. And yes, not one size fits. All right, right. That’s, that’s offensive to the incoming person. Then you know right. Alright. Loss of trust there. We just have a minute or so before a break. Um, you would also like us under internal threats, to be looking at which of our programs is below par or failing. Sure and and that’s a great conversation. Tio have with your board chair, because you’re bored. Chair isn’t in the organization twenty six hours a day. Thinking about it, like like you are, doesn’t have probably that attachments teo each of the programs, and so can offer and unbiased mohr outside you at what is working and what is not in the organization and honestly, can help you strategize about how to do the influence campaign necessary on your board, and indeed, with your staff, and maybe even your thunders, to eliminate a failing program in order to allocate resources to something that is creating social change. Let’s, take a break. When we come back, john and i are going toe. Keep covering some questions that the ceo on board chair should be asking each other. Hang in there. Like what you’re hearing a non-profit radio tony’s got more on youtube, you’ll find clips from stand up comedy tv spots and exclusive interviews catch guests like seth gordon. Craig newmark, the founder of craigslist marquis of eco enterprises, charles best from donors choose dot org’s aria finger do something that or neo-sage levine from new york universities heimans center on philanthropy tony tweets to he finds the best content from the most knowledgeable, interesting people in and around non-profits to share on his stream. If you have valuable info, he wants to re tweet you during the show. You can join the conversation on twitter using hashtag non-profit radio twitter is an easy way to reach tony he’s at tony martignetti narasimhan t i g e n e t t i remember there’s a g before the end he hosts a podcast for the chronicle of philanthropy fund-raising fundamentals is a short monthly show devoted to getting over your fund-raising hartals just like non-profit radio, toni talks to leading thinkers, experts and cool people with great ideas. As one fan said, tony picks their brains and i don’t have to leave my office fund-raising fundamentals was recently dubbed the most helpful non-profit podcast you have ever heard. You can also join the conversation on facebook, where you can ask questions before or after the show. The guests were there, too. Get insider show alerts by email, tony tells you who’s on each week and always includes link so that you can contact guests directly. To sign up, visit the facebook page for tony martignetti dot com. Hi, this is claire meyerhoff from the plan giving agency. If you have big dreams but a small budget, you have a home at tony martignetti non-profit radio. Got lots more live listener love tons of live listeners today serbia is with us live listener love out there. Mccarty in the philippines, mexico city, mexico. I’ll be flying there in october on my way to stop a for opportunity collaboration. Go through mexico city, reservoir, australia, bogota, colombia, seoul, south korea several in seoul not surprised. Always appreciative. Thank you very much on your haserot in japan, kawasaki and tokyo konnichi wa also spire germany, gooden dog amazing let’s, bring it back to the u s, newport news, virginia, omaha, nebraska. John omaha, eyes on and multiple in lincoln, nebraska so you’ve got some family there. I don’t know some people love you in lincoln, nebraska and pflueger ville, texas i love pflueger ville welcome live listener love to each person listening live. John, do you mind if we, since we’ve sort of headed in this direction to look what some succession planning for the for the board chair and for the ceo, we’ll do it that way, okay? Your questions for for those two are pretty similar, so i would just take him in a bunch recognizing that nobody’s going to be in the position forever. What? What skills and qualities do we need in our next chair and our next ceo? Right? The reason i include the succession planning of questions in the book is because it really gives away toe have that conversation about succession planning, which is so sort of inconvenient and awkward and about your own mortality on a regular basis. What i recommend is that people go through this list of twenty four strategic discussion topics with their board share hyre one at a time, actually go through the entire list um, twice a year, so they’re having forty eight weeks of conversations taking four weeks off, but this just brings it up automatic so that it’s not awkward now that’s a that’s. A lot of time to ask. Ah, volunteer to spend is that you have you have clients that are doing that. This is realistic. Ideo i do have clients who were doing that. Okay? And what do we say to the board chair? Who may be reluctant to spend that kind of time? We’re talking about at least an hour a week, right? Sure. I mean, it can go faster or slower than that. What we say to the person is, i value your counsel and your input. And i know you joined the board because you felt like you have something to say. You cared about the mission, and you felt like you had something to say about advancing the mission and getting mohr dunaj for the social change cause that wee boat care about. And so i simply want teo give you the opportunity to be strategic about that as often as possible. And i promise that in our conversations, we’ll try to keep it at the high strategic, interesting and compelling level and away from boring taxable day today as much as possible. Yeah, yeah, for sure. We want to encourage the board to be looking at bigger pictures and not what the office supply budget line should be. How about let’s? Look, a little external. Now, we’ve been in to do a lot of introspection. You have a section on meeting community needs, right? I mean, this, the basic. What does our community need from us on dh? How are we doing in providing it? Yeah, this is this is really a question i like to use, teo, inform strategic planning processes. And so what i what i see this conversation as tony is ah, logical and easy progression from, uh, tapping the strategic thinking capabilities of the chief executive and the board chair and then moving that discussion to the executive committee or the officers of the board and then moving it from there to further board members in, say, a strategic thinking slot on aboard agenda and then moving that all the way to the strategic planning retreat. So strategic conversation are happening constantly at all levels of the organization, but starting at the top it’s kind of like one of those chocolate fountains that you see at wedding receptions and so forth where it’s this yummy, gooey, rich chocolate and it bubbles out of the top, and it flows down to the next layer and the next layer, and then it bubbles back-up from the top strategic thinking happens in organizations the same way, okay, we don’t have to explain it to the person or maybe the people we’re going to have these conversations with as a strategic planning process, dewey, because that has a lot of baggage to it that maybe people aren’t ready to take on or you know what we have, you know, you’re completely you’re completely right, tony, i’m i’m working on a year long strategic planning process with a client right now, and as i’m doing the strategic, the preplanning interviews with the leadership team, they’re being kind enough to tell me, hey, some of us have some trepidation about that. The board says that has as well you do want it to be clear at the board chair level, though, that you have a shared responsibility to, no matter how you phrase it or how you present it. Teo, get strategic thinking happening throughout the organization consistently. It can’t be something you do just once a year, okay? Or once every three years or something, and then it ends up on the show, which would be even worse. Okay, yes, these are that’s true and seen it this way, but these are very good strategic planning questions, even if you don’t want to call it a strategic planning process there. Very good strategic questions, i guess is what i mean. You have a section on external threats. And we just have about a minute left. But so let’s. Just throw out that we should be looking at who’s doing a better job than we are at providing program. Right. And that’s a that’s. A question that your your board chair is especially well suited to help answer she or he may have the answer himself just by being virtue of being a philanthropist in the community, caring about the issue, seeing what others have to say or your board chair main not know the answer himself but can go to other, uh, you know, really connected on that particular issue. People on the board who then can offer some information that again comes from somebody who has that outside. Unbiased, not thinking about the organization, you know, more than twenty four hours a day, like twenty six hours a day, like the chief executive is all right, lots of strategic and thought provoking questions. In the book, you’ll find it at john fulwider dot com. And john is on twitter at john m fulwider. Thank you very much for sharing john there’s. An even better link, tony at better together leadership. Dot com it’s, easier to spell. All right. Thank you very much, john. Thanks, tony. Next week, there’s. No show. However, affiliates you’re covered, you know that you have my best wishes for merry christmas. Happy hanukkah. Happy new year. Lots of good wishes for your holidays and your time off. Take that time for yourself. Take some time for yourself. That’s. A good wishes for the holidays. If you missed any part of today’s show, find it on tony martignetti dot com. We’re sponsored by pursuant online tools for small and midsize non-profits data driven and technology enabled, and by we be spelling supercool spelling bee fundraisers, wee bey, e spelling, dot com, our creative producers, clam hyre off. Sam liebowitz is the line producer. Gavin dollars are am and fm outreach director shows social media is by susan chavez, and this great music is by scots. Dine with me next week for non-profit radio. Big non-profit ideas for the other ninety five percent happy new year. Go out and be great! What’s not to love about non-profit radio tony gets the best guests check this out from seth godin this’s the first revolution since tv nineteen fifty and henry ford nineteen twenty it’s the revolution of our lifetime here’s a smart, simple idea from craigslist founder craig newmark yeah insights, orn presentation or anything? People don’t really need the fancy stuff they need something which is simple and fast. When’s the best time to post on facebook facebook’s andrew noise nose at traffic is at an all time hyre on nine a m or eight pm so that’s, when you should be posting your most meaningful post here’s aria finger ceo of do something dot or ge young people are not going to be involved in social change if it’s boring and they don’t see the impact of what they’re doing. So you got to make it fun and applicable to these young people look so otherwise a fifteen and sixteen year old they have better things to do if they have xbox, they have tv, they have their cell phones. Me dar is the founder of idealist took two or three years for foundation staff to sort of dane toe. Add an email address card. It was like it was phone. This email thing is right and that’s why should i give it away? Charles best founded donors choose dot or ge somehow they’ve gotten in touch kind of off line as it were on dh and no two exchanges of brownies and visits and physical gift. Mark echo is the founder and ceo of eco enterprises. You may be wearing his hoodies and shirts. Tony talked to him. Yeah, you know, i just i i’m a big believer that’s not what you make in life, it sze you know, tell you make people feel this is public radio host majora carter. Innovation is in the power of understanding that you don’t just do put money on a situation expected to heal you put money in a situation and invested and expect it to grow and savvy advice for success from eric sacristan. What separates those who achieve from those who do not is in direct proportion to one’s ability to ask others for help. The smartest experts and leading thinkers air on tony martignetti non-profit radio big non-profit ideas for the other ninety five percent.

Nonprofit Radio for December 16, 2016: Zombie Loyalists

Big Nonprofit Ideas for the Other 95%

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My Guest:

Peter Shankman: Zombie Loyalists

Peter Shankman

Peter Shankman is a well-known and often-quoted social media, marketing and public relations strategist. His latest book is “Zombie Loyalists.” He wants you to create rabid fans who do your social media, marketing and PR for you. He’s got super ideas and lots of valuable stories. (Originally broadcast 12/19/14)

 

 

 


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Duitz hello and welcome to tony martignetti non-profit radio big non-profit ideas for the other ninety five percent. I’m your aptly named host. Oh, i’m glad you’re with me. I’d suffer with pro death ecosystem if you infected me with the idea that you missed today’s show zombie loyalists peter shankman is a well known and, uh, often quoted social media marketing and public relations strategist. His latest book is zombie loyalists. He wants you to create rabid fans who do your social media, marketing and pr for you. He’s got super ideas and lots of valuable stories. This is from the december nineteen twenty fourteen show. I’m tony steak too. My good wishes for your year end fund-raising we’re sponsored by pursuant full service fund-raising data driven and technology enabled, you’ll raise more money pursuant dot com and by we be spelling supercool spelling bee fundraisers. We be e spelling dot com here’s Peter shankman from the 12:19 fourteen show on zombie loyalists. I’m very glad peter shankman is with me in the studio. He is the founder of haro help a reporter out connecting journalists with sources in under two years from starting it in his apartment, hora was sending out fifteen hundred media queries a week to more than two hundred thousand sources worldwide, it was acquired by vocus in two thousand ten. He’s, the founder and ceo of the geek factory, a boutique social media marketing and pr strategy firm in new york city, peter is on nasa’s civilian advisory council. You’ll find him at shanklin dot com and he’s at peter shankman on twitter. His latest book is zombie loyalists using great service to create rabbit advance. I’m very glad his book brings him to non-profit radio and the studio welcome. Peter had to be here, honey, thanks. Pleasure. You live on the west side of manhattan and you and you there’s a there’s, a pretty well known five star steakhouse. I’ll get wolfgang’s not far from you know, but you pass it to go to a different steakhouse, right? Morton’s? Correct. Why is that more? I’m a zombie loyalist to morton’s. What does that mean? I love the service. The attention to detail, the quality, the sort of where everyone knows my name mentality. When i walk into that morton’s or any mortons around the world, they have a tremendous custom relationship management system. When i call one number ah, in new york or anywhere in the world, it they know who i am by my cell phone, and i’m treated with just, you know, phenomenal, uh, happiness toe here for me. And my wishes are granted is aware, and we have any happy hour holiday party coming up at morton’s next couple days, and, you know, as always, i forgot to call and make a reservation, you know, called and yesterday and said, hey, i need a and she has to get a reservation for seven people. Dahna you know, there’s a night at, uh, seven p m, which is, you know, the week of holiday party, and they looked and they said, oh, well, and then i guess their computer system kicked in. Of course, mr chang is not a problem. I’ll get that for you right away. You know, how it will have a great booth for you that, you know, and we’ll tell us names the people attending and, you know, you know, you know, they’re going to specialize menus for them and their names on they really they have ah, really high level of service that they provide, not just to me, that’s the beauty of it, you know, it’s one thing for everybody. Yeah, it’s one thing if they just provided to me but they do that for everyone, and that is huge because, you know, being able to call when a normal person makes reservation and not that i’m special, i’m actually rather abnormal. But what a normal person makes a reservation and says no more tests. Okay, greater. You’re celebrating it? You think so? Yeah. It’s, my wife’s birthday. I would always always ask after anyone said, oh, you know what? It’s, my wife’s birthday great what’s her name and her name’s. Megan, whatever. And you you go in and they and you sit down on the on the menu. It has happened that they make it. And then megan, whoever she happens to be well in the next forty five minutes, you know, taking fifty selfies with her menu and that’ll go online. And when her friends, you know, want that same experience, they’re going to go morton’s, you say in the book, you get the customers you want by being beyond awesome to the customers you have and that’s why i want to start with that morton’s story, which is in the middle of the book. But they do it for everybody, and then they have the vips as well. And there’s the terrific story of you tweeting. Going to tell that story that’s a good story, but it’s a good story. Stories. I was flying home from a day trip to florida and was exhausted and starving and they trip, meaning you’re flying down a canoe down to six a m lunch meeting flew back same day, you know, one of those one of those days and ah, i jokingly said the tweet hey, morton’s. What? You meet me at newark airport when i land with a porterhouse in two hours. Ha ha ha ha ha! Um, you know, i said it the same way you’d say winter. Please stop snowing things like that. And i landed find my driver and said, next, my driver is a is ah, waiter in a tuxedo with the mortons back they saw my tweet. They put it together. They managed to bring me a a steak. And and you know, as great of a story is that is that that’s it’s a great stunt. And it’s a great story. And it wasn’t staged. It was completely amazing. But, you know, that’s not what they’re about. They’re not about delivering steaks to airports. They’re about making a great meal for you and treating you like world when you come in. And you know, if they just did that if they just delivered the stake the airport, but their quality and service sucked, you know, it wouldn’t be a story, you know, you know what they did for peter, but you know, my steak’s cold, you know? So what it really comes down to is the fact they do treat everyone like kings and that’s that’s really, really important because what winds up happening? You have a great experience of morton’s, and then you tell the world, you know, oh, yeah, great dinner last night, that was amazing, i would totally there again. And as we moved to this new world where, you know, review sites are going away and i don’t, i don’t need to go to yelp reviews and people i don’t know, you know, if they’re shills, whatever the case may be, i don’t know or trip advisor, same thing i want people in my network. Who i trust and people in their network who they trust and that by default i trust so and that’s going to that’s already happening automatically. You know, when i when i land in l a and i type in steakhouse, you know, not me. I know. I know what the steak house on telly, but if someone typed into google maps or facebook steak house in los angeles, you know they’ll see all the steakhouses on google map. But if any of their friends have been to any of them, they’ll see those first. And if they had a good experience, only if the sentiment is positive will they see those first and that’s pretty amazing, because if you think about that, the simple act of tweeting at a photo oh my god, thanks so much more in love this that’s positive sentiment the network knows that. And so if you’re looking for a steakhouse, you know and your friend six months ago had that experience oh, my god! Amazing state this great place the sentiment will be there on dh. The network will know that network will show you that steakhouse because you trust your friend and this is where we start to cultivate zombie loyalists. Exactly is through this awesome customer service of the customers. You you have say more about something. Yeah, i mean, you have so many companies out there who are trying to get the next greatest customer. You know, you see all the ads, you know, the facebook post, you know, we’re at nine hundred ninety, followers are ten are one thousand follower gets a free gift. Well, that’s kind of saying screw you to the original nine hundred ninety followers who you had, who were there since the beginning. We don’t care about you. We want that one thousand, you know, that’s not cool. The the companies who see their numbers rise and you see their fans increase in there. There ah, revenues go up are the ones who are nice to the customers they have. Hey, you know, customer eight fifty two. It was really nice of you to join us a couple months ago. How do you know? How are you? We notice that you posted on something about a you know, your car broke down? Well, you know, we’re not in the car business, but you know you’re you’re two blocks from our our closest ah outlet or whatever. And, you know, once if you need to come in, have a cup of coffee, will you use the phone? Whatever. You know, those little things that you could do that, that that really focus on the customers you haven’t make the customers you have the ones where the zombies who tell other customers have great your and this all applies to non-profits certainly as well the question, but even more so. Yeah, i mean, if you know non-profits constant worry about howto make the most value out of their dollar on how to keep the dollar stretching further and further. And you know you have this massive audience who has come to you, who’s a non-profit who said to you, you know, we want to help here we are volunteering our help and just simply treating them with the thanks that they deserve. Not just a simple hey, thanks for doing her, but actually reaching out, asking what theywant asking how they like to get the information. Things like that will greatly increase your donations as well as making them go out and tell everyone how awesome you are. Letting them to your p r for you and that’s what a zombie loyalist does and this is for this could be donors could be volunteers in the organization who aren’t able to give a lot, but giving time is enormous. And if you know if they have such a great time doing it, they’ll bring friends as as zombies do. You know zombies have one purpose in life? A real zombies have one purpose in life that’s to feed it doesn’t matter how the mets are doing it doesn’t matter, you know, because chance they lost anyway. But it doesn’t matter how. How anyone’s doing you know, what’s going on in the world economy. It doesn’t matter what matters was zombie is where they get their next meal because they feed and they have to infect more people. Otherwise they will die zombie loyalist to the same thing. All they have to do is make sure that their custom, they tell the world we all have that friend who does it. You know that one friend who eats eat nothing but the olive garden because, oh, my gods greatest breadsticks everywhere, you know, and they will drag your ass. The olive garden every single time they get that chance. That’s, a zombie loyalist and you want them to do that for your non-profit and there’s. A big advantage to being a smaller, smaller organization. You could be so much more high touch and we’re gonna talk about all that. We got the full hour with peter shankman. Gotta go away for a couple minutes. Stay with us. You’re tuned to non-profit radio. Tony martignetti also hosts a podcast for the chronicle of philanthropy fund-raising fundamental lt’s, a quick ten minute burst of fund-raising insights published once a month. Tony’s guests are expert in crowdfunding, mobile giving event fund-raising direct mail and donor cultivation really all the fund-raising issues that make you wonder am i doing this right? Is there a better way there is? Find the fund-raising fundamentals archive it. Tony martignetti dot com that’s marketmesuite n e t t i remember there’s a g before the end, thousands of listeners have subscribed on itunes. You can also learn maura the chronicle website philanthropy dot com fund-raising fundamentals the better way oppcoll welcome back to big non-profit ideas for the other ninety five percent, peter, it doesn’t take much, teo stand out in the customer service world doesn’t really doesn’t, you know, and the reason for that is because we expect to be treated like crap, you know, if you think about that book, i love this example, whenever i give speeches, i ask, i ask everyone the audience, like, who here has had a great flight recently, like at least one personal raise their hands, like, ok, what made it great and without fail there? And, well, we took off on time and i had the cd was a sign, and we landed on time and, like, so you paid for a service, they delivered that service, and you’re over the freaking moon about it, like that’s the state that we’ve become, you know, that’s how bad customer service has been that you are just beyond thrilled that they did exactly what they said they were going to win, nothing more less than twenty minutes in the post office line exam, and i’m ecstatic exactly, you know, it’s it’s. So we really are at a point where we only have to be one level above crap. I’m not even asking my client to be good. Just one level of crap. You know, if everyone else is crapping your one level above that, you’re going to win my favorite. My favorite jokes, thie two guys air out in the woods, hunting in the woods and the just it was the first one sees a bear and they see this barren bears raised upleaf about to strike and the first one reaches down and tightens up his laces on his running shoes and it was the studio don’t be community, you can’t outrun a bear and i don’t need to understand how wrong you know, i love that joke because it’s it’s so true that’s the concept, you know, all you have to do is be just a little bit better than everyone else, and you’ll win the whole ball game. Now we have to set some things up internally in orderto have the structure in place, no question about it to create the zombie loyalists. Yeah, i mean, you have a you have a aa company where the majority of people in your company are afraid to do anything outside the norm. You know, i mean, lookit, lookit a cellphone companies, you know, they call them cause you have a problem, right? T or t mobile. You call them your problem? They’re actually the customer service. We’ll handle your caller actually judged and rewarded based on how quickly they can get you off the phone. You know, not on whether or not they fix your problem fat, but how fast they could get you off the phone. Which means how many more causing everybody worked. When i worked in america online, we all had to do a day of customer service every month just to see what it was like. That was a brilliant idea. But, you know, again, it’s just it was a system called vantage for you to sign on. And as soon as you signed on, if you want to call, you know that was tacked against you, if you’re in a call and it went over a certain amount of time that was tacked against you. So the decks were stacked not in the favor. The customer. There are some companies out there who allowed there customer service employees to simply be smarter about what they dio and do whatever it is they need to do to fix the problem. You know, my favorite story about this verizon wireless? I went overseas, as in dubai, and i landed two buy-in attend my phone had gotten global roaming on my phone, which, you know, twenty bucks for every hundred megabits. Okay, so i land and i turn on my phone and it says, like before i’m even off the plane, i get a text that you’ve used two hundred dollars in roaming charges. What? How, you know, three hundred dollars, by telling it off the planet. We’re something’s up here, so i called horizon on a nice guy answer the phone and oh, yeah, i mean, you know, the first thing that was yes, sir, you do have global roaming, but it doesn’t work in dubai. Okay, well, that’s not really global that’s more hemispherical roaming, i think is the issue. And so i said, well, look, i’m gonna be here for a week i said, you know what? You have my credit card, bill me like, cubine bilich a thousand bucks and you let me have the phone for, like, a week and you know that, you know five hundred bucks. I won’t go over to gigs would just do something for me. Sorry, sir, i’m not authorized to do that. You can look. So what i have is well, you can pay twenty dollars and forty eight cents a megabyte. I’m like i’m sorry. Seriously, which equates essentially to be charged. Twenty thousand forty eight seconds, three thousand forty eight cents for every i think, the times for every four seconds of the video gangnam style if i decide to watch my phone like this is pretty ridiculous. So i simply hung up. I’m hung up on your eyes and i went down the street to the dubai. The mall of the emirates, which is the largest mall in the world, is a freaking ski slope in it, and i’m not joking. And as a ski slope in this mall and went to one of like the eighty six different electronic stores in this mall bought an international unlocked version of the same exact cell phone. I have went next door to the local sim card store spot, eh? Sim card that gave me twenty gigabytes of data and a thousand minutes of talk for forty dollars. I then put that in my phone because i it’s an android phone. I simply typed in my user name and password for google and everything imported. And verizon did not get a penny on that trip. How easy would have been from horizon to say. Okay, you know what? We’ll cut your brake. Ah, they still make a lot of money off me. And i would tell the world how great verizon was to work with and how wonderfully, how helpful they were. Instead, they guaranteed that i will never. They will never make a penny from any international trip. And i take what? Fifteen of them a year? Because now my cell phone, um, my international cell phone that i bought all i do is pop out the sim card on my land, wherever i am put in a new sim card. So and you’re speaking and writing and telling that story, of course. And then rittereiser and every time i tell the story about variety, i make it a little worse. Apparently verizon tests out the durability of their phone by throwing them kittens. I read this in internet must, you know, so that is so, but you know, the concept that all they had to do, all the energy was in power mark right now, and it wasn’t mark’s fault mark was a really nice guy, but he was not allowed to do that. He would get fired if you try to do a deal like that for me and so it’s this concept, you know, and the funny thing is it comes down to it if you really want to go go down the road in terms of a public company like verizon of where the issue is, you could even trace it to fiduciary responsibility because the fiduciary responsibility of any company’s ceo all the way down the employees to make money for the shareholders future responsibly means by not allowing me and they don’t allow a mark the customer service agent to to help me on dh take a different tack. He’s actually losing money. Too many ceos think about the next quarter. Oh, we have to make our number six quarter. I’m fired companies and other countries to anything with next quarter century, and they make a much bigger difference because he okay, what can we do now that we’ll have impact? In the next five, ten, fifteen years, you know, and really implement the revenue that we have and an augment and cos america don’t don’t think about that that’s a big problem? I’d buy a product line, it has a lot of natural and recycled materials seventh generation and they’re they’re tagline is that in in our every decision, we must consider the impact on the next seven generations? It comes from an american indian, it’s great it’s a great line. I mean, just think about how much money horizon would have made for me in the past three years over just just my overseas you’d be telling a story about like them, about morten, like the one about things? Look, a lot of people listen to me, and they went for a time when you googled roaming charges variety when you google verizon roaming charges my story about, however, how i saved all this money really big what came up first because i did the math and if i had not called mark and bought my own self-funding done this, i would have come home with thirty one thousand dollars cellphone bill, and you’re damn authorizing wouldn’t know anything. About that would be like up to bad. Sorry about the fine print and plus the employee who sold you the quote international plan, right? I’m sure you told her, didn’t she said, where you going? I’m going to canada and i’m going to dubai. I’m assuming she didn’t know where to buy, wass shevawn we thought it was near canada, but yeah, long story short couldn’t use it. All right, so employees have to be empowered there’s to be we have to be, but changing a thinking too. I mean, the customer has to come first. The donor of the volunteers don’t volunteer. You get at the end of the day, where’s your money coming from look, if you’re non-profit or fortune one hundred words, money coming from, you know and if you no, we see it happening over and over again. We’ve seen what you’re seeing right now play out every single day with company uber, uber it’s so funny because uber makes you know the value of forty million dollars right now, but that doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t mean anything if people are running away in joe’s, which people are there’s a whole delete uber app movement that the lord god you people are doing what’s the problem well, it’s several number one that uber is run by a bunch of guys who honor the bro code. The company was actually started by a guy who, in on business in business insider, said he started the company to get laid. His goal was to always of a black car. When he was leaving a restaurant to impress the girl he was with that’s, he came out and said that and you see that culture run rampant throughout uber from their god mode where they can see they actually create there was ah, don’t read this my business centre as well. There was they created a hookup page that showed or ah, walk of shame page that showed where good women were leaving certain apartments like on weekends oneaccord believing certain place on weekends, going back to their home. It was obvious that they, you know, some guy, and i think they did that. And of course, just there their whole surge pricing mentality, which is, you know, two days ago there was a couple of symbolism. The terrorists of the figures is harris attacking in sydney? At that, at that bakery and sidney, uber and sydney instituted surge pricing for people trying to get out of harm’s way, you know? And and they later refund it all was a computer glitch. I’m you know, i’m sorry you have a stop button and you can when you see something happening like that, there has to be someone in the office, you know what? Not cool. We’re going to take care of that and hit the stop button, and it was, yeah, bad tons and tons tons of bad publicity. You know, i was having an argument with one of my facebook page facebook dot com slash peter shankman because they said, oh, you know, so what? They don’t they don’t turn surge pricing and have enough cabs there and, you know, people can’t get home i said, i’m pretty sure that the on ly come, but i’m sure that no one had cab companies there. I’m sure that there wasn’t anyone who had enough cars. They’re private cabs, uber’s, whatever yet the on ly stories i read about companies screwing up during the event where uber not joe’s sydney cab company, you know, i didn’t see him. Staring up because he didn’t turn on surge pricing, you got it. You got to respect your customer after as we’re ah training for that then not only trying to change that mine ships well in in trying to change that mindset rewards for a custom, for employees that do take go to go the extra mile. Well, first of all, if you give the employees the ability to do it to go the extra mile and understand they won’t get fired, you’re not going to get in. Try always to tell every one of my employees you never get in trouble for spending a little extra money to try and keep a customer happy you’ll get fired for not doing it, you know you got fired for not for seeing an opportunity to fix someone and not taking doing everything that you could know what’s carl is famous for that rhys caldnear hires people not because whether they could pull the bed sheet, but for how well they understand people. Because in wisconsin’s, mind it’s much more important to be a people person and be able to be empathetic and that it’s such a key word empathy is just so sorely lacking. You know how much you’ve called customer service? Yeah. You know, i have to have to change my flight. Might my my aunt just died. I really tio. Okay, great that’s, three dollars. I just wanted one hour earlier. You know, you show up at the airport, your bag is overweight by half a pound. That’s twenty five dollars. I just can you can you just cut me some slack, you know, so empathy and giving the custom, giving the employees the ability to understand that the customer that sometimes you can make exceptions and it is okay to make changes. And this is where a smaller organization has huge advantage. It’s, easier to change. That’s what kills me. You know, i go to these try to frequent small businesses when i can i get you something small businesses, and they won’t. They act like large businesses, you know, in the respect that they don’t have. Ah, like they want to be respected almost don’t have like a six a six thousand page code that they have to adhere to. They can simply ah do something on the fly. And yet, for whatever reason, they won’t do it and it’s the most frustrating famous and what guys, you’re acting like a big you act like mega lo mart here, you know, and you’re not mega lo mart, and you’re just joe’s house of stationary, whatever it is and, you know, not be able to help me, you’re pretty much killing yourself because you don’t have eighty five billion customers that come to the door after me, you know? But i have a pretty big network. And for a small business, two get killed socially as social becomes more and more what? How we communicate, you know, it’s, just craziness. It’s, you know, we’re pretty much in a world, i think where something almost hasn’t happened to you unless unless you share it a joke that, you know, if i can take a selfie was i really there but it’s true. You know, we do live in a world where, you know, i remember god ten years ago, maybe not even not even ten years ago. I was one of the first people to have a phone in my camera, you know? And it was like that from that’s. What? I said, yeah, i carry in my phone. Right? And it was like a i think a point, eight megapixels, you know, it looked like i was taking a picture with a potato, but it was it was thiss i remember it was two thousand two and i was in chase bank, and there was a woman arguing with the teller, and i pulled out my video, you know, it was there the crappiest video you’ve received, i pulled out and i said, you know, i started recording and the one being the cat woman wasn’t the woman behind the counter was talking to the customers saying you do not speak to me that way. You get out of this bank right now and the customers saying, i just wanted my balance in u n yur manager comes over, i get this whole thing on my little crappy three g motorola phone phone. And i remember i posted online and gawker picks it up i gave him, i believe, you know, my headline i put on my block was, you know, chase where the regulation ship is that go out yourself, you know? And it was it just got tons of play and then gawker picked it up. It went everywhere, totally viral snusz it’s one of those things he was just like, you know, this is in two thousand two it’s twelve years later, how the hell can you assume that nothing is being with that you’re not being recorded? You know, i i every blowing i sneezed couple weeks ago and ah, hyre not to get too graphic here, but i needed a tissue big time after i was done season, i remember going through my pockets looking for desperate, looking for tissue and like looking around, making sure it wasn’t on camera somewhere that someone didn’t grab that with hoexter viral sensation, you know? I mean, i went god, i went to high school with eight blocks from here, right? If the amount of cameras that aaron lincoln center today were there in nineteen, eighty nine, nineteen, ninety, i’d be having this conversation entirely. I’d be having this conversation behind bullet proof glass self, yeah, so you know you’d be you’d be talking to you have to get special clearance to visit me and pray, be it the super max in colorado. So you know, it’s one of those things that you just like my kid who’s who’s almost two years old now is going to grow up with absolutely no expectation of privacy the same way that we grew up with an expectation of privacy. And i’m thankful for that because she will make a lot less stupid moves, you know? I mean, god, the things that i thought, you know, in in high school, i thought the stupid is in the world, thank god there wasn’t a way for me to broadcast that to the world in real time. Thank god creating these zombie loyalists, and we’ve got to change some we’ve gotta change culture and thinking and reward zsystems let’s, go back to the the cost of all this. Why is this a better investment than trying to just focus on new donors? I love i love this analogy and get your fun analogy let’s open a bar and there’s a very cute girl across the across the park and catch my eye catcher i got to go, you know you don’t know me, i’m amazing in bed. You should finish your drink right now. Come home, let’s. Get it on. I’m gonna impress i’m that good chancellor should go throw a drink in my face. Go back talking, rinse. I’ve done a lot of research on this that’s probably now lets us sue let’s, assume an alternate world. I’m sitting there on my phone. I’m just playing like, you know no bored with friendraising and she’s over there talking to friends, one of her friends. Holy crap! That’s peter! Peter shankman. I’ve heard him speak he’s in this fantasy world. I’m single too. He i think he’s single and he’s having this amazing guy. I know he has a cat. You haven’t. You should totally go talk to him. The very least i’m getting this girl’s number that’s pr. Okay. And what are we trust more me with my you know, fancy suit collar going over the seventies leaders in hi, i’m amazing. Or the girl saying, hey, we’ve been friends since their great i’m recommending that guy. You should trust me on this. You know, obviously that that’s where good customer service comes into play and that’s where corporate culture comes into play because if i have a great experience with you and at your company, i’m going to tell my friend when they’re looking and i will stake my personal reputation and there’s nothing stronger than that. And these are the people who want to breed at zoho illicit struggled in advertising strong on the market and they’re going to share people want to share that think about the internet runs on two things it runs on drama, drama and bragging are bragging and drama and if you if you need any proof of that, you know go and look at all the hashtags with crap that’s happened, you know, bad customer service, bad whatever. But then look at all the good hashtags you know, when our flight’s delayed for three hours and we’ll lose our seat oh my god, i hate this air land on the worst airline ever but when we get upgraded, right hashtag first class bitches or whatever it is you who looks like that on the because we love to share it’s on ly a great experience if we could tell the world and it’s only a bad experience if we could make everyone else miserable about it as well. More with peter shankman coming up first pursuant fund-raising like a boss cake boss? No, just a boss it’s their four point four part webinar siri’s starting in january four webinars over four weeks you will master discovery questions and they’re gonna cover major gift solicit occassions and prospecting and prioritizing your prospects ppp prospecting, prioritizing prospects and getting your board to fundraise which we all know challenge of that endeavour if you can’t make all four of them, of course they have you covered. You get the recordings within forty eight hours, they’ll have the recordings up for you. Info on fund-raising like a boss is at pursuant dot com slash training slash webinar re be spelling spelling bees for fund-raising ideal for millennial engagement if that’s part of your plan for twenty seventeen you thinking about millennial outreach, check out one of these very cool events very fun events, stand up comedy, live music, dancing and spelling and raising money. You can check out their video at we b e spelling dot com now tony steak too my good wishes for your year and fund-raising push i know how important this is. I know how hectic this is. Ah, you know feeling stressed under resourced pressure of goals on dh and then, of course there’s the added pressure of holiday parties it’s enormous. So i know what you’re up against. You just have my good wishes. Twenty sixteen’s been quite a tumultuous year. I’d say mostly because of the presidential campaign. Um wrap it up in good form. You have my best wishes. That’s, that’s, that’s really? All i all i have to offer you is good wishes and i hope it’s a successful your end for you that’s tony’s take two here’s more on ah, zombie loyalists with peter shankman. Peter, you have a golden rule of social media that that a good number customers like to share and people are going to keep doing it. People will always share again. It goes back to the concept that if you create great stuff, people want to share it because people like to be associated with good things. If you create bad stuff and buy stuff, i can me. I mean anything from, like, a bad experience too. That content people not only won’t share that, but we go out of their way to tell people how terrible you are. Yeah, um, you know, how many times have you seen companies fail? Horribly? Ah, you know, after major disasters, when company’s heir tweeting, you know, completely unrelated things after after random school shooting? No, it was after the shooting at the theatre in aurora, colorado, the dark knight, the tweets hey, shooter’s, what’s your plans for this weekend, you know? And i’m just going, really, you know, but of course the thing was the thing was retweeted millions of times, you know, with a sort of shame on the so wait, we’re society, like i said earlier, that loves to share when when great things happen once but love to tell the world when we’re miserable, because we’re only truly miserable when you make everyone else miserable. Arika it’s funny you mentioned generosity siri’s the one of my favorite stories, which goes to sort of a bigger picture of culture, and somehow when you’re just doing your job because that’s what you’re supposed to do your job, but you don’t realize there are ways to get around that i i listened to your podcast, among others, when i’m running through central park on dh more like, if you know my body type more like lumbering through central park, but i get there. I’m an iron man have them and so i go. To central park and it’s super early in the morning cause i usually have meetings and i dont run fast. Come on, i run like i really dont run fast, but but as i’m running but let’s give you the credit that you have done a bunch of iron man, i have try i do, i do it. You know, my mother tells me that i just have very poor judgment in terms of what sports i should do. But on the flip side, i’m also a skydiver, which is with my weight is awesome. I fall better than anyone, but so i’m running through central park last year. It was fremery february thirteen and fourteen of this year, and it was around four forty five in the morning because i had a canadian meeting and had to ten miles. So four foot every morning running about but labbate around nineteen, seventy ninth eightieth street on the east side in the park, and a cop pulls me over. Andi says, what you doing? Look at him. You know, i’m wearing black spandex. I have a hat, it’s five degrees. I don’t wantto playing checkers, you know? Well, you know, i’m like i’m running it he’s like, okay, can you stop running? I’m like, okay, seeking the park’s closed like no time, like a minute look around, there are other people who know part doesn’t open this exam like he’s ago would you have any idea? And you’re like, no, i’m running, he does what you name? I’m like seriously, look, i’m writing you a summons i’m like you ready metoo sametz for exercising, i just want to clarify that you’re writing metoo and sure enough, the guy wrote me a summons for exercising in central park before it opened. That charge was breaking the violating curfew. You know, i’m like i get the concept the curfew is to keep people out after two a m it’s not to prevent them going in early to exercise, to be healthy. I’m like i’m not carrying, you know, a six pack. I’m not drinking a big gulp, i’m not smoking. I mean, i’m doing something healthy and you’re writing me a summons for it. Um, i said, you know, i’m gonna have a field day with this. I said, i kind of have some father there’s gonna be a lot of fun, i’m not. You know, i know you’re just doing your job, sir, even though you have the discretion not to, but okay, so i go back home, take a picture, might take it, email it to a friend of mine in new york post front page, new york post next day, no running from this ticket, you know. In your times covered it, runner’s world covered. I mean, i went everywhere. Gawker covered it, you know? And my whole thing was just like, dude, you have discretion. Look at me, you know, i’m not i’m not even going super fast for god’s sake. I’m just just trying to exercise here, you know? And of course i went to court and i beat it. But how much money that cost the city for me to go to court, fight this thing? You know, every employee you have to give your employees the power of discretion, that power of empathy to make their own decisions. If you go by the book, bad things will happen. And again, small shops so much easier to do. Yep, flatline flat organizations. I work with a non-profit that animal rescue non-profit a friend of mine was a skydiver and shut him out. But i can’t but there’s a friend of mine scott ever and she was killed in a base jump several years ago, and her husband asked to donate her memory to this non-profit so i sent him a check. And about three months later, i get a coffee table book of mail. And i was living by myself the time i didn’t own a coffee table. It was you no more money to spend on my flatscreen and i ah, remember, i call i look at this coffee table guy throw i throw in the corner, i look at it over next couple days, it pisses me off about how much, how much of my donation did it cost to print? Melon produced this book to me, and so i called them up. Well, sure, we believe most of our donors are older and pry prefer to get a print version as opposed to, like digital, you know, where they throw it away and like, you don’t throw digitally, but okay, i’m like, so so you’ve asked your you’ve done surveys in, you’ve asked, you know, we just assume the most number older i’m like. I open my mouth one of joining the board and spent the next year interviewing customers, interviewing every current and past donor-centric to get their information and shock of shocks, ninety four percent said online, and so over the following year, we launched facebook page, twitter, page zoho flickr account, youtube everything p s the following year for that, donations went up thirty seven percent in one year. In that economies right away tonight, donations went up thirty seven percent in one year, and they saved over five hundred thousand dollars in printing million reproduction. Imagine going your boss boss revenues up thirty seven percent and we save the half million dollars in boston about your really good beer. You know, all they had to do was listen to their audience, be relevant to the audience you have, and they will tell you what they want. We have tons of tools for segment. My god, you’ve gotta listen to what segment you want people want to be, you know, someone, someone ask me today. So what? What’s the best way i knew nothing about their company what’s the best social media left me to be on should be on twitter shevawn facebook i said, i’ll answer that question if you can answer this this this question to ask you is my favorite type of cheese gouda or the number six they don’t understand that’s not a real question like neither is yours like i can’t tell you where the best place study your audience can i said. Go ask your audience, believe me, they will tell you there’s a gas station, the midwest come and go. I just love the name kumo, angio and their ten grand. But you can read more about the tagline is always something extra, i think. Come on, the jokes just write themselves for god’s sake, but they don’t take themselves too seriously love that. Come on ghost knowing the name of the company gas station and, you know, i remember there in iowa and i went to visit a friend in iowa, and i was like, you’ve got to get a photo of you in front of coming goes on, and the beauty of this is that and some of their employees actually look at their customers when they’re on their phones. We start to go, you know what? Use twenty more facebook and they say, oh, you know, and they record the information and they know it customers will give you so much info if you just ask them because then they feel invested, they feel invest in your company, they feel like they that you took the time to listen to their non-profit requested their their their questions and they feel like they’re nufer harrow every month, we have a one question harrow survey, you know, heroin question survey, and it was we’d get like a thousand people respond, and i’d spend the entire weekend emailing everyone responded, thanking them personally, in-kind hyre weekend, but it was great because we’ll wind up happening is that, you know, if we took their advice and launch it on monday with the new thing, they oh, my god, how did this? They took my advice. Yeah was your advice to a hundred other people advice, but we took it and they don’t like it and it just it just made them so much more loyal, and they tell hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people we get in there were days i got there days where i was in temple one morning, the garment center, synagogue and my phone. I feel like phone getting really hot in my pocket, which is not normal, and i’m starting her on i look at it it’s almost on fire it have frozen because we were mentioned in seth gordon’s morning blogged, and at that time i was getting emails every time we get a new subscriber and the phone actually frozen and was locked and and was, like overheating i t at the battery and, like, reset the entire phone because we’ve got so many new fourteen thousand subscribers in, like, three hours have seen some scene you say excuse me, you say that customer service is the new advertising, marketing and pr yeah, it really is. Well, again, you know, if we’re moving to that world where so imagine a lot of limp and i love that i can use this. Now imagine a lot of lamp latto lamb has water, oil and a heat source, right heat source heats the oil, the oil flows with water, it makes pretty colors i’ve heard it looks really good when you’re high now i’ve heard. Now imagine if crystal’s imagine if you’re, uh, everyone you meet in your network, okay, he’s a drop of oil the water is your network and what is your world? Everyone you meet in your network from from the guy you’re sitting doing the radio interview with to the guy who serves you ice cream with local deli to the guy who does your dry cleaning to your girlfriend to your wife to not same time to your kids. Second grade teacher to your second grade teacher years ago. Everyone you meet is in your network, you know, right now, when facebook for started, i would see the same weight from a kid. It was junior high school his posted on the same weight as like my current girlfriend, which is ridiculous. I don’t need to know about everything my friend from junior high school’s doing having talked the kid in fifteen years, his face was getting a lot smarter, as has google. Now i see the people i communicate with the most. Okay, and if i if i reach out to communicate with new people, they start rising in my feet and my stream if i don’t, they fall it’s just like a lava lamp. Every person you connect with is a drop of oil that heat source at the bottom that’s rising, raising or lowering those drops of oil is relevance. So imagine the heat sources relevance and the more i interact with someone, the more the higher they go in my network in the more i see of them, the more trust level there is when i’m at a bar and i meet someone at a restaurant or conference. I meet someone i don’t need to bonem connect them. I don’t need to go on facebook friend request, you know, awkward friend requesting is when you said that last time my friend requested some of the real world was second grade will you be my friend? My daughter is doing that because, you know it’s like cat will you be my friend? Kind of the captain will be here, but, you know it’s, this awkward thing who the hell friendly west someone if i find hang out with you to bar and we connect again and we talk and we go out to dinner and we’re having a good time with friends, i don’t need to first request that you, you know, that’s going away, friending following liking and fanning is all going away. What will interact is the actual connection if i meet with you and i have a good time with you and we talk again if i use your business if i go to your non-profit if i donate if i volunteer, whatever network knows that the more i do that the more interact with you, the more you have the right to market to me and the more you will be at the top of my stream in the more i’ll see information about you, the less i will have tio search for you. But if you do something stupid or we’re no longer friends cia, you’re going to fade. I don’t unfriend you just disappear. Unfriending is also dated a woman we broke up. It was nine months after we broke up. There was one from the other one because it’s just awkward. So the whole kapin frenemy. But, you know, the causes of not having to do that of just, you know, okay, i haven’t talked in a while. I don’t see your post anymore. The real world that’s, how it should be. And if you’re not feeding zombie loyalists, yeah, they can start to defect. No question about our wonderful gonna spend a little time on if you’re not down to, you know, talking to them, giving them what they want talking about their information, helping them out, they will gladly go somewhere else to someone who is, you know, if i have a great experience of the restaurant every week. For three years, and then all of a sudden, over time, i’m noticing less and less that restaurant’s doing less and less tio, take care of me, you know, and maybe management’s change, and i don’t feel that, you know, i’m ripe for being infected by another company. I’m right for someone else to come. So you know, peter, because if i tweet some like, wow can’t believe i have to wait forty minutes for a table that didn’t used to be like that. If if someone else a smart restaurant, they’re following me and they’re going great, you know, appears no, wait, no way over here. Why don’t you come to black storms will give you free drink, you know, you know, and that right there that’s first sign of infection and i might become infected by another pan of the company because on the list for them and so let’s take you have a lot of good examples. Let’s, take a one on one situation. How can we start to cure that? The simple act of realizing following your customers, understanding when they’re not happy and fixing the situation before it escalates, you can contain a small outbreak. A small outbreaks, well, viral outbreak. You can contain that by getting the right people. Finding out what the problem is. Getting him to one room, fixing their problem, healing them. You have a good day, united story right back. When was continental? I was a frequent flyer and booked a trip to paris. Andi, i was very angry because they charged me four hundred dollars, looking for you. I remember what it was, and i call the ceo just just for the hell of it. I’m like i’m going. I wrote a letter, an email before social right friend wrote an email, the ceo and like this ridiculous. I’m freaking fired-up like three months later, my phone rings hello, peter. Please hold for larry kellman, ceo of kottler lands. I’m like, oh, crap, you know? And i got your telephone he’s like peter hated misjudgment e-giving started these fees of their new way. We sent that note. I’m getting it and see it. We’re gonna weigh them for you. But if you have any more problems, you know, feel free to call me and and of the phones next forty minutes. What is staring at it like, holy crap? Larry kellner, the ceo of united airlines, just called me and talk to me, and it was like, it was like, god coming down and say, you now have the power to levitate your cat, it was just ridiculous and so, you know, i have been faithful to continental and now united ever since on dh they continue to treat me with respect and do great things, and they’re they’re improving. They were getting a lot of crap over the past several years, and there really are starting to improve its nice to say, and not only, of course, your own loyalty, but you’re oh, my god, how zombie loyalist for them and how many times how much? It’s unquote fired-up latto padre, i drag so many friends to united, i’ve made so many friends. I mean, my father, you know, he only fleshing out it now, which means he only drag, he drags my mom on the internet and i only drink my wife, you know, there’s a lot of lot of work that way, we gotta go away for a couple of minutes when we come back. Of course, peter and i’m going to keep talking about his book comes out in january. Zombie loyalists like what you’re hearing a non-profit radio tony’s got more on youtube, you’ll find clips from a standup comedy, tv spots and exclusive interviews catch guests like seth gordon, craig newmark, the founder of craigslist marquis of eco enterprises, charles best from donors choose dot org’s aria finger do something that worked and they only levine from new york universities heimans center on philanthropy, tony tweets to he finds the best content from the most knowledgeable, interesting people in and around non-profits to share on his stream. If you have valuable info, he wants to re tweet you during the show. 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Sound advice, that’s, tony martignetti non-profit radio and i’m gale bauer from sponsorship strategist. Dot com. You have some examples of zombie loyalist leaving and mass like dominoes netflix, they’re both they’re both in the book so it’s so one leaving, if you know if you know, start the cure one leaving, yeah, and then that’s the thing you know, the betel expanded even internet with the hashtag everything like that, you know, it doesn’t take on time for those things to sort of blow up in your face and, you know, the other day, everyone say, oh, you know, twitter’s responsible for for us losing another not you’re responsible for you losing? Yeah, yeah, and if your product isn’t great and you’re your actions, don’t speak well of who you are, then there’s no reason your customers should stay with you, you know? And it was all social media is really hurting. I know you’re hurting yourself. The only difference is that social media makes it easier for the world to know. Yeah, they’re just telling the story. Dominoes and netflix are good example because they they bounce back, they took responsibility and yeah, they both owned the dominoes came out and said, you know what? You’re right, our pizza and we do have a problem. We’re going to fix this, and they spent millions fixing it. And sure enough, they’re back with a vengeance. Now i may or may not even ordered the maroons in awhile, and i live in new york city. That’s, that’s, a that’s, a sacrilege. But, you know, i have the app on my phone from oversea, no traveling, somewhere, being should boeing or whatever, and, you know what, do you get it? Eleven. Thirty at night, when your flight’s delayed in the land dahna. Which reminds me, i should go exercise on flip side looked something like netflix. They they also were screwed up, you know, they were losing that trial switch between the two. They came up with a new name and it was so gross and public. Oh, man, again, you’re watching the same thing happen with uber right now, so we really need to see if they’re able to repair themselves. Listening is important, but both those both those two examples they’d listen to their customers think there’s a problem with listening because everyone’s been saying, listen, listen, listen, for months and years and years and years now, but you know, no one ever says that you have to do more than just listening to listen actually follow-up you know, it’s one thing to listen, you know, i used to love my wife, i could sit there and listen to her for hours, you know? But i don’t actually say anything back she’s just smack me, you know, and go to the other room, and so you really have to it’s a two way street, you know, listening is great but can’t respond and look, i think further, and i was like, oh twitter so great because someone was complaining on twitter and we went online, we we’ve saw the complaint that we fixed their problem in yes, how about if the problem that exist in the first place, you know? Because the great thing about twitter is that, yeah, people complain on twitter the bad thing about it. Is there complaining about you on twitter so it’s like what if the problem didn’t exist in the first place? What if? What if you empowered your front desk clerk to fix the problem so that i didn’t have the tweet hurts is my favorite story of all this i used to rent from her it’s religiously, and then i went to aa phoenix sky harbor airport has past april, and i gave it i was giving a speech and go on my name’s supposed be on the board, you know, second grade that car and it wasn’t okay, that happens. I’m going upstairs. I weighed forty minutes on the v i p line after forty minutes, they finally say, you know, there’s a on ly one guy here a lot of people might have better chance we go in the regular line. Okay. Probably told us that a little earlier in the regular spend forty five minutes waiting. The regular line it’s now been are you tweeting while this is happening? Well, i had to know i was actually not only tweeting i don’t have time to create a mean that should give you some idea of how long i was online with myself on those over, even if that means i get to the counter. Hi. Can i help you? Yeah, i was downstairs. The vp doesn’t tell me. Oh, you via preservation in downstairs? Like? Yeah. Ok. Let’s, let’s put a pin in that. They just sent me up here. Like, right. They have to help you. Well, it’s. Not really. They you guys for the same company. I mean, i could see the reservation on the screen. You you can help me. Sorry, sir. I can’t help. You have to go to the next. Like you just next to me. Okay. So if you know anything about sky harbor airport in phoenix, all of the rental car coming through on the same place. Yeah. So i walked fifty feet. It’s a bus takes you to the big bang. A civilian where they’re all next week, i walked fifty feet from the sensible of filth in depravity that was hurts to thee. Wonderful zen garden of tranquility that was avis, and in four minutes i had a nicer, cheaper, more nicer, less expensive car given to a woman named phyllis, who was sixty six and moved to phoenix from detroit with her husband for his asthma. I knew this because she told me she smiled at me. She brought her manager out and said that’s, another refugee from hertz. And i said, this happens a lot, though. Like, yep, i’m like. Wow. You think they have done something about that? And so on the way out in avis, i thank them. I walk past her. So i shoot on this, you know, sort of. Look at the look of the beast. I get my avis carnage at my hotel. Wanted to tel i write a wonderful block post about my experience called peter, and hurts in the terrible, horrible. Nobody could really bad customer experience. What? You have a kid. You find rewriting titles about your blood post that have to do with kids books i do not like. Hurts. Sam, i am. And and, ah, i included in this block post. The five things i’d rather do than ever rent from hurts again. I think number three was was ride a razor blade bust through a lemon juice waterfall. With just, you know, and it’s a bit, but of course, the next day hurts reaches out to me. Oh, miss jay manuel, this is ahead of north american customer service. I saw your butt. I’m like like, you know we’d love to have make no like you’re not going to fix the problem. Number one sametz davis car i’m never going back to her it’s number two through a five people yesterday, five people interacted with all of whom had the chance to save me and keep me is a customer for life, a customer who have been so happy and i would have loved you five people blew it, so don’t waste your time trying to convert me back. You’re not going to know what you want to do is spend some of that energy retraining your staff to have empathy and to give them the ability and the empowerment to fix my problem when it happens, because five people, it takes every single employee to keep her company running. It takes one to kill it. Yeah, p s avis reached out to thank me personally. And i am now just this ridiculously huge loyal fan of avis. And always will be. You have a pretty touching story, but when you worked in a yogurt shop, you’re really yung wei have a couple of minutes tell it tell it could stay that was in the east side, which again, is yet another reason why i live on the west side. Nothing good ever happens in manhattan’s east side, so i was i was working and i can’t believe it’s yogurt, which was a store that i think back in the i c b y no, no t c b y was the country’s best yogurt the countries i c b i why was a poor i can’t believe that you can’t believe is that your family was yogurt was a poor attempt to capitalize on that was t that i’m working at this store and i go in every day and make the ok to clean the floors. I do, you know, typical high school job, and it was during the summer and houses people walking by things like second avenue or something, and there were these brass poles that hyung from, you know, there was awning, right? It’s only that there, and they’re the brass poles that held the awning up and they were dirty as hell, right? I’m sure they’ve never been polished ever. And i found i found some brass polish in the back with all the bear in the back and went after anyone outside, and i’m positive polishing the polls. My logic was, if the poles were shiny, people saw them, maybe they come in the store, maybe they’d want toe, you know, buy more screenplays and the manager came out. What the hell you doing? Told him what i thought i’d pay to think inside, you know, there’s, no customers in there. Okay, i’ll make sure the yogurt still pumping it full blast and i quit. I just quit that job. I mean, like, i couldn’t even begin to understand why someone would invest. I mean, t own a franchise bring fifty grand to at least to buy that franchise. Why wouldn’t he invest in the two seconds it took a little elbow grease to make the police claim that might bring in more customers? What the hell, you know, but you’re not paid to think you’re not paid to think my favorite line. Yeah, i just i i encouraged, if any. Kids listening. Those teenagers. If you. If you boss says that to you, quit, quit, i will hire you. Just quit it. Probably worse thing in the world that you could possibly do, because you have customers who you have customers who every day could be helped by people who are paid to think and that’s the ones you want. Hyre we gotta wrap up. Tell me what you love about the work you do. I get paid to talk. I mean, my god is the same stuff i used to get in trouble for in high school, but on a bigger picture, what i really love about it is being able to open someone’s eyes and haven’t come back to me. I run a series of masterminds called shank mines, business masterminds, shank minds, dot com there day long seminars around the country, and i had some kind of meat, you know, i took your advice about x y z, and i started listening little more, and i just got the largest retainer client i’ve ever had in my life by a factor for she goes, and i just can’t even thank you never said gorgeous by-laws aki listselect kayman thank you enough. Oh, my god, being able to help people, you know, at the end of the day where i i’ve yet to find another planet suitable for life, i’m looking so we’re all in this together and if that’s the case, you know, why wouldn’t we want to help people just little bit more? You know, there really isn’t a need to be as do she is as we are as a society we could probably all be a little nice to each other, and you’d be surprised if it’ll help. The book is zombie loyalists, published by pal grave mcmillan comes out in january. You’ll find peter at shankman dot com, and on twitter at peter shankman. Peter, thank you so much. Pleasure is mine. Thank you next week, going to see if maria simple might be able to make it, but even if not, i got you covered. If you missed any part of today’s show, i beseech you, find it on tony martignetti dot com, responsive by pursuant online tools for small and midsize non-profits data driven and technology enabled, and by we be spelling supercool spelling bee fundraisers, we be e spelling dot com ah, creative producers claire meyerhoff. Sam liebowitz is the line producer. Gavin dollars are am and fm outreach director shows social media is by susan chavez, and this music is by scott stein of brooklyn. Be with me next week for non-profit radio big non-profit ideas for the other ninety five percent go out and be great what’s not to love about non-profit radio tony gets the best guests check this out from seth godin this’s the first revolution since tv nineteen fifty and henry ford nineteen twenty it’s the revolution of our lifetime here’s a smart, simple idea from craigslist founder craig newmark insights orn presentation or anything? People don’t really need the fancy stuff they need something which is simple and fast. When’s the best time to post on facebook facebook’s andrew noise nose at traffic is at an all time hyre on nine a, m or p m so that’s when you should be posting your most meaningful post here’s aria finger ceo of do something dot or ge young people are not going to be involved in social change if it’s boring and they don’t see the impact of what they’re doing so you gotta make it fun and applicable to these young people look so otherwise a fifteen and sixteen year old they have better things to dio they have xbox, they have tv, they have their cell phones me dar is the founder of idealist took two or three years for foundation staff to sort of dane toe, add an email address card. It was like it was phone. This email thing is right and that’s, why should i give it away? Charles best founded donors choose dot or ge. Somehow they’ve gotten in touch kind of offline as it were on dh and no two exchanges of brownies and visits and physical gift. Mark echo is the founder and ceo of eco enterprises. You may be wearing his hoodies and shirts. Tony talked to him. Yeah, you know, i just i i’m a big believer that’s not what you make in life. It zoho, you know, tell you make people feel this is public radio host majora carter. Innovation is in the power of understanding that you don’t just put money on a situation expected to hell. You put money in a situation and invested and expect it to grow and savvy advice for success from eric sacristan. What separates those who achieve from those who do not is in direct proportion to one’s ability to ask others for help. The smartest experts and leading thinkers air on tony martignetti non-profit radio big non-profit ideas for the other ninety five percent.