Posts in category: Featured Blog

Guest Blogger, Matt Hugg

What if I told you that you have a tool, literally right at your fingertips, that can boost your nonprofit team by educating them and delivering your mission better than ever before? In short, make them the team you knew you could have, but never knew how to do it.

Yes, it’s your computer (like you didn’t guess?), but it’s what your computer can do for you— by being the pipeline to a world of nonprofit education.

In his book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, Daniel Pink lays out three essentials for motivation in the workplace: autonomy, mastery and purpose. For me, Pink spoke directly to nonprofits and their potential for inspiring work environments. But what exactly did he mean by those three characteristics, and how can that help your nonprofit? Let’s walk through each one.

Autonomy

People thrive in work environments where they have control over what they do. Even a little control makes a huge difference! The best nonprofits I know are all about staff autonomy – not because they had some insight, but because they have no choice. Nonprofits are well known for being “lean” (maybe you read that as “short staffed”?). There’s not a lot of time for command and control management. You need to trust the staff with independence in their work, because you don’t have time to micromanage.

Mastery

Mastery is learning. If someone is exposed to new methods, or better yet, can create their own methods that they can share with others, they thrive. Informally, this can work well in a nonprofit, where the need for autonomy fosters the need for mastery. But at some point, mastery can be frustrating without formal guidance, which can lead to burnout. We’ll talk about that later.

Purpose

When talking about Pink and his theory with anyone who will listen, I point out that nonprofits own purpose! More than businesses, and even government organizations, nonprofits are founded on making a difference for someone else – and that’s the definition of purpose.

I’m struck by some of the people I meet working in big corporations who do well-paid work. They long for purpose in their work life! Sometimes that’s why they volunteer. Some have even said they’d take a pay cut to have some “purpose.” That speaks volumes to the importance of nonprofit work, sometimes even more to your own team than to the clients you serve.

So, let’s circle back to mastery. Like I said, informally, nonprofit staff have a lot of experience in mastery, especially early in a staff or volunteer’s career. A new social worker or fundraiser can figure out how to approach a client or donor and get the basics of the job done. This is often based on trial and error at first, then by learning from their own successes and failure. Enough successes and they keep their job. Too many failures, and they’re out.

One great way to promote constant education and mastery of career skills is by encouraging your staff to learn from each other. If you paired that newbie with an experienced staff member who shares their experience, the new one would get some great insight and the experienced one would learn more too (nothing teaches you like teaching someone else). It’s a real win-win situation.

So, what’s a computer have to do with this? Everything.

Computers multiply. No, not just numbers, but you and your ability to communicate. Just think of that email you sent to your five board members. You didn’t need to write five different emails. You just sent one message to five individuals simultaneously. Job done!

What if you could do the same by multiplying an experienced staff member’s knowledge? Or tapping into an international expert’s knowledge on the same subject?

Either could be a real game changer, making your program more efficient with time, money, and service delivery.

But how?

Well, you have a couple of options.

You can create your own content.

This is easier than you’d imagine. It doesn’t need to be commercial-grade quality. A desktop video camera, a nice background (or but an inexpensive backdrop from eBay or Amazon) and a microphone (even one embedded in the camera) will get you started. Sign up for a program like Screencast-o-matic or Zoom, and just start talking. It helps a lot to first outline what you’re going to say, but if you’ve done a PowerPoint presentation, you can do this just about as easily.

As you might imagine, creating your own content gives your staff exactly what you think they need. Plus, it can be a great team building and professional development exercise. Even your newest staff person or volunteer can participate by contributing their thoughts as someone new to the field. The most experienced staff can be “editorial directors,” making sure that the content is consistent with your nonprofit’s mission and values.

Good news? The DIY approach saves you money and can be great professional development in itself, but it will take time that could be better spent elsewhere. So what are your other options?

You can purchase content.

There’s some great content out there on just about any nonprofit topic. Of course, it won’t be specifically crafted to your organization, but there are a lot of other advantages. First, it saves time to buy your training resources “off the shelf.”

Second, and maybe most important, purchasing pre-made content allows you to stand on the shoulders of giants. Let’s say you buy training from a world-renowned expert on, say, accounting. By bringing everyone together in front of a big screen, the entire staff gets all of the best practices on the subject, and knows that everyone else did, too. Plus, the training keeps participants’ attention because it’s remarkably well produced.

After the whole thing, or better yet, after each section, you can have a staff discussion on what you saw and how it applies to your nonprofit. By gathering everyone together to brainstorm after their shared experience, you can push your mission forward in ways that nobody thought possible.

This is great, but why not send them to a conference or seminar? There are plenty of reasons – from the cost effectiveness and time efficiency of online learning to personal safety in this world of pandemics and more. But the biggest reason is the flexibility. Online learning can occur at any time, on any device, at any place, tailored exactly to what you need. Plus, you probably can’t afford to send everyone to the same conference to see the same sessions.

Maybe you find investing in online training for your nonprofit staff a little crazy. However, online learning has quickly become mainstream. Leveraging its potential to build teams is an effective choice for your budget, your time, and most important, your mission!

Matt Hugg is an author and instructor in nonprofit management in the US and abroad. He is president and founder of Nonprofit.Courses, an on-demand, eLearning educational resource for nonprofit leaders, staff, board members and volunteers, with hundreds of courses in nearly every aspect of nonprofit work.

He’s the author of The Guide to Nonprofit Consulting, and Philanders Family Values, Fun Scenarios for Practical Fundraising Education for Boards, Staff and Volunteers, and a contributing author to The Healthcare Nonprofit: Keys to Effective Management.

Over his 30-year career, Hugg has held positions at the Boy Scouts of America, Lebanon Valley College, the University of Cincinnati, Ursinus College, and the University of the Arts. In these positions, Matt raised thousands of gifts from individuals, foundations, corporations and government entities, and worked with hundreds of volunteers on boards and fundraising committees, in addition to his organizational leadership responsibilities.

Matt teaches fundraising, philanthropy, and marketing in graduate programs at Eastern University, the University of Pennsylvania, Juniata College and Thomas Edison State University via the web, and in-person in the United States, Africa, Asia and Europe, and is a popular conference speaker. He has a BS from Juniata College and an MA in Philanthropy and Development from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota. Mr. Hugg has served on the board of the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the Nonprofit Career Network of Philadelphia and several nonprofits.

As of June 5, 2020

Great news!

Congress recently signed the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act which slightly changes some of the terms of the Paycheck Protection Program in order to allow more businesses to be eligible for loan forgiveness.

Here’s what you need to know:

• Loan amount that must be spent on payroll costs went from 75% to 60% (that means a higher percentage may be spent on rent and utilities)
• The PPP program “covered period” is extended until December 31, 2020
• This gives employers 24 weeks, rather than eight weeks to spend PPP proceeds
• Employers can avoid a reduction in forgiveness amounts due to a significant decrease in employment and/or wage levels between February 15 and April 26, 2020, as long as the number of employees and wage levels are restored by December 31, 2020
• Those that use the longer period of up to 24 weeks may need to maintain employment levels through the entire 24-week period or restore wage and full-time equivalent employee levels by December 31, 2020
• Employers now have five years to pay back PPP loans instead of two years
• The SBA will probably provide a new Loan Forgiveness Application if you choose to use the 24 week forgiveness period

[Article Source]

As of May 15, 2020

Show of hands:

Who received PPP funds? (Even if you didn’t, keep reading.)

The Small Business Administration (SBA) released the PPP loan forgiveness application and outlined all of the criteria that we’ll need to meet in order to forgive the loan.

Here’s the SBA announcement.

Here’s the forgiveness application.

If you received PPP funds (yay, congrats!), it’s time to make sure your record-keeping is in order so that when your lender asks for the application, you have everything ready to go. I strongly encourage you to read through the announcement and application, but here are a few points I pulled out:

• Keep all of your info in one place. SBA loan number, lender loan number, date of loan disbursement, last four digits of employees’ social security numbers, bank statements, mortgage statements, rent agreements/leases, utility invoices, etc. You’ll need all of this and more!
• Save more than you normally might. Do you normally trash utility bills? Don’t download bank statements or payroll registers? Download everything as you go, and keep it all in a Google Drive or Dropbox folder so when your 8 weeks are up, you’re not chasing down documents (and totally freaking out!)
• Figure out what your “covered period” is. This is the eight-week (56-day) Covered Period of your PPP loan, but borrowers with a biweekly (or more frequent) payroll schedule may elect to calculate eligible payroll costs using the eight-week (56-day) period that begins on the first day of their first pay period following their PPP Loan Disbursement Date. Figure this out NOW, rather than when you’re requesting forgiveness.
• Remember that compensation over $100k annually is not eligible, nor are payments to independent contractors.
• If you reduced your staff, there are several documents you’ll need and calculations you’ll do to determine total forgiveness.

There’s a lot more in this guidance, so please review it carefully to make sure you’re fully compliant. We all want to move this loan off the balance sheet ASAP, so get your ducks in a row now to be ready in 8 weeks! (I’m not a lawyer and this is not legal or tax advice, so make sure to consult your own qualified advisors.)

This also got me thinking: Would you be ready if something like this happened again? Do you have your accounting, payroll, and record-keeping organized enough to produce documents at the drop of a hat? We all know how quickly the first round of SBA funds ran out and those who weren’t able to quickly cobble together the very basic information required probably missed out.

Two quick pieces of advice:

1. Don’t rely on any online service providers to hold onto your statements. Download your bank and credit card statements, payroll registers, 941 filings, etc on a regular basis and save the PDFs to Google Drive or Dropbox. Your bank may not keep more than 12 months of statements, you might change payroll providers, etc, and you don’t want to be frantically chasing these down later.
2. Cash flow forecasting is crucial. You need to know clearly what’s coming in and going out each month to plan effectively, especially in times of crisis, AND to manage these relief funds effectively to ensure forgiveness. Don’t have a template? I’ve got you covered with a free template here!

Hello, friends.

The first, and most important thing I must share with you all, this amazing community of purpose-driven leaders around the world, is that we stand unequivocally as allies of #blacklivesmatter and the anti-racist movement. To the people of color in our community, we see you, we hear you, we love you, and we support you.

Before the horrific murder of George Floyd last week, as states began opening up after COVID-19, I had been thinking about “reguarly scheduled programming”. You know, going back to “normal” life after being quarantined for three months under a global pandemic. I had thought about what things might actually change, what lessons we’ve learned, what priorities have shifted.

And now, after another murder of an innocent Black man followed by a national movement against systemic racism, I believe there is no more “regularly scheduled programming”.

We are at a crossroads in our country’s history right now.

We could sit back and quietly watch it all go down, afraid of saying the wrong thing or messing up our “regularly scheduled programming”, or we could be on the side of change.

I choose change.

I choose to use my voice, this business, and my privilege to create change.

I’ve spent the week learning, listening, and taking action – and plan to continue. A couple resources I’ve found very helpful are:

1. The Anti-Racism Daily email. Sign up here and THEN. TAKE. ACTION.
2. Anti-Racism for Beginners. A great compilation of resources created by BIPOC educators and activists.

100 Degrees Consulting was founded on a mission to support nonprofits and purpose-driven businesses who are creating positive change in their communities, and staying true to this mission is more important than ever. Fighting against systemic racism is ongoing work and we are committed to making changes and improving not just now, but always.

PS – We are investing in both underserved communities and BIPOC leaders by offering scholarships to our course in nonprofit financial management, Master Your Nonprofit Numbers. Please comment below for more info.

I’ve been thinking a lot about cash lately.

We’ve been helping clients manage cash flow and apply for government funding round the clock for the last two weeks and although the current rounding of funding dried up before most small businesses got their little piece, it’s no surprise that I’m seeing cash flow forecasts every time I close my eyes (also seeing that 1000 piece puzzle that I’m working on – anybody else know what I mean?).

A few years ago, I had just wrapped up my biggest year in business yet. My revenue was the highest it had ever been, I had grown my team, and I’d made big investments in my own development.

But at the end of the year, I barely had any more cash in the bank then when I’d started.

I’d done everything I was “supposed” to do and had very little to show for it. It was an incredible disappointment in a year of tough lessons learned, and also a source of shame if I’m being honest. I’m a Chief Financial Officer and help people with this stuff every single day – why does it seem so difficult in my own business?

Fast forward and this month I hit a major milestone I’d been working towards: the business cash reserve goal I’d been diligently building. Since that disappointing year, I’ve been methodically and strategically building this reserve (while not sacrificing investment or growth, I’ll add) and now, in the midst of a pandemic, I’ve hit the goal.

So what changed from a few years ago to now?

I started consistently using my own methodology!

Here’s the thing: nothing about managing your business finances strategically is difficult or complicated. In fact, it’s so simple that as a CFO, I kind of overlooked it.

But when you operate from a place of proactive decision-making, you can see your business finances into the future, and can sleep at night knowing you have cash in the bank to do what you need to do.

And after walking others through the same process again and again, now I’ve got the proof in my own business, and the peace of mind that I can weather the storm.

Maybe you’re thinking:

I’m ready to build a reserve and sleep better at night, especially during these weird times where I don’t even know what day it is!

But how do I start? Numbers are not my strong suit.

I challenge you today to figure out how many months of cash you have in the bank right now. It’s EASY.

1. Check today’s bank balance. Yup, dig up your bank login and take a peek.
2. Figure out your average monthly expenses. Look at the last 3-6 months of expenses and average it out. Find the info in Quickbooks, your bank/credit card statements, Excel spreadsheets, wherever you keep your info.
3. Divide the bank balance by the average monthly expenses.

This number is how many months you could operate your business as normal if not another dollar came in. What’s your number? What’s your goal number?

Comment and let me know. There’s power in accountability, my friends!

Ready to dive ALL the way in? Grab our Contingency Plan template here and start mapping out your future!

How are you doing this week? No really, how are you?

Tired. Nervous. Relaxed. Bored. Anxious. Energized. Content. All of the above?

There’s no right answer, of course, but I wanted to talk to you about your mindset during this challenging time and give you three different approaches that are really helping me.

1. Forward-thinking. We don’t know when this will be over, but we do know that it will be over. I saw someone post on Instagram the other day that we are one day closer to the end of quarantine and the end of the virus, and I love that mindset. It’s been helping me to think about where my business is going once life returns to normal! If you feel stuck and antsy right now, it’s a great time to plan.
2. Innovation. I don’t know about you, but it’s sometimes hard for me to get into the flow of creativity. I need a lot of white space in my calendar where I’m not inundated with tasks in order to think big. And hey! You might just have some newfound white space in your calendar right now (okay, if you’re a parent, you probably have less free time right now, but hear me out). Think about: how to double-down on your most profitable revenue stream and serve your people in a new way. If you feel bored and worried right now, it’s a great time to innovate.
3. Gratitude. When I feel overwhelmed and don’t have the brain capacity to think past what I’m eating for dinner tonight, I come into a place of gratitude. Each day I think of (at least!) one good thing that made me happy or that I’m grateful for. When we’re trapped in our homes with only the depressing news to entertain us, it can feel like everything is terrible. Taking five seconds to think about (or write down!) something you’re grateful for immediately puts you in better brain space. If you feel overwhelmed and anxious right now, it’s a great time for gratitude.

What I’m saying is that there’s no right or wrong way to feel or act right now. At different times, we’ll feel different ways, and we can implement different mindsets to help us through.

I know this is a bit outside of my normal finance topics but pretty much everything is outside of normal right now, and I want to support you. Reply back with whichever mindset is resonating most with you right now.

I hope you are well.

PS – If you need practical support right now, please check out our Contingency Plan Template. I updated it over the last week with some considerations and action items to think through as you’re looking at your numbers right now to set yourself to be as healthy as possible during this time.

I don’t know about you, but my social media, news, and text feeds are all things coronavirus, all the time. I’m not discounting the seriousness of the situation, but now that my pantry is stocked and we’re in full-on social distancing mode, it’s all getting a little heavy for me.

My family is adjusting to our new routine too; my daughter’s preschool has been canceled for a month, my husband is working from home, and our childcare is socially distancing. We are very quickly learning how to juggle a different set of balls than normal around here!

I need a breath of fresh air and brightness in my day, literally and figuratively. (Buffalo, New York weather is NOT helping with the literal part…)

One thing that always makes my Enneagram 3 heart happy? ROUTINES.

I know many of you may be working from home consistently for the first time and are worried it will be a downward spiral from mid-morning snacks to Price is Right on TV to afternoon naps on the couch and beyond!

I’ve been at the work-from-home game for nearly a decade so I thought I’d share some of the tips that keep me sane AND productive.

1. Set a schedule. I wake up at least an hour before I want to start work, get dressed and ready (no jammies all day around here), make my hot lemon water, and sit down to my computer wide awake and ready to go. The time of day is less important than the routine itself, so if you need to homeschool your kiddos in the morning and work in the afternoon, that’s great too. I love blocking off chunks of time for different things: family time, work time, etc.
2. Create a home office space. What if you don’t have a home office and your space is overrun with kids and animals? No worries. Set up a space where your space is your own for the day – even if it’s the dining room table. Clear the clutter, set up your computer, phone, and notebook and boom! Instant home office. Tidy the space at the end of the day so you walk in with a fresh, clean head in the morning.
3. Incorporate fresh air. As an introvert, I could hole myself up in my office all day, every day and never miss human contact. But introvert or extrovert, we all need movement to stay motivated and focused. Step outside and take a walk as often as you can!
4. Add mindfulness into your routine. While I try and meditate and/or journal on a regular basis, it is the first thing to go by the wayside when life gets hectic. I’ve quickly realized that in these chaotic times, it’s the first thing I need. My neck and back have been yelling at me for a week to take a deep breath and slow down, so I spend a few minutes in the quiet each morning before the day begins.

Happy working from home! How do you stay focused when out of your regular routine? How can I help you during this time?