If you’re like us, your daily inbox is jam-packed with newsletters and educational opportunities from like-minded social impact leaders. These spectacular humans work around the clock to foster positive change in their communities. Then, somehow, find time to share their story with fellow nonprofit enthusiasts. We tip our hat to them!
 
Here are just a handful of our favorite nonprofit resources this month: 

• Ethical Leadership Webinar: https://bit.ly/2UDxRTX
• Work with Your Board Workbook: https://bit.ly/2Gb114C
• 11 GIFs for Nonprofit Fundraisers: https://bit.ly/2I9QzN5
• Nonprofit Reporting Requirements for Donations: https://bit.ly/2D9ingp
• Guide to Nonprofit Storytelling: https://bit.ly/2IrQp3M
• Public Radio and TV Stations Pick Their Nonprofit Partners: https://bit.ly/2UEgrXU
• A Nonprofit Quarterly Advancing Practice Series: https://bit.ly/2USe8k3

 
Thanks for stopping by to read our picks for top nonprofit news this month! If you’re interested in hearing more from us, subscribe to our newsletter today!
 
About Blue Fox: Our team provides customized, boutique financial and back office services for social impact organizations. Services range from standard bookkeeping and payroll services, to coaching and consulting, to comprehensive virtual CFO services. Our mission is to disrupt the traditional accounting model through technology, innovation, and a radically client-focused approach that truly empowers nonprofits and social enterprises. For more information call (321) 233-3311, email hello@yourbluefox.com, and visit www.YourBlueFox.com. 

​When it comes to client satisfaction, there’s a phrase we love to hear: “I wish I would have asked for help sooner.” This is our unofficial happiness benchmark and it typically comes during the new client onboarding process. (Often with a huge sigh of relief!)
 
We know that social impact leaders are changemakers first and foremost, with their organization’s mission front and center in all they do. But it can be a struggle to balance your management focus between your mission and your institution. Institutional maintenance (bookkeeping, payroll, budgeting, financial reporting) is critical to sustainability, as we all know. But if these tasks cause #overwhelm, your organization might be a good fit for outsourcing some of them. An outsourced back office doesn’t work for everyone. (Seriously – we tell prospective clients that truth all the time.)
 
How do you know if your organization’s mission and institution can benefit from outsourced services? Consider if any of the following appeals to you:

• More Time to Focus on Your Mission: Spend less time on admin tasks and more time on your program and leadership duties. Sounds like an obvious win, but it’s easy to forget that a lighter administrative load will free you up to do the real changemaking you were hired to do.
• Leverage the Best Tech: Use cloud-based tools and innovative, best of breed platforms to solve internal back office problems. Take an agile approach to tech to ensure you get exactly the right combination of tools to fit your needs. Update your systems regularly to take advantage of tech improvements.
• Low (or No) Admin Turnover: “What will I do if she quits???” Enter the dread that comes with high employee turnover so common in the nonprofit space. But an outsourced service provider works for you on your terms. That takes turnover risk out of your staffing equation.
• Easy Audits: A painless audit is not a unicorn. A well-organized back office allows for all backup documentation to be at the ready, with little to no additional effort on your part.
• Report with Confidence: Financials that are in order. No more lost sleep over the annual budget process or doing payroll when you’re dead tired from a late evening event. Accuracy and oversight that are built in to your back-office processes.

 
Outsourcing may not work for you. But Blue Fox is different. We are an accounting firm specifically for nonprofits and social enterprises. Our team members have broad expertise in the social impact space, with backgrounds as nonprofit leaders, board members and volunteers. The entrepreneurial spirit runs deep on our team. This means we manage your back-office from the same perspective as you would. Seriously, read our Philosophy! 
 
Now, let’s revisit that huge sigh of relief that comes from outsourcing your back-office. We would love to help you feel that way. Let’s have a chat and see how Blue Fox can help you reach your goals. Call us anytime at (321) 233-3311 or email hello@yourbluefox.com. 

Cause Camp was recently named by Forbes as one of the Top 10 Nonprofit Conferences. Held at the Nebraska Innovation Campus in Lincoln, Nebraska, it did not disappoint. (Neither did the famed local Hurts Donut or Honest Abe’s Burgers, but that’s a story for another day.) If you don’t want to schlep to Lincoln, you can stream the event for $99. (I did that last year to see if it was worth going. It was. Donuts and burgers notwithstanding.)
 
Sponsored by Nonprofit Hub, Cause Camp draws about 400 people/year to Lincoln for both lecture-style and breakout sessions. There are parties and lots of local beer, too, but in Lincoln they call that networking so it’s all very legit.
 
My favorite thing about Cause Camp was the intimate size of the crowd and conference space. There were plenty of opportunities to get to know your seat neighbor or lunchmate. And lots of non-structured time allotted for, you know, being human with each other.
 
My second favorite thing about Cause Camp was the speaker lineup. Truly fantastic, engaging, and actionable information presented by every single speaker. And because the crowd was an intimate group, you actually had time and opportunity to chat with the speakers one-on-one. That’s unusual in conference-land.
 
Here’s (just some of) what I learned from the experts at Cause Camp.
 
On Saying Thank You
Steve Shattuck from Bloomerang gave a fantastic talk on the importance of thanking donors and thinking about thanking strategically. I think this info applies to for profit entities as well. Thanking the customer is a lost art in modern sales. Check out these stats:

• First-time donors who get a personal(ized) thank you within 48 hours of making a gift are 4x more likely to give a second gift. FOUR TIMES! Whoa.
• A thank you call from a board member within 24 hours increases the same donor’s next gift by almost 40%. Can you imagine the uptick in fundraising if you instituted just this one gratitude practice?

 
On Donor/Customer Retention
Speaker Rachel Muir is my new best friend. She just doesn’t know it yet. (Is that weird? IDK.) A “recovering nonprofit executive,” Rachel is a renowned fundraising consultant. Just a few of the fascinating things Rachel taught us:

• “One-time donors are the one-night stands of philanthropy.” Enough said.
• Have a specific thank you for first-time donors. It shows you value the donor immediately, it honors their first gift as a unique moment, and shows that your organization is committed to a long-term relationship.
• Celebrate your donors’ donor-versaries. I love this idea! Why not send a special note or video message to a donor on the date of their very first gift to your org? Powerful stuff.
• Valentine’s Day and Thanksgiving Day (not Giving Tuesday) are SUPER unsung holidays for talking to donors.
• “One of the greatest gifts you can give your donor is the gift of being known by you.”

 
On Video
Here again, Rachel Muir and others wowed us all. The power of video is undeniable. I’m working on a video content to do list for Blue Fox as we speak. Highlights:

• Use a tool like bombbomb.com to embed and send personal videos via email – super different and impactful
• This dog wants you. Here’s a video that made me want to fly across the pond just to get a dog from the Battersea shelter.
• “Emotion needs no translation.” Rachel Muir is a genius. (Free handouts and resources at her website.)
• Check out this smile-inducing video from Ball State. The Ball State Alumni Association sends happy birthday videos to their donors every year. (Yes, they do make a new video each year, keeping it fresh and intimate.)

On Finance
Just kidding. As with #19NTC, there were NO sessions on finance. I guess I will just have to apply to speak next year?!
 
This year’s Cause Camp was pretty well focused on storytelling and fundraising, and as you can see it was fantastic content. (I have 11 pages of notes – this blog just scratched the surface.) Maybe that will change in the future. But if not, I think if you do or implement just one of these takeaways from Cause Camp, you will be advancing your mission.
 
My favorite quote from the conference is an old proverb:  The knowledge of fire does not keep you warm.
 
How often do we know things and not do them? So get going. Do the things. Try the things. Think about the things. And let us know if we can help. 
 
Resources: Speakers and their Twitter feeds teach us a lot. Julia Campbell and Kishshana Palmer’s tweets and Insta posts (Kishshana's) make me either think or LOL almost every day!

About: Our team at Blue Fox provides customized, boutique financial and back office services for social impact organizations. Services range from standard bookkeeping and payroll services, to coaching and consulting, to full-blown virtual CFO services. Our mission is to disrupt the traditional accounting model through technology, innovation, and a radically client-focused approach that truly empowers nonprofits and social enterprises. For more information call (321) 233-3311, email hello@yourbluefox.com, and visit www.YourBlueFox.com. 
​
Author:  Founder & CEO, the Original Blue Fox, Chantal Sheehan, MS, CFP(r) ​​​​

A special note and key learning points from our long-time client, Karen Govern, Executive Director at STARability Foundation: 
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Thank you so much for the wonderful opportunity to attend the NTEN conference! The learning opportunities were outstanding and each session was useful, interesting and practical. I hope you enjoy just a few of my notes and key learning points below:

• Project Management: Building a solid project management culture works to increase transparency, improve data collection and foster smarter decision-making. NTEN provided access to practical tools for integrating project management practices and I look forward to implementing these tools at STARability!  A great example is the use of Project Charter Templates, an incredibly useful tool that can be adapted for almost any project or initiative.
• Employee Engagement: Leadership effectiveness can be improved with better employee engagement, improving manager/staff communication, and setting SMART goals for employee development.
• Stay Interviews: This was one of my favorite learning moments! Conducting ‘Stay Interviews’ with employees keeps them committed and motivated for the organization. It’s as simple as having a conversation about what motivates them, what they enjoy about working at the organization, and opportunities for improvement.
• Dashboards: Utilizing dashboards can provide real-time information that can help us respond to needs in a timely manner, whether its financial or programmatic.  Operational dashboards can be used to demonstrate program efficiencies, measure fundraising progress or even track personnel expenses.  Dashboards should spark ideas and generate questions; not just answer questions.  They show you what’s happening right now, but also where you should be going and what resources you need to get there.

 
I really cannot say enough about my experience at the NTEN conference. The presenters provided access to valuable resources and tools. Although it was a large conference, there was a lot of small “caring” details, such as the helpful attendee packets and wonderful meals and receptions.  The app and website were also very helpful for daily planning.  And, I truly enjoyed interacting with like-minded leaders to share information, tips, and experiences.  I even connected with someone from an organization in Australia that serves individuals with disabilities.  We compared our countries’ service delivery systems and discovered we faced similar issues and challenges.

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The STARability Foundation’s mission is to, “transform the lives of individuals with disabilities through social, vocational and educational connections to the community, while strengthening awareness and respect for individual abilities.” There is no better person to lead these efforts than our long-time client and friend, Karen Govern. She is a truly kind and caring human who leads with thoughtfulness, strategy and focus. We cannot wait to see her continued success and achievements at STARability!
 
We think of our client relationships as true partnerships. Trust, kindness, patience, and respect are forefront of our service delivery and client communications. That’s why our clients, more often than not, also become our friends. Read more about what makes us tick and our five pillars of service.

A special note and key learning points from our long-time client, Brenda Brooks, Executive Director at CREW Land & Water Trust:
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Many thanks and appreciation go to Blue Fox for providing our nonprofit, the CREW Land & Water Trust, the opportunity to attend the 2019 Nonprofit Technology Conference in Portland, Oregon. The information shared at the conference went above and beyond my expectations of all things tech in the nonprofit sector. The networking opportunities also provided me with connections to help CREW Trust move forward in areas where we’ve encountered obstacles.
 
Here are just 3 of my learning key points:

• There is a balance between making technology work for you and still keeping that personal connection with your supporters. Find the right technology for your nonprofit and don't be afraid to try something new IF you think it's a good fit with your mission.
• Use technology to educate, inform, inspire and cultivate.
• We'll be implementing more storytelling to connect people to CREW rather than throw statistics their way about what we're doing. Storytelling can definitely include videos. Claim-making = no engagement. Storytelling = engagement. And isn't that what we want?!

 
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Brenda works hard to protect and preserve 60,000 acres of Southwest Florida’s critical watershed landscape at CREW. But it’s her passion for education – for people of all ages – on the importance of the watershed to life in Florida that makes us kindreds. Brenda is also an Ironman finisher and avid triathlete. So, you know, she’s an all-around amazing human.
 
We think of our client relationships as true partnerships. Trust, kindness, patience, and respect are forefront of our service delivery and client communications. That’s why our clients, more often than not, also become our friends. Read more about what makes us tick and our five pillars of service.

We all like getting paid, but is your company paying too much to cut paychecks? There are a boatload of payroll processors out there so it can be hard to figure out the costs involved. Let’s break it down.
 
Most payroll processing companies charge fees either by:

• Percentage of gross payroll
• Per-employee fee (usually in addition to a base rate or larger annual fee)
• Per-pay period fee (meaning if you pay your employees weekly, you’ll pay more for processing)
• Paycheck delivery type (direct deposit vs manual paycheck)
• Some combination of the above

 
These fee structures are traditional and are meant to do one thing: keep the big payroll companies in business.
 
But for small businesses and nonprofits, the cost of these services is so high (think $200-500/month) that it may prevent leaders from establishing fair and just payroll offerings for their employees. Weekly pay, bonus payrolls, and even hiring for much needed help may be put on hold by management because of payroll processing fees that creep ever higher... that’s not okay in our book!
 
Payroll processing with Blue Fox is 100% different. We charge our clients a simple flat fee per month to process payroll.  And, that’s it! Our payment structure saves your organization money and gives you better flexibility to pay employees as often as you like. You can even pay your employees weekly, give bonuses, and issue commissions at no extra cost.
 
Blue Fox believes in fair and transparent pricing. We receive wholesale and accountant-only discounts on the different platforms we use, and we happily pass those discounts along to clients who take advantage of our bundled services (accounting and payroll, for example). Why? Because that’s the right thing to do and because it just makes sense: if we are your virtual accounting team or CFO, we can run payroll and manage the related bookkeeping seamlessly. It’s a win-win for everyone.
 
Wouldn’t it be nice to rely on one team for all your back-office service needs? Contact us for a quote!

P.S. If you're thinking of making a change, please know it's best to change your payroll provider at month-end or quarter-end to avoid payroll tax filing headaches. 
 
About: Our team at Blue Fox provides customized, boutique financial and back office services for social impact organizations. Services range from standard bookkeeping and payroll services, to coaching and consulting, to comprehensive virtual CFO services. Our mission is to disrupt the traditional accounting model through technology, innovation, and a radically client-focused approach that truly empowers nonprofits and social enterprises. For more information call (321) 233-3311, email hello@yourbluefox.com, and visit www.YourBlueFox.com.