hello@buildupadvisory.com

Fast Build Friday

Fast Build Friday: Episode 41- Transitioning from Concept to Public Charity (Part I)

Would it surprise you to know that we never just say, “Let’s do it!” when someone comes to us to form a #charity? Or that we ask programmatic and strategy questions in addition to the “legal questions” you might expect? It is not simply a “transaction” to us.

Today’s Fast Build topic is about transitioning from concept to public charity. Nic shares the first of two key considerations for transitioning to public charity status.

The first consideration, which is critical, is to determine if you should, in fact, be a charitable entity. If you skip this step and go straight to assuming you should be a #publiccharity simply because you want to have social impact, you will lose out on a lot of the vision and mission setting that is critical for building infrastructure and will likely be in an inappropriate entity, both of which will ultimately have an impact within the communities you serve.

Taking the time and having the patience to put all of this together in a meaningful way, including the type of entity you will use to do your work, is how you start building out a strong infrastructure and framework for your organization.

You can watch Episode 41 below.

Read more

Fast Build Friday: Episode 40- Key Elements of a Service Agreement

Did you know that how you negotiate the provisions within your service agreements actually impacts the sustainability of your #nonprofit or #philanthropy?

Today’s Fast Build topic is about the key elements of a service agreement. Nic shares the top 3 considerations for nonprofits and philanthropies engaging service providers.

Paying attention to a service agreement’s payment terms, indemnification provisions, and confidentiality terms is critical. Losing sight of any one of them can ultimately impact your organization’s bottom line, flexibility, and resilience. So, it is critical to your organizational infrastructure to understand and negotiate what you are signing, particularly when it comes to these terms.

When was the last time you considered how a service agreement might impact your bottom line? Let us know in the comments!

You can watch Episode 40 below.

Read more

Fast Build Friday: Episode 39- Infrastructure Trends to Watch in 2021 (Part II)

Given what we have seen so far, #nonprofit and #philanthropy leaders might be saying this phrase at the end of 2021: “Remember when we hosted that ‘bylaws and committee charter review’ party last year that was standing-room only?”

Today’s Fast Build Friday topic is the infrastructure trends to watch in 2021. Nic highlights the second of two 2021 trends that she wants to talk about in a bit more detail. It is the second part of a two-part series.

The second infrastructure trend that Nic thinks we should watch this year is #governance. We believe any organizations within the sector will start to critically question their governance structure and pay attention to the pipeline in place to recruit members to ensure that their boards and structure are both strong.

What are you thinking about governance in 2021? What other infrastructure trends are you seeing in 2021?

Let us know in the comments!

You can watch Episode 39 below.

Read more

Fast Build Friday: Episode 38- Infrastructure Trends to Watch in 2021 (Part I)

If you had to complete binders full of reporting, metrics, updates, check-ins, and plans, to apply for, receive, and use a funding award, would it make a difference in how you engaged in the grant and that relationship? Would it help you to know how others are awarding and managing these awards?

Today’s Fast Build Friday topic is the infrastructure trends to watch in 2021. Nic highlights the first of two 2021 trends that she wants to talk about in a bit more detail. It is the first part of a two-part series.

The first infrastructure trend that Nic thinks we should be paying close attention to is due diligence for funding awards. She thinks we are going to see a real shift within the diligence space and we might even see it vary significantly by field, recipient, region, and funder.

And if we ignore the diligence trend, we may end up providing awards that are intended to be flexible, but are so tied down with diligence requirements pre, during, and post-funding award that we hinder how that grant could actually have been envisioned and used by the grantee.

How will you monitor diligence requirements in 2021? Let us know in the comments!

You can watch Episode 38 below.

Read more

Fast Build Friday: Episode 37- Reflecting on 2020 Infrastructure Trends

Are you a trendspotter? Did you know that trendspotting can help you strengthen your #nonprofit infrastructure and inform your #capacitybuilding?

Today’s Fast Build Friday topic is reflecting on 2020 infrastructure trends. Nic highlights 3 of the 11 trends that we previously said the sector should be paying attention to.

Those three highlighted trends are donor collaboratives, place-based vision, and #technology. Listen to hear what we thought of each in 2020 and where we are now.

Would you be surprised to learn that all of the trends that we thought would become more visible in 2020, actually did? And COVID likely made them show up even more. And the racial justice protests, particularly in the United States, impacted these trends too.

To read about all 11 infrastructure trends, click here.

What infrastructure trends did you predict for 2020? Let us know in the comments.

You can watch Episode 37 below. 

Read more