Dr. Thomas Vansaghi | Managing Director 

In this Ask the Expert episode, we sit down with Dr. Thomas Vansaghi from UMKC’s Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership to unpack the critical need for rainy day funds in nonprofit operations. From weathering revenue disruptions to boosting donor trust, Dr. Vansaghi lays out practical steps to start, structure, and sustain a reserve fund. Whether you’re a seasoned ED or a scrappy startup, this conversation offers must-hear insights on long-term nonprofit sustainability.

Key Takeaways:

• Rainy Day vs Endowment: A rainy day fund is designed for emergencies and operations, unlike an endowment which typically only allows access to interest earned.
• Donor Trust & Perception: Having a reserve signals strong financial stewardship, which boosts donor confidence and appeal.
• Start Small, Be Strategic: Nonprofits can build reserves gradually—aim for 3–6 months of expenses—and treat it like a capital campaign if needed.

What Nonprofit Questions are Answered?

1. What is a rainy day fund in a nonprofit? A financial reserve set aside for emergencies or unexpected drops in revenue.
2. How much should a nonprofit keep in a reserve fund? Aim for 3–6 months of operating expenses as a general best practice.
3. Is a rainy day fund the same as an endowment? No. Endowments typically limit access to interest, while rainy day funds can be spent during financial need.
4. Can donors fund a rainy day fund? Yes, but it may require creative messaging—treat it like a capital campaign with a mission-aligned pitch.
5. What are examples of earned income for nonprofits? Ventures like coffee shops, beekeeping, or training programs aligned with the nonprofit’s mission.

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Transcript:

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KC Cares: Welcome to KC Cares, the voice of Kansas City nonprofits. We share the stories of local nonprofits and the individuals who drive them. At KC Cares, we connect the nonprofit and the business sectors to enhance the quality of life

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KC Cares: in Kansas City for both our residents and our visitors. This KC Care segment is brought to you by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, www.kauffman.org. I’m Ruth Baum Bigus.

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KC Cares: We’ve all heard financial advisors say, save for a rainy day. It’s smart advice for individuals, but it’s just as critical for nonprofits. What does having a financial safety net really mean for an organization, and how can it make the difference between surviving and thriving when challenges hit?

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KC Cares: On this Ask the Expert episode of KC Cares, we dive into those questions with one of the best in the field, Dr. Thomas Vansaghi, Managing Director of the Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership at the University of Missouri, Kansas City.

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KC Cares: The center is devoted to helping nonprofits strengthen their leadership, improve performance, and amplify their impact through education, research, and service. Well, welcome, Dr. Benzagi! It’s great to have you here!

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Tom Vansaghi: Thanks, Ruth, it’s good to be back on KC Cares.

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KC Cares: Okay, rainy day funds. Let’s talk about… what are we talking about?

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Tom Vansaghi: Sure, well, it is, really a great topic, and I’m glad to have a chance to kind of talk a little bit about it. I think you’re absolutely right that

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Tom Vansaghi: Financial advisors and people in the finance field, of course, are always talking about

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Tom Vansaghi: putting… putting money away and, you know, having that available for future emergencies or issues. And, you know, just like us as individuals, a nonprofit should also strive for what would really technically be called a reserve fund. It’s also referred to as a rainy day fund or, you know, an emergency fund, but essentially what we’re thinking or talking about is,

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Tom Vansaghi: a savings account, or even better, an investment, you can put this money into an investment fund that could be accessible, you know, within a short period of time that a nonprofit could use, in any situation. Obviously.

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Tom Vansaghi: We’ve… we’ve had a few, situations just in the last few years with the…

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Tom Vansaghi: with the financial crisis back in 08, or the pandemic in 2021, and more recently, you know, we’ve had, you know, a lot of… a lot of changes with federal funding, and if you’re a nonprofit that has received federal funding, then that would certainly be something that you might need to lean on. And I can provide a lot of examples, but essentially we’re talking about a

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Tom Vansaghi: savings account that a nonprofit should be able to use, in, you know, in the event that their revenue streams, become compromised or limited, or there’s unexpected turbulence, along the way.

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KC Cares: Okay, so how does that differ, or maybe it’s the same as an endowment?

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Tom Vansaghi: Sure, yeah, I think an endowment and a rainy day fund or this type of thing is definitely… we’re talking really about the same kind of thing. An endowment, I think, is different from the standpoint of, it’s, it’s something that a nonprofit would put money away and only use the interest on that particular

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Tom Vansaghi: fund, which I think you could treat a rainy day fund or an investment, fund like that, but in some cases, you know, really the idea would be that you have enough money invested for, you know, 3 to 6 months of your operating expenses. So you should be able to access, you know.

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Tom Vansaghi: Big chunks of it, or all of it, in the event that, you know, you do have a constraint in your revenues.

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Tom Vansaghi: in whatever operational revenues, you know, you’re receiving, you know, whether it’s grant funding, or an event that you couldn’t have, or, you know, a particular donor, didn’t come through. So it’s really… an endowment, I think, is really structured around, you know, we’re only going to use the interest.

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Tom Vansaghi: to provide a scholarship, or we’re going to use the interest to support this particular position, where I think a rainy day fund is structured more to provide a large amount of money, you know, to replace your operational or your revenue streams that may have been compromised. Now, it would be great, I mean, I think, you know, an endowment or a fund like this could be used to help

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Tom Vansaghi: supplement your operations. Like, every year, you’re going to rely on a certain amount of money in your rainy day fund, a certain amount of interest that you’re going to put back into your operations, and so that would be another way to think about it as well. But I think it’s really important that, you know, most… most of the time with an endowment, you would never want to go into the principal, you’d never want to go into that.

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Tom Vansaghi: and take it for something or a need. But I think that’s what a rainy day fund is really there for. It’s to, you know, if you have a $300,000 fund, and you needed, you know, $100,000 to make payroll for a certain month.

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Tom Vansaghi: Then you should be able to take a third of it, in order to do that.

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KC Cares: So, you could use the interest off of an endowment, if you have an endowment, because I would guess that not all nonprofits do.

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KC Cares: And it sounds like endowment is more futuristic planning, whereas a rainy fund is like, it’s raining tomorrow. I need that money to be able to keep my organization maybe afloat in some ways.

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Tom Vansaghi: Right, yeah, yeah, so it’s definitely, there, and I, you know, I am a part-time executive director of a nonprofit, and, you know, we’ve…

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Tom Vansaghi: We have about a million dollars in what we call a reserve fund, and this particular year that we’re in, we had to take about $120,000, to help us with operating costs.

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Tom Vansaghi: For, for the current year. And, you know, that was not,

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Tom Vansaghi: anything that was in our, in our, planning. I mean, we just, we just found ourselves in a situation where we rely heavily on a conference, where we have people come to a conference, from

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Tom Vansaghi: really all over the world, and we know this year’s conference, is going to be, smaller, because people are concerned about, you know, from outside of the United States especially, they’re concerned about not being able to get into the country, or get out of the country, and so unfortunately…

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Tom Vansaghi: that’s had a very interesting effect on us, and so, you know, while we weren’t federally funded, we aren’t federally funded, we have been impacted by some of the, you know, some of the border security, and I think more, you know, people in Canada particularly, are fearful of traveling to the United States, which is really unfortunate. So for this particular year, our conference is supposed to be in Atlanta.

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Tom Vansaghi: And, and unfortunately, our conference attendance will probably be down about a third, which did result in a pretty large, you know, about a $300,000 deficit. We were able to reduce our expenditures by about half of that, and then we still needed another, like I said, about $120,000 to shore up the difference, and thankfully, we have that fund available.

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Tom Vansaghi: that we can just dip into this year, and it’s gonna be fine. Our operations and everything will be, you know, unaffected. We didn’t have to lay anybody off or let anybody go. Whereas if we didn’t have the rainy day fund, we would be in a situation where, you know, we would have had to probably let somebody go, or we’d had to have to make some pretty big

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Tom Vansaghi: changes, and so… and, you know, with a million dollar, fund, that’s almost a year’s worth of expenses for us. We’re about a million-dollar operation, so we are… we are really, in good shape, and probably are overfunded. We definitely should talk about, is… is too large of a rainy day fund to, you know, is it… is there such.

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KC Cares: Right.

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Tom Vansaghi: Too much money in your reserve fund.

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KC Cares: Well, we’ll get to that. I want to make this really beneficial for our viewers and listeners, so…

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KC Cares: Everybody should have a rainy day fund. Okay, how do I go about that? How do I decide to do that?

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KC Cares: start that.

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Tom Vansaghi: It’s hard, and I’ll tell you, you know, starting a fund like this is never easy, because it really, you know, and let me just start at the beginning, you know, the whole sector that we work in is called the nonprofit sector, and that does not mean that a

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Tom Vansaghi: Nonprofit or a charitable organization.

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Tom Vansaghi: can’t actually make a profit, and I think that’s, you know, I think a lot of people that don’t work in this space don’t understand that, but we can certainly, earn more revenue than we’re spending, and then that gives you a chance, you know, the best chance to really find money to put away. I think, you know, if you’re

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Tom Vansaghi: if you don’t have a rainy day fund, if you don’t have a reserve fund, it’s okay. I think this is a best practice. Not everybody, has the luxury of this, but I think it is a good long-term goal for all nonprofits, a strategic goal that could be in a long-term strategic plan, like a 3-year goal or a 5-year goal.

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Tom Vansaghi: to at least get something started, the rule of thumb is about 3 to 6 months of your operating budget, should be, you know, considered in your rainy day. That’s just a rule of thumb, that’s not a hard… there’s no, you know, IRS rule, there’s not any sort of accounting rule, you know, that’s just a good rule of thumb. So, 3 to 6 months of operating, you know, again, if you’re in a situation where you just need to cover payroll and operating costs.

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Tom Vansaghi: Then you have something to dip into.

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Tom Vansaghi: And, again, starting this, it’s difficult to find funders that want to give

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Tom Vansaghi: you know, a gift, you know, a charitable gift, an individual donation, or a corporate sponsorship, or a foundation grant, solely for the purposes of creating a rainy day fund. It’s just not sexy, it’s not something that

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Tom Vansaghi: excited about, you know? But…

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Tom Vansaghi: Again, I think it’s about how can your overtime, how can you structure your budget so you’re always earning more revenue than you’re spending, and even just incrementally putting away a little bit, you know, maybe a month, a year, you know, a month of operating expenses a year would be a reasonable goal, or a good goal. So within, you know, 3 years, you could actually have, 3 months of reserve funding, and so…

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Tom Vansaghi: Of course, you know, it’s easy to talk about this, you know, there’s never a time where nonprofits have enough money, there’s never a time where, you know, we have too many donors, and, you know, I mean, that happens, but it’s certainly an exception rather than the rule.

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KC Cares: That being said, what’s your best advice to

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KC Cares: begin something like this. You know, especially now, I mean, we’re in a situation where federal funds have been cut. I’m sure state and… if you have local funding, everybody’s looking very, you know, closely at budgets. Not that they didn’t before, but I think even more so now. So…

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KC Cares: What are those tips and advice as to how to make this happen?

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Tom Vansaghi: Yeah, again, I think I would just go back to, you know, really strategically, creating a budget, your annual budget, where you’re just not spending every, cent of your, of your operating fund. And so you, you know, you’re saying we’re going to set aside, you know, $10,000 or $20,000,

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Tom Vansaghi: In this particular budget year, we’re gonna, you know.

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Tom Vansaghi: earn that revenue through, you know, maybe an entrepreneurial source of funds. I mean, I always use the Girl Scouts as a great example. Girl Scout cookie sales. I mean, that’s, you know, if you can find something that you can, you know, monetize, sell, you know, provide some value to individuals that they’re willing to pay for. And I think that’s really truly one of the most opportunistic or

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Tom Vansaghi: or best ways for nonprofits, I think, at this particular moment in time, you know, to really look at diversifying revenue, instead of just going to the same donors or the same foundations.

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Tom Vansaghi: or state and federal funds, but to really find these more creative ways of raising revenue. And so I think if you can come up with some of those types of revenue streams, that would be a really good way to maybe add or increase your revenues in a particular year, or over a particular series of years.

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Tom Vansaghi: to really get that started. Now, you know, you might find a donor, you know, especially if you’re talking about an endowment, you know, really restricting the funding. You know, there would be donors that I think would be really interested in that, to set up something to, in perpetuity.

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Tom Vansaghi: we want to create a pool of funds that the nonprofit can use to draw on, to operate on. I know that I just had a conversation yesterday with

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Tom Vansaghi: somebody who used to work at Union Station here in Kansas City, and, I know that they sold… I didn’t realize this, but Washington Park used to be owned by Union Station. They sold that property and actually have used that funding to start, an endowment fund for just to… just to help.

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KC Cares: Oh, wow.

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Tom Vansaghi: with their operating budget. And so, you know, most nonprofits don’t have that kind of asset. They don’t have a large chunk of land or anything like that, but, you know, you never know. I mean, I used to work at William Jewell College. I taught

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Tom Vansaghi: there for many years, and I think back in the 1930s, a donor literally gave the college, oil wells. I mean, literally oil wells.

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Tom Vansaghi: in Texas, and, you know, that’s a… that was a pretty lucrative investment that I know the college had had for a long time, and

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Tom Vansaghi: talked about selling it, you know, but just making money off of those oil wells. So you never know, you know, donors might not leave you money or cash, but it may be, you know, real estate or a piece of property that you could monetize and then put that money into a fund like this.

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Tom Vansaghi: But I will say, it’s just… it’s never easy, because we’re always, you know, most nonprofits are operating, you know, they’re scrappy, they’re just making, you know, making it work, month to month, day to day, year to year, and having the, the luxury of actually having enough money to put money into the bank is…

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Tom Vansaghi: It’s a tough ask. And so, you know, most of the time, a nonprofit that’s

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Tom Vansaghi: in the earlier stages of its evolution as a startup, or in a growth mode, wouldn’t probably have the ability to do this, so it’s really a nonprofit that reaches that mature phase, and

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Tom Vansaghi: They’re earning enough revenue to pay for all their employees and operate their programs, and then they can really start to think about doing this long term.

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KC Cares: I want to dive into the idea of revenue. Of course, I think we’re… donor gifts and those things are revenue, but…

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KC Cares: the creative side of that. Do you have some examples of some local nonprofits that have been able to do that, and

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KC Cares: Maybe use that as their rainy day fund impetus?

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Tom Vansaghi: Yeah, I won’t name the specific nonprofits, but I do know of several examples of nonprofits who… they’re, they’re really focused on, you know, putting… helping people find employment, go back to work, helping them with training. You know, there’s some really cool ways of creating, opportunities where employ… where clients are.

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Tom Vansaghi: Working in a place that’s actually, you know, like a coffee shop, you know, a nonprofit that opens a coffee shop, and the employees that are there are working there, they’re making the drinks and serving

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Tom Vansaghi: working in the kitchen, and then, you know, the coffee shop is actually turning some sort of profit that’s giving money back to, giving money back to the, giving money back to the operations of the nonprofit. I’ve also seen it done… I’m a beekeeper, and, I love any stories where nonprofits are using, honey, and production of honey, and all of the…

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Tom Vansaghi: sort of the byproducts that come with that, but teaching people about how to be, beekeepers and, you know, maintaining them, you know, keeping the bees, and then, of course, the honey that’s produced off of the bees, and then even some of the other types of wax and other products that you can make, beauty care products. I mean, you know, and I know that there’s organizations, I know

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Tom Vansaghi: in Chicago that, that are, that are doing that as well. And so, you know, I think it’s, it’s really about, you know, in order to avoid, you know.

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Tom Vansaghi: taxes by the IRS, you know, you do have to do this work within your mission, so it is important. I’ve always.

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KC Cares: He’s got…

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Tom Vansaghi: with, how do the Girl Scouts justify selling Girl Scout cookies? I mean, how do cookies and the mission of Girl Scouts connect? And I’ve been told over and over again by leaders in that organization that Girl Scout cookies and selling those helps teach, you know, young women about entrepreneurship and, you know.

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KC Cares: Right.

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Tom Vansaghi: business, and, so I, you know, I can see that, and I think that that makes a lot of, a lot of sense. But if an organization just wanted to open up a quick trip, you know, the IRS…

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Tom Vansaghi: The IRS would want to tax that, and so, so the… it’s important as you’re exploring these, these social ventures that the… that the mission and the work that you’re doing does complement or create this sense of, you know, we’re training employees, we’re providing opportunities for our clients, through these.

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Tom Vansaghi: Through these means of also producing, producing revenue.

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KC Cares: You bring up a very good point with taxation and all of that. So, as a leader of a nonprofit is thinking through this, etc, who should they be consulting with to make sure that they don’t get themselves in a whole heap of trouble and the bees attack the hive? We’ll stay with the bee alliteration.

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Tom Vansaghi: Okay, well, there’s a couple of dimensions that I think a nonprofit should be thoughtful about. First, I think, you know, your accountants, you know, whoever does your, does your books, your accounting, could… could really help with, with this space a little bit, in terms of what are the rules that the IRS, you know, provides, and, you know, what’s permissible in terms of revenue streams

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Tom Vansaghi: you know, to keep you from actually paying, it’s called, unrelated business, income. So, unrelated business income tax, or UBIT, is what the IRS deems as, this is revenue that’s produced that doesn’t fit with your mission, it’s outside of your mission, and it really is

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Tom Vansaghi: taxable, and so I think, you know, either as somebody familiar with the rules at the IRS, always, you know, consulting with attorneys is good, and this is where, you know, again, we could touch… there’s so many ways that all of these topics intertwine, but talking about boards and governance, this is a great reason why we need to see

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Tom Vansaghi: Attorneys on boards, people that are experts…

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KC Cares: Or it’s in a.

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Tom Vansaghi: accounting or revenue, you know, certainly in the, you know, accounting, you know, having an accountant on your board is important, and, you know, so you don’t have to pay for these things, but these are people that, you know, are willing to, you know, they sit on your board, they’re willing to lean in and provide advice.

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Tom Vansaghi: to the nonprofit, and so… so I think an attorney or a… or a, an accountant would be able to provide that kind of information to any nonprofit leader as they’re exploring these different types of…

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Tom Vansaghi: revenue streams.

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KC Cares: We’re talking with Dr. Thomas Van Sagi. He is the Managing Director of the Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership, a great resource for information. Just throw that out there.

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KC Cares: We also have to talk about some issues like trust and confidence. Let’s discuss that a little bit as we look at rainy day funds as the main…

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KC Cares: Meantime.

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Tom Vansaghi: Yeah, no, I… you know, a nonprofit that has a reserve fund.

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Tom Vansaghi: is going to be viewed as an organization that’s operating well. There’s going to be a higher regard for, you know, anybody who’s considering making a gift or a donation, whether it’s a foundation, a corporation, and certainly individuals. They’re going to feel like, wow, this is an organization that’s well-managed.

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Tom Vansaghi: They have thought about what-ifs, and they are an organization that I have a higher degree of trust, and I feel like it’s a safer investment. I think, you know, we should think about donors as investors, and, you know, nobody wants to make a donation

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Tom Vansaghi: to a nonprofit that’s circling the drain, and that’s a really mean thing to say, but if you’re an organization that’s barely surviving and, you know, you’re running on fumes, you know, unfortunately, you know, there are… even though that’s an organization that needs, you know, donors to come to the aid and provide the support, unfortunately, that doesn’t really provide a lot of confidence to

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Tom Vansaghi: a donor, but an organization on the opposite side of that, that is well-managed and can say, yes, we have a 6-month reserve fund, that certainly provides a really good indication that the organization is well-managed, it’s well-governed, and they’re really trying to do everything correctly. And so, you know, and I think, again, you know, how are the

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Tom Vansaghi: what kind of policies does the nonprofit have, and how it can use its reserves? You know, clearly, you know, it should be very strictly,

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Tom Vansaghi: focused on, on, you know, maintaining the operations. All of it should be mission-aligned and mission-focused, and it, you know, it can’t be just for, like, a vent… like, a corporation might have a venture capitalist, fund, you know, it’s like, this.

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KC Cares: this week.

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Tom Vansaghi: Experimenting, or doing crazy.

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KC Cares: Easy.

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Tom Vansaghi: ideas, and again, you know, not… most nonprofits don’t have that luxury. Foundations can do some of that experimentation by funding particular projects, but a nonprofit doesn’t have that kind of risk ability with their funding, and I don’t know how donors would feel about that. Now, maybe a donor would be like, yes, I want to invest in that, I want to provide funding

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Tom Vansaghi: to start something really new and interesting. That’s a lot sexier than starting an endowment, but most owners, I think, are much more inclined to want to contribute to a nonprofit that’s well-run, well-managed, and they know is going to be around, not just in a year, but in 100 years.

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KC Cares: Do you have any thoughts on whether a rainy day fund needs to sit at a bank or a credit union? I mean.

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Tom Vansaghi: Give us a little of that financial…

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Tom Vansaghi: Yeah, no, that’s a good question. No, absolutely. You know, it should be, you know, ideally, maybe a short-term investment opportunity that you’re actually getting a better return than a savings account. For years, savings accounts had zero interest. I mean, when I was a little kid, I remember getting

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Tom Vansaghi: a little extra money that I would earn in a little savings account with my allowance.

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KC Cares: Right.

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Tom Vansaghi: first jobs that I had, but in more recent years, with interest rates so low, savings accounts didn’t really pay any dividends. So a savings account at a minimum, but I think it’s important to know that your money is available, that it’s not something that’s tied up in an investment fund that is not accessible. Again, because I think that, you know, a rainy day fund is there to provide support for the organization

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Tom Vansaghi: when something unexpected happens, when there is something that occurs that… and maybe it’s a problem with an air conditioning system, or an operational situation where, you know, you just have to, you know, we’ve had too many people come to our summer camp, we have to hire extra people. I mean, maybe it’s a good thing that you just need a little bit of extra.

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KC Cares: Right.

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Tom Vansaghi: spending, you know, more of a cash flow situation, just to get you through one month to the next. So if it’s…

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Tom Vansaghi: If it’s all locked down in long-term investments, then obviously it can be very difficult to access it, so it does need to be accessible, and I’m not a financial expert, but I think any kind of an investing… investment person could help separate out the types of funds that would provide some return, but also be fairly easy to get to. And again, an endowment is something

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Tom Vansaghi: that’s pretty much, locked up in a investment account that’s only, only focused on the, on the, on the revenue stream that’s created from the, from the interest.

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KC Cares: Maybe it’s, you know, talking with your own bank as the nonprofit, just to say, we know this is something we should do, how can you help us? How can you make this possible, aside from our regular operating accounts? You know, certainly I would hope that your bank could help you out there.

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KC Cares: Is there a way to approach donors with the idea of, we want to create this, because times are so uncertain. We want to do this as good stewardship for our organization, even though you don’t maybe need to replace that freezer in your food pantry.

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Tom Vansaghi: No, absolutely. I mean, you could treat it like a capital campaign, where you’re saying, you know, we want to raise a million dollars that we’re going to just put away in a rainy day fund. And so, you know, again, not every donor will get very excited about that, but there are many that will, and I think you mentioned,

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Tom Vansaghi: you know, bank… banking institutions, they’re… I’m just amazed at… I have conversations every day with nonprofit leaders.

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Tom Vansaghi: And they describe these elaborate capital campaigns with

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Tom Vansaghi: Tax credits and different ways of invest, you know, kind of private investing

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Tom Vansaghi: opportunities that can be pooled together to, provide resources for, you know, a building project or a large, you know, piece of equipment or something. You know, absolutely, I think that you could look at, you know, if you’re really thinking this is something we need to do, we need to make it a big deal, absolutely, I think you could devise, a fundraising strategy just to build an endowment, just to build a

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Tom Vansaghi: A reserve fund, if that’s something that,

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Tom Vansaghi: that I think, you know, that the organization deems a priority. You know, as you know, you know, we’re in a moment right now where the federal government is really pretty severely restricting funding to the nonprofit sector, and so, you know, it’s… I don’t know if this is the right moment to go out and ask donors for that. I just know a lot of donors are being asked to just help nonprofits.

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Tom Vansaghi: You know, with their operating expenses, with the

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Tom Vansaghi: are enduring, and so… but, you know, that doesn’t mean there are lots of nonprofits in Kansas City at this moment who are, you know, exploring and launching

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Tom Vansaghi: capital campaigns, and, you know, that doesn’t… it’s not gonna stop them from doing that, just because of the… just because of the climate. You know, there will always be donors who want to, you know, provide funds to support something… something like this.

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KC Cares: Well, and we saw it during COVID, when you had a huge step up from even in our own community, between United Way, the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation.

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KC Cares: There were a couple of other foundations that created the big fund that then they were able to distribute from, but let’s not wish for that to come back. We have just a moment or two left. What shouldn’t

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KC Cares: We do.

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Tom Vansaghi: So, one of the things that’s interesting about a Rainy Day Fund is that just, you know, creating one is amazing, it’s absolutely best practice. I would encourage every nonprofit to do it, but there is such a thing as the rainy day fund being too big, and that’s really.

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KC Cares: a security.

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Tom Vansaghi: where, you know, we have, as I mentioned earlier, I happen to provide, you know, leadership to a nonprofit, and, you know, we had about 12 months of reserves. I mean, that’s probably bordering on maybe a little too much, and donors, or in our case, we have members that join this organization.

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Tom Vansaghi: they might challenge the executive director or the board and say, why aren’t you putting that money to work? Why aren’t you, you know, reducing fees to our participants in the conference, or why don’t you provide more scholarships, or whatever it is that you do. I think it’s a good challenge. It’s like, there is such a thing as too much. You know, it’s you’re putting too much money

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Tom Vansaghi: into, into your, into your rainy day fund, and, and donors might get a little, testy about that. I’m not gonna donate. You guys have, you guys have this giant, pot of money. And, you know, you can look at, you know, I know that, like, Harvard University is.

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KC Cares: Right.

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Tom Vansaghi: So easy to pick on. They have billions and billions of dollars.

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KC Cares: Right.

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Tom Vansaghi: in their endowments, and it’s great, but if you’re an alum of Harvard, why, you know, you might be scratching your head and saying, why would I want to give to Harvard? They have so much money, you know, and so I think it’s an important… just an important question, that you should… you shouldn’t just strive to have as much money stockpiled as you can, because I think there are legitimate questions about, you know, shouldn’t you take that and

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Tom Vansaghi: Use it for the mission that you’re here to provide.

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KC Cares: Dr. Van Sagi, as usual, you give us great advice. Give the website for the center so folks can check out all the other things you can give advice on.

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Tom Vansaghi: I don’t have it at all.

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KC Cares: That’s okay, I believe it’s at UNKC. It’s the Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership. Go Google it, everybody, you’ll be able to find it. Thank you so much for being our expert.

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Tom Vansaghi: You’re very welcome, thanks for having me back.

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KC Cares: This KC Cares segment was brought to you by the Ewing Marion Kaufman Foundation, www.coffman.org. Now, if you want to be a guest, or to learn anything about us, you can go to our website, kccaresOnline.org, and spread the love. You’ll find us on Facebook and Twitter at KC Cares Radio, and on Instagram at kccaresOnline. And don’t forget, Saturday mornings at 8 a.m.

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KC Cares: You can catch us at ESPN 1510 a.m. and 95… 94.5 FM. Thanks for joining us!

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KC Cares: I’m KC Cares.

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KC Cares: Bobby might be able to edit that out. I’m so sorry.

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KC Cares: That’s okay. You guys do not have an easy URL. It’s like, it’s UMKC backslash da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. So, sorry.

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Tom Vansaghi: I don’t even know. I should know it, and I don’t. I was totally.

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KC Cares: Well…

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Tom Vansaghi: What the hell?

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KC Cares: No, I’m down, I didn’t want to embarrass you, so I’m so sorry.

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Tom Vansaghi: That’s okay.

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KC Cares: Next steps. Bobbi, what do you think are next steps in terms of,

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KC Cares: putting something together for Tom for this conference. Do you… I can put some thoughts on paper, or Tom, if there are some things, or if you want us just to say.

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KC Cares: Shoot it at me, and we’ll look at it, and…

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KC Cares: Yeah.

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KC Cares: Yeah, I think.

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Tom Vansaghi: From my perspective, I mean, this… you guys have totally, like.

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KC Cares: got me thinking. I mean, I don’t know. I mean, I think I’d love to see what are some options that…

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KC Cares: I’ll just… I’ll just put together a list, generally what I will be due for other, you know, other businesses or other events like this, and… Yeah. It’s kind of like I was… you just gotta, yeah, tell you… tell us what interests you and how you,

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KC Cares: how you want to promote it. I mean, it’s… there’s so much you could do. It’s… it can be pre-promotion, event, and then post-promotion, or we

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KC Cares: to come out and do the event. And, you know, there’s so many different variables, and if you have an editing team, or a team that you guys.

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Tom Vansaghi: We don’t, yeah.

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KC Cares: They don’t have anything.

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KC Cares: Sorry.

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KC Cares: We got nothing. Okay.

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KC Cares: Yeah, because some of this stuff, one of the things I’m heavy into is automation and AI, and crossing that with technology and creativity. So, being able to… I have platforms that you can use to

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KC Cares: just throw, you know, videos in a folder, and it’ll kind of line them up for you. It’ll even analyze them, and then transcribe them, and then create Chrome. It’s… so we can, you know, depending on, you know, what your… what needs you, you know, what needs you have, and.

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Tom Vansaghi: Okay.

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KC Cares: You know, we can… we can always cater stuff, and…

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Tom Vansaghi: Yeah, yeah, no, that sounds great.

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KC Cares: I…

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KC Cares: And I think you’re saying, Tom, too, throw some ideas at you, because you hadn’t even thought about this. I mean, I thought about it, and the other thing is, you’ve got a panel… your lunch panel is some really big players. It would be fun, and if we could even… KC Cares could use and take some bites of this, you know, promoting you, and say, brought to you by KC Cares, or however we do it.

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Tom Vansaghi: I would love it.

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KC Cares: I mean, that would be great, because then we can shoot that out on Instagram, you can shoot it out on your social media.

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Tom Vansaghi: Right, right. Yes, we have somebody who does some social media for us, and so we.

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KC Cares: Park?

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Tom Vansaghi: Well, Mark, but we have somebody that’s with the… it’s called Executive Education at UMKC, they kind of share the same office space, and we’re sort of sharing somebody who does their communications, but she doesn’t do any video or anything like this, so this is not something…

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KC Cares: Bobby’s magic, he’s got all the tools, he’s got… I love it.

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Tom Vansaghi: Yeah. Is it anime?

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KC Cares: Animation King. I would say… Animation and IA.

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KC Cares: I love it.

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Tom Vansaghi: Yeah, and I think any, any of the content…

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KC Cares: Excuse me.

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Tom Vansaghi: you would want to use? I don’t… I mean, you know, I see us as just a public good and trying to provide.

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