COVID-19 Special Report: Non-Profits CalTrout and Cast Hope - Tracey Diaz and Hogan Brown

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This episode of the Barb fly fishing podcast is brought to you by California shroud. Working throughout the state to ensure we have resilient wild fish, thriving in healthy waters for a better California.

Support cal innovative science based work by becoming a member or donating today at cal dot org. Hey. Welcome to another special episode of the Barb fly fishing podcast I'm your c host Chad A.

On the line. This is one of our you know, our,

Covid nineteen episodes,

one of many that we're gonna do, the date is

March twentieth

three

forty Pm.

Normally, we don't call out the date... But because this is a special circumstance

we wanna establish a timeline for these episodes so that people have the, latest information and don't get confused. So that's why we're calling out the dates folks.

So with us today,

is is Tracy Diaz with Cal T and Hogan Brown with cast hope.

We're we're gonna be talking nonprofit world today, and we're gonna be talking about,

impacts to those there... Those two organizations

in light of what's going on.

And got some background noise from one of you. Everybody's calling in, obviously, remote.

I don't know. It sounds maybe Hogan,

maybe mute if if you could,

or Nick, or you want... You want me to mute? Well, so I'm I'm hearing,

road noise from somebody. That's that's better.

Anyway,

without further ado. I just wanna get an interest first for those that don't know who who Tracy diaz is is,

you correct me if I'm wrong Tracy, but you're the

the communications director and something else at Cal. I always forget the second part of what you do.

Not the second part of what we do. What I do is gonna do what we talk about today the development. So it's developing

communications threat. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. She's a huge asset at Cal

everybody loves, including myself.

Oh, thank you.

Yeah.

Yeah. And then,

Hogan Brown, how you guys have heard on the show many times in many forms, but people maybe don't know that that Hogan also part of Cast Hope. Hogan, can you, talk about your role at Cast hope just for a, a, a quick second?

Yeah. Yeah Absolutely. My

official title is

marketing director

for costco at this point. Yeah.

And debt collector. Right?

And I I don't like the collector.

I don't like so when you get just too many stripe and get kids in the fishing terrible. Fairly. It's awful here to be. Sorry. I'm just trying to bring some... I'm just trying to bring some life all this. Yeah.

So I for sure. Well, what what what I wanted to do, you know, the goal for today

is to put a spotlight on these two nonprofit, but realize that when... As we're talking,

this is happening across the entire,

nonprofit sector. Right?

So what we're gonna hear these stories today are really applicable to everything that's, you know, all all the nonprofit in your your area that you care about that are making a difference in your your towns and your communities.

So,

we're gonna we're gonna talk about the impact to the these Org and then get into

what what Tracy and and Hogan at their respective organizations are doing to mitigate the impact of the Covid nineteen.

And then finally,

have some, you know, hopefully, some some plans of recalls action for you guys to help them out if if you're able and willing to do so. So without further ado,

Tracy welcome show,

Let's let's talk let's talk about what Cal up to first.

Well, what was the plan? What was your plan before where the shit hit the fan?

What was our plan? So, yeah. So our plan

as far as fundraising like he... I mean, it's a busy time right now for

nonprofit.

Cal shroud as well as

as, you know, tons of not only environmental nonprofit, but schools and everything, the springtime is a is a big time to hold your largest fundraising events. And that is what El child was up to. We May first is our

is our annual Gala and auction where we raise

one third of our total unrestricted dollars and we can sort get more nuts to both from that later. But

but needless to say it's a very important fundraising event for the organization and really, you know, feeds our...

Feeds or coffers for the the coming year. So so that's the big nuts. And then, you know, on top of that, we had,

some international fly fishing film festivals

scheduled across the state.

Those have been canceled,

that not as big get a source of revenue, but it's a big, you know, community booster and builder and awareness builder for us. So so those have whom put on hold.

And those are the big things. Those are the the big things that have,

been

been shifted Yeah things. And, you know, in addition to all the work you guys are doing on on the California waters sheds, you guys are also our biggest sponsor on the podcast. So for those listeners, the reason that we're able to do this and keep the lights on is because of Cal trout.

So, you know, the... Their money

money need that you donate to them, you know, part of that gets goes to folks like us to keep you guys informed as best we can, and we really appreciate the support from Cal t. You guys have been a great partner for us. We really appreciate it.

Yeah. Yeah. And That it's been a great exposure for us as well. And, you know, your audience could not be more targeted for us. So we appreciate the partnership. Well,

so

so basically, you know, you had all these things ready to ready your roll lined up for this year that you've been working on. I'm sure at the start of last year for it to execute on this year. Mh.

So what are you doing? Mh What what's...

What where your... Where's your primary focus right now? Like, what how do you, you know, coach other people that are in a similar position because there's a lot of people out there that, you know, that Right. That... I mean, I know a ton of salespeople people that were, you know, they were gonna do live events and all this other stuff in in their respective industries, and it's just all shot to hell now. So what are you guys doing specifically? And then, you know, for those listeners where you're in a similar boat, maybe you can learn something from Tracy because you're she's a pro. Okay. I mean, I think that's the the interesting thing about this is it's... We're in the same boat as everyone else in a sense. This is very much uncharted

territory for us.

You know, nonprofit out there. Used to holding their in person events and and the

the nice thing about that is is the in person events are just such a great way to bring your community together. We have such a passionate group of donors who look at our our annual Gala an auction as, you know, the highlight of their year sometimes. So they're not having that opportunity to bring

the community together is is definitely one of the the huge downside

to what's going on right now. But but we're looking to

find a way to still create that sense of community. You know? And I I I don't know yet. If I can really advise people on on what to do because it's... You know, as I've been researching,

the possibilities and the options out there. There's not a lot of.

There's not a lot of road roadmap or guide books to turn to you. So we are sort of cutting

cutting a new path here, but

but doing a virtual or live event certainly isn't anything new,

but it is new for for the non profit world and and the

the fundraising world to an extent. So

So what we...

You know, the past we took and, gosh, it's only been a week, but it's... The the number of decisions and pivot that have been made and just that last week has been huge. You know, we... When I first

started looking into alternatives of, you know, how this might affect our our event.

I started out outlining options that included still and in person event, but fewer were attendees, you know, all the way to,

post postponing or to go in a hundred percent virtual. And by this... In the day or two in that I was doing this exercise, you know, it became clear that the options that held an in person event just weren't even an option anymore. So we pretty quickly pivoted to the decision to do a virtual event. And once we made that decision, and we had to figure out exactly what that meant and what it was gonna look like. And over the last few days, I'm actually really excited about what,

what we've come up with.

We are gonna be doing a a livestream stream event,

still holding it on March first at the same time that our our gallo would have been held.

And,

you know, we'll be pulling in sort of all of the same

updates and and excitement and and good information about the work we're doing around the state,

and and getting people's support for that. So, you know, as much as possible, we'll be recreating that in person event

with some some real time as well as as pre recorded content.

So... Just real quick. It's April first. Right? April

May first... May first So, I You said March first. So I just... I just wanted to clarify. Okay. Do you sorry. Yeah. Yeah. You.

Do you guy... Do you have, like, an operational plan, like, exact...

How you're gonna pull this off? Is it gonna be, like, a, some sort of a... Is it gonna be hosted on, like, a Youtube live or Facebook live or something like that. Okay. Yep.

Exactly. So so we're looking at most likely Youtube Live. We're working with a consultant right now who

who does this for a living. You know, Actually, I just had a call with them this morning and they very much for, like, this is, you know, we could do this in our, essentially. So that made us feel a lot better because really, we don't, you know, we've never done this before. So

so we're looking to... You know, we were sort of laughing. It's a look not not... It's like a, you know, late night with

this with Cal trout or or cal trout stamp live. I think is what we're gonna gonna brand that's cool. But...

Yeah. You know, and it's it's a little risky. We we don't want it to be corny and and camp. It needs to be entertaining it needs be engaging so that we can get people to to watch it live.

We will have an element of,

you know, a

virtual live auction in there, taking place. We'll have a silent auction that will launch a couple weeks before the event, so people can start bidding on on all of the wine and great gear and trips that we have that we're pulling together.

And then, you know, we'll we'll also have our

what what we typically have is our fund need, You know, our... Which is is a large chunk of of revenue that we and donations that we raised at the at the gala,

we'll we'll try to keep the feel of that as much as possible where you will still do that that pitch, you know, and I'll sort of the spoiler alert, You know, the the pitch is gonna... Is going to be why we are out there doing what we're doing, and it's all about, you know, keeping these... These beautiful rivers and and native fish around for future generations. And

so that's the that's the fun need. They'll still be a element where you will be getting live bids in, you'll be able to see our progress towards the goal,

there on the live event. And so

so, yeah, we're, you, Craig Ball gonna be featured around the camp player at T camp, and, you know, there'll be some there'll be some entertaining pieces in there along with, you know, the the ultimate goal of of race thing, raising money for the organization and the work that we do. Yeah. With the

with the silent auction and leading up to the live event, and then the live event itself and the the the live bidding and all that.

Thing what Mh. Did you guys select a vendor platform? Because, you know, there's probably a a just a ton of people trying to figure out how to how to, you know, operationally pull this up. Can you offer some insight around that?

Yeah. Yeah. I can. So this... We again, we're really fortunate in that,

we had already contracted with an online auction site.

The one we're using is called Alt. It's au u...

T

so a u c t r ia a,

and

compared to a lot of others out there. Their rates are definitely affordable for nonprofit because, yeah, some of these just to use their platform, you know, has three or four thousand dollars and that's a that's the chunk could change for for most nonprofit. So so Austria was, really reasonable, and we had actually,

you good

contracted with them

several months ago for another smaller that we did our our waters shed circle evening that we did, back in January. So fortunately, we have that platform

already set up. We're familiar with it. We were already starting to sell the the Gall sponsorships as well as tickets on that then platform. So so that maybe be the, you know, that piece was already solved for us.

And

yeah. So so that was one decision we didn't... We didn't have to to make. And that... That's a sometimes a difficult one, so that's good that you guys, you know. Got you... They're... Yeah. And and, you know, and it... Something went. Right. Right?

Yeah. Exactly. It was... Was there's

that we we've done that already and, you know, because, yeah, There's is a big learning curve too with

with how to just,

you know, manage the software and integrate it with our our donor platform and all add donor

Crm and everything. So so that heavy lifting was already done. Yeah.

Hogan, while, we've got Tracy ear here or she's got ours. Okay, do you have... Do you have any questions for her? Or do you guys already... Do you guys have a plan? Like, what's going on?

You know,

we lost

two fundraiser.

You know, we're probably a lot like

cal drought and that

our fundraiser

or,

I guess, ex exponential or experiential, like gathering.

Yeah.

You know,

from what I understand about Cal drought, that that gala, and as Tracy said is a pretty...

Hefty portion of their budget.

Our funding spread out,

probably

a lot more than, you know, our our... We lost

two fundraiser that are our big fundraiser, but we don't rely on any one fundraiser to fund

that

percent of our budget.

So

we can pivot in our fundraiser.

One is already reschedule

our

the other

was a a high dollar fishing tournament, which

from what I understand so far, most of the participants just donated the money.

And

you know, so we're pretty good there.

Well, that's good.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we're we're...

Our biggest thing is,

you know, we service kids and group, and we've had to suspend

operation, which is never what you wanna do as a nonprofit. So Yeah.

You know, we're in a little different position is we've lost funding, but we've also lost what we're raising the money to do. Your customer.

So

Yeah. So

you know, we've used a lot of the online auction... You know, it's funny. Actually, we had an online auction going for this,

you know, front row tickets at the warriors game and hotel and everything and then, like,

right as the auction ended they canceled the Nba season. So that was a little

little bit of a hiccup, but

no. I mean, it it...

No questions. It she's in the same boat we are. Trying to figure it out, you know, Yeah. Yeah. You know, we Yeah. We we did this trip up to the Olympic Peninsula, and we we had plans to do, you know, a big promotion around and everything, and that... That's kinda shot. But we still have the products, so we're trying to... Know, I gotta call out to Jim Bar.

At Scott today to figure out, like, what we wanna do here.

I got some... There's a lot of background noise from somebody coming in again.

Anyway, we've gotta call out to Jim, Archie at Scott, to figure it out. I left him a voice mail. Haven't heard back from him yet. That was today. He's... I'm sure he's just buried.

I'm trying to get him on the show too to kinda talk about their their business a little bit, you know, from from their manufacturing point of view. But,

yeah. We need to figure it out. We got the product. We've got some stuff from from you know, but we've got y a Y Rack and and we have

a clean coat some clean canteen swag to to to donate that the... These brands are gonna donate to you guys,

hogan. K.

We just gotta figure out what to do with it

and win when. So... Yeah. Yeah. And we've we've used some

we've used some of the online auction ones and tracy is correct. There's a

there's a huge discrepancy and how much money they take and what it costs and all that type. Stuff. So... Yeah

Chelsea,

Chelsea is the one that's really embedded a lot of that stuff. So Yeah. What

I can...

With with respect to that one event that you guys do... Sounds like you... The live event, you just decided to push it as a mitigation strategy.

If

if we go further in time and things don't get

get get more, you know, stabilize sooner do you guys have a second like, a back plan for that.

Sounds

for Casa.

Yeah. That one you said you just basically punt it down the down the calendar. Yeah. So we... So we do a big film tour event in Nevada City. It's the fly fishing film tour, and we... We reschedule that for July eleventh,

you know, it it... That would be the kind of thing that if if probably if by July eleventh we're still,

you know, lockdown down or whatever,

at that point, we probably cancel it.

But we have the the probably... The next fundraiser that's on the cross there is we have to gabe Duran Memorial live fishing tournaments up and redding. Yeah. Which is the... That's a pretty big fundraiser for us.

And that's at the the last weekend in May,

and,

you know, that one...

That one would hurt and probably not one that could be reschedule.

So

you know, we've kind of,

from our point of view, we've kinda

dealt with the immediate

issue.

Shirt up cash flow, done some stuff with reserve,

and, you know, we're we're we're stable right now.

If this starts going into May and June, then, you know, things are gonna get a little little more creative.

So

it's almost one quarter at a time for us. You know, we've kinda stabilized

this and,

you know, we... Ryan our direct curious about as conservative financially a person as I've ever met my life, and

he's planned for things like this. So, you know, we're we're gonna be okay, but you start losing some of our bigger fundraiser like that gave Duran tournament. Yeah. Here that that's gonna that's gonna hurt in how many kids we can service

once we're able to service them again. You know.

Yeah. So...

Alright. Well, plan for that is

if you wanna know the the the nitty gritty the plan for that was via a call the other day was, like, hopefully, we don't have to think about that. Yeah. That's the plan. I think that's a lot of people's plans to be honest, You know? We're just kinda...

Yeah.

A dynamic situation. Right? Yeah.

Okay. Well... Yeah. You know? Be before before we we cut you guys loose,

is there anything else you wanna add before before I wrap.

Yeah. Yeah. I just... If you don't mind, I just wanna... So

you know, with our budget, I've I deal with the un... What we call our unrestricted funds, which are those

individual dollars from individuals.

And that, you know, that

accounting for about a third of our overall

operating budget. So with Cal T, a big part of our,

our money comes from government branch states and and some federal grant. So

you know, this last year that was was fifty nine percent of our our budget. So

the the one third of the un unrestricted money that the Gall brings in and that, you know, is... That we're working on. Still finding ways to raise, and I'm I'm pretty confident that that we're gonna be successful there is just, you know, a third of our overall budget. So the good news for us is that that that state funding and and federal funds are based on bonds, you know, the are that that money will still be coming in.

Good.

But the importance... Yeah. Exactly. And and, you know, the importance of the individual donations that we receive is that, you know, we can...

That's the money that we use to conduct the science and plan these projects out that then put them in a position to apply for government funding. So it's really the the the foundation of our our organization that we then leverage into these much larger

government grants. So

you know, and as To said, too, again, an a, a

Cal t is in a a decent position, we actually did have a, an operation reserve you know, campaign that we ran a couple years ago. So we sort of built up our coffers there too and, you know, we're in a good position right now. And you know, like I said, feel feel pretty confident about the plan that we have in place and, you you know, I have to say that the the Cal route community and our communities the supporters are just are are so generous and and so far, we haven't, you know, the people we've been reaching out to that are that are our sponsors for the Gala, you without missing a beat, you know, are still coming forward

to sponsor the the event even though they're not gonna get the tickets and they're not gonna get the line and the the open bar and all of that and and be able to see their

their long time friends,

they're still they're still with us, and,

you know, we can could not be more thankful for that. That that's pretty fantastic to hear.

Yeah.

Alright. So in terms of,

cal out, what... You know, for the listeners, how can they... Where where can they go donate, help you guys out on underneath if they're, you know, willing or able? You know, to do so... Yeah Yeah. Absolutely. Blue cal cal routes dot org,

gotten right on the home homepage, you can you can donate. And then, you know, check back there. I think within about a week. We'll have

information on the child camp live and how you can,

participate in that, and, you know, we're looking forward to, obviously, reaching a larger

audience with that event than we live with our in incur data. As well. So,

so supportive us with a donation online as well as tuning in into our our Trail camp live on Nap.

Thank you, Tracy.

Hogan

Yeah Thank you, Jim. Yeah.

First of all, there's a ton of background noise coming off somebody's phone if, you know, if we can

figure out how to mitigate that, that would be good.

Hogan.

Thank you.

How can the listeners that are, you know, that wanna help you guys out? When can they... Where can they go? How how can they help if they're willing able?

Yeah jay. Yeah, you can go to cas dot org and donate there.

We're also one thing we did to mitigate the loss of

one of the fundraiser is we're gonna push up our spring pledge drive. So

we're gonna be promote not here in the coming weeks where if you donate at certain levels, you get everything from a Scott Fly rod to a clean canteen

item from a lot of our corporate sponsors. Awesome. So

you know, that's gonna be hitting hit the air wave shortly.

So that's a great way to donate. Cool. And, you know, the cuff charge also in a fax from from Barb. So

that'll be... You'll be You'll be getting a check. That'll probably be your biggest donation. I don't know. What do you think, Tracy?

Yeah. Yeah. I Get you fired up on the air, and you can stop dropping up you know, start dropping that Bob

I just dropped two in the... I I dropped two in the first episode. I I kept it pretty clean for this one.

You know, our sponsor our sponsors on. So, you know, I got to keep it clean.

Yeah. Got yeah. You got class up. Don't wanna know. I don't want her to know how Phil the show is in reality.

Yeah. I listen. I I listen to almost every podcast. Oh,

sorry.

Hey Hey.

No. Hey. I wanted to say as well, one thing another way that,

Hogan gave me the idea of another way that you can support Cal. We actually do have a raffle that we're running right now for

for a... Spot in our five reverse challenge event which chad you participated in last year, But that takes place at clearwater lodge that you can have your shot at being on the wild team

for a hundred dollars,

and that event taking place

since there are now. Right? September thirteenth through the seventeenth.

Three day fly fishing

tournaments are challenged on, at clearwater lodge up on the five wild waters in the area. It is a fantastic event if you guys can can get in on that raffle. We'll definitely do it.

Yeah. Cool.

Alright. Well, thank you guys,

for for joining us today,

especially last minute. I know you both are or you know, scrambling to to get things organized, and we appreciate your time.

Tracy, in Cal out. Thank you guys once again for sponsoring the show for the last, you know, eight months now.

It's fantastic and and yeah keeping the lights on. So cool.

Alright?

Good. That... That's all we got. You guys stay safe, and we'll have another router number episodes it's for you next week. Okay?

Peace.

Yep.

Alright. Okay

nick.

Bye. Hug again. Bye bye. Thanks guys. Bye bye.

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