Christopher and Adam speak with Todd Eliason on his work with the Sigma Nu Educational Foundation and the upcoming annual Day of Giving.
The Gavel Podcast is the official podcast of Sigma Nu Fraternity, Inc. and is dedicated to keeping you updated on the operations of the Legion of Honor and connecting you to stories from our brotherhood.
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The Gavel Podcast - Ep 10 - The Educational Foundation with Todd Eliason (Montana State)
[Intro Music]
0:00:42.3 Adam Girtz: Hello, Christopher. How are you doing?
0:00:45.0 Christopher Brenton: How's it going, Adam? I'm not too bad. How about yourself?
0:00:47.8 Adam Girtz: Wonderful. And more importantly, hello everyone. Welcome to the Gavel Podcast. My name's Adam, this is Christopher. We just introduced ourselves through, I guess what is supposed to be a natural banter that starts as you start recording a podcast.
0:01:03.5 Christopher Brenton: Yes, well, I wonder if at some point we're going to end up with a cold open, but for now, I think, this does it.
0:01:10.1 Adam Girtz: Yeah. Yeah, I think about that sometimes, like how are we modeling our podcast after other podcasts? Are we a podcast like other podcasts?
0:01:23.2 Christopher Brenton: Well, hopefully, we're distinct enough that users don't feel, or listeners don't feel like they're just kind of hearing a rehash or that they can get their entertainment elsewhere. But we also have some special loyalty from those who are affiliated with Sigma Nu, so maybe that keeps them around enough.
0:01:44.2 Adam Girtz: Yeah, we've got a little bit of credit, so we can be a little bit rough around the edges with knowing how to cold open a podcast or start with friendly banter.
0:01:53.5 Christopher Brenton: Rough around the edges, but increasingly becoming more and more polished every day.
0:01:58.8 Adam Girtz: Yes, and well-edited. Thank you to our editor.
0:02:05.9 Christopher Brenton: You mean you?
0:02:08.5 Adam Girtz: And Drew, who I learned everything from, and we'll eventually teach you so that you can edit all of the episodes.
0:02:16.9 Christopher Brenton: Yes, that is appreciated. That is appreciated. Well, I know, obviously, we'll get to our interview a little bit later in this podcast, but just out of curiosity, how are you feeling adjusting into your role as Director of Chapter Services?
0:02:29.9 Adam Girtz: Well, it's going well. It's definitely complicated in some ways. It's definitely a lot to learn, and you start running along with a program that's already moving. But I think I've got it down now. You definitely taught me everything that you know, and now it's just a matter of doing it myself. So, it's going well. How about you? How is communications?
0:03:00.5 Christopher Brenton: It's going really well. So, for listeners, hopefully, you are a subscriber to all of our email communications as well as a loyal listener, but we recently launched a new publication, a new digital publication I should add, called The Quarterly, and so that was exciting to get off the ground and out into the inboxes of alumni and collegians everywhere. But essentially, for those of you who may have missed it, or it's currently buried in an unused email inbox, The Quarterly is intended to be a quarterly digest of chapter and alumni news. So, if you are a receiver of the print issue or the digital issue of The Delta, there is typically a section dedicated to chapter and alumni news. We still intend to continue that with future editions of The Delta, but in the meantime, as an effort for us to maybe increase the frequency of us getting out chapter and alumni news to our members, we decided to do that in a digital format.
0:04:08.5 Christopher Brenton: And so, The Quarterly was born. So, the Fall 2021 issue was just released, I think it went out early last week. And then we intend to release the next issue of The Quarterly in line with the start of the winter season, so that'll be in December or late December, so just before the winter holidays. So, one, I would strongly encourage all alumni and undergraduate members to be on the lookout for that, but then also to make sure that they're submitting their news to The Quarterly. You can do so through either our Submit Your News section of the website, or you can send your news to news@sigmanu.org, which is our dedicated email address for receiving that type of information. So, I think that's been my highlight for the department, really excited to talk about that here and hopefully people are enjoying it.
0:05:03.6 Adam Girtz: Awesome. Yeah, we'll definitely include that email and several other useful links in the episode notes for everyone to be able to access that themselves. Well, it sounds like the role is going well, you're enjoying yourself, you're developing new developments and really pushing yourself out there.
0:05:26.3 Christopher Brenton: Yeah, and I know on your end too, I mean, exciting that I believe all of the consultants are now on the road working with our chapter. So last year, because of the pandemic, of course, everything was conducted virtually, so all of the officer meetings were happening over Zoom, now we have a little bit more leeway and flexibility, of course, still taking the appropriate precautions, but having our consultants be in person, I think is making a huge difference for just engagement, for really facilitating natural conversation. But from your perspective, how has it been getting to see those guys hit the road and supervise their work this fall?
0:06:08.8 Adam Girtz: It's been great. I'm now seeing how you felt when I would message you and say, "Hey, this is not right," or "This is going wrong," or "This is going very right, and how do I do this better?" or any number of a million questions that I'm sure if you went back in our team's history that I've asked you during my time on the road. But it's great to be on the other end of that and to be able to help these guys as they're out there being our frontline. I'm very excited for them to be back in person. Really shoutout to our consultants that are out on the road right now, that is... It was already a big undertaking to basically just self-direct yourself around the entire country, and you meet all of these new people and forge all these new relationships and do all of this officer training that we're able to do, and then layering public speaking on top of that and everything that they're able to accomplish out there.
0:07:14.2 Adam Girtz: But now even more than that, they are also managing traveling in a still ongoing pandemic that we're luckily now better prepared against and better able to handle and make sure that they're safe and everything, as well as our constituents. But they're really taking it in stride, and I'm very excited to see positive feedback coming back from them on being able to do in-person meetings and to look across a desk at an officer and really forge a relationship with him as opposed to just being another screen that the collegian has to look at for that short period of time.
0:07:58.8 Adam Girtz: I know with all of their classes and everything being online, it becomes a lot, but they're able to be back out there, and I'm hearing a lot of great things from them and from students and advisors that we're getting feedback from. So, I hope I could speak for them and say that we're glad to be back, if cautiously optimistic.
0:08:23.4 Christopher Brenton: Yeah, absolutely. Well, I know too, I mean even for the both of us, we had to step in as additional consultants last year to assist with just the increased workload, and personally, comparing that experience to when I was able to travel in person several years ago, it was draining in ways that were unexpected. I think you assume that speaking into a camera may be less draining or less taxing than to actually be in person, and all of the micro-forms of communication you have to keep track of and your ability to read body language. Mentally, you would think that it's a lot easier, but I just got off those calls every day and felt absolutely wiped. So, I know that the guys are really enjoying, I think, the opportunity to be in-person they are benefiting from. I just think it's a better experience and one that I'm glad that we're able to return to.
0:09:26.4 Adam Girtz: Yeah, definitely. Yeah, you're right. The kind of those... It's like, how can it be more strenuous? I'm sitting here in my comfy chair all day doing virtual meetings, but really it is, it's that different type of draining that is trying to get all of that additional context from just a video screen. because like you said, when you're used to those facial cues and everything of how somebody's responding to something you're saying, it could be kind of hard, especially going from meeting to meeting, not really seeing your scenery change a whole lot, it can be definitely draining.
0:10:05.3 Christopher Brenton: Yeah.
0:10:06.5 Adam Girtz: But yeah, glad to see them back out there. That's exciting. And it's... I think, part of the "Nature is healing," some normal things are able to return to what feels a little bit more normal or natural. But I think all of that still lingers, obviously. There's a lot of precautions that they're taking for themselves being traveling consultants. But yeah, it's good to see.
0:10:32.9 Christopher Brenton: Yeah, well, and speaking of, can't leave this conversation without plugging it one last time, but for listeners, we are currently in the process of recruiting applicants for the consultant program. We are looking to hire the next class of the 2022-2023 class of consultants. So, anyone who is hired in this cycle would effectively start June 1st of 2022. So, we're likely looking at seniors who will be graduating either this fall or the following spring. Now, I know that the plan for this episode is for it to be released on October 15th, so today, October 15th...
0:11:17.3 Adam Girtz: Yeah, which is today. This is the magic of podcast land. That's today.
0:11:22.2 Christopher Brenton: Yes. And so, assuming that everything goes as planned, which we are hoping that that is the case, you are hearing this the day that the application deadline expires. And so, if you are hearing it a little bit after the release date, that deadline has likely passed, but if you're not, if you are interested in working for the fraternity, we do accept applications on a rolling basis. And so, I strongly encourage you to get in touch with Scott Smith. He was our Director of Leadership Development and the primary supervisor for our consultant team. Let him know that you're interested, depending on the proximity to that application deadline, we can certainly entertain applications maybe a little bit after that deadline, but if we're talking about maybe months later or we're already into the spring term, we may be looking to host a spring application cycle, sometimes we do that depending on need, and so usually applications at that point are due around March 1st, but it just depends on if there is a need or if we were able to successfully fill our class, or if there is additional need that has emerged.
0:12:32.0 Christopher Brenton: Or, obviously, we have the opportunity to hire on special occasions for special reasons, we're always looking for, as we like to say, the right people to get on the bus or to be on the bus for the mission that we're trying to accomplish, and so when we encounter those right people, we want to make room for them. So never a bad idea to reach out and express interest because we are looking for good applicants to do this good work for the organization.
0:13:00.0 Adam Girtz: Speaking of good applicants, I know for a fact, because now I am managing the staff prospect list that you used to manage, and I know for a fact that there are tons of officers that I've met with when they were sophomores, juniors that are graduating this spring, and plenty of officers that I would love to see join staff, and I think would not only be able to benefit staff a lot and benefit the organization through that, but also that would receive a lot of benefit themselves, that would really benefit from the experience that is being a traveling consultant. So, definitely, so if that's you, Officer, that I met with that is awesome, and should apply, because I told you you should apply, apply. [chuckle]
0:13:51.3 Christopher Brenton: Absolutely. Well, for this episode, not to distract for too long, but we do want to introduce our guest speaker. We're going to have a more formal introduction just a second. But we had the privilege of getting to talk to Todd Eliason, who is the current Chairman of the Foundation Board of Directors. Now, the timing of this episode is not necessarily spontaneous, we had a plan in place, but we are...
0:14:25.9 Adam Girtz: We always have plans. Every episode is meticulously planned.
0:14:29.8 Christopher Brenton: That's exactly right. And the plan for this particular episode was to release it in line with the fraternity's Day of Giving, which is a campaign for our foundation, where we really are looking to engage with brothers to give to the fraternity, maybe for the first time, maybe to give an additional gift above and beyond their previous giving, to continue to fund the work that the foundation is looking to do, and the programs that are offered by the fraternity. So, we have a really fun interview with Todd to talk more about that. I'm certainly excited for everyone to get to hear about the interview. I thought it was a really good one.
0:15:15.8 Adam Girtz: Excellent. Well, the Sigma Nu Educational Foundation with Todd Eliason.
[Transition Music]
0:15:40.9 Christopher Brenton: Hello, and welcome back. Glad that we are able to bring another exciting guest to the Gavel Podcast. On today's episode, we are going to be interviewing Todd Eliason, who is currently serving as the Chairman of the Foundation or the Sigma Nu Educational Foundation Board of Directors. We are really also excited to pair this episode in with an upcoming campaign that's going to happen in just a few days, the Sigma Nu Day of Giving, and so we thought that it was a timely opportunity for us to bring on a subject matter expert, someone who can talk about the Foundation, what it is, because I have a feeling that some of our listeners may not even know that there's a difference between the Foundation and the Fraternity Incorporated, or the general fraternity that a lot of us interact with. So, without further ado, we want to allow for our special guest to do his introduction, so Todd, if you wouldn't mind, if you could just do a quick introduction of yourself for our listeners, just who you are, what chapter you're from or you're a part of, and then we can go from there.
0:16:53.1 Todd Eliason: Sounds great, Chris, I appreciate that. Well, again, I'm Todd Eliason, and I am a proud member alumnus of the Zeta Nu Chapter of Sigma Nu. Zeta Nu is located at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana, as often referred to as God's Country, and I had the pleasure being initiated 50 years ago. Kind of a sobering thought to think about. 1971 was my initiation year, but I proudly wear my 50-year pin here. And I serve currently the Zeta Nu chapter as its chair of the Alumni Advisory Board, and I'm also the vice-chair of its House Corporation, and then from a national perspective, I am the Chairman of the Sigma Nu Educational Foundation Board of Directors.
0:17:43.8 Christopher Brenton: That's awesome. It's insane. Oh, sorry.
0:17:48.5 Adam Girtz: Having consulted Zeta Nu, I could definitely agree, God's Country is very apt. It's a gorgeous area to be out and driving in.
0:17:55.8 Christopher Brenton: Yeah, I myself am really hoping to one day get out to, I guess it's big sky country. Is that how it's normally classified?
0:18:03.3 Todd Eliason: Absolutely.
0:18:04.3 Christopher Brenton: Yeah, I would love to just be out there to visit. I've gone to Colorado, and that's the furthest out west, except for California, of course, that I've been able to view the Rockies, so would love to get out there and view everything.
0:18:17.8 Todd Eliason: Yeah...
0:18:18.9 Adam Girtz: Get north up there.
0:18:20.3 Todd Eliason: Welcome any time.
0:18:21.9 Christopher Brenton: Well, Todd, you mentioned a number of roles that you have with the national organization, we certainly want to dive into those, but something we like to do with all of our interviewees and the guests that we bring on the podcast is just talk a little bit about your Sigma Nu story, your Sigma Nu experience. So, you mentioned you became a Sigma Nu back in 1971 at Montana State, can you just talk us through a little bit of what that experience was like of going through recruitment, deciding that you wanted to become a man of the Legion of Honor, and then maybe a few experiences from your undergraduate experience that you think stood out or are memorable?
0:19:00.0 Todd Eliason: Sure. Suffice it to say, I had a great collegiate experience, which probably set me up for my career and the rest of my life, to be perfectly honest. But I come from a family... My dad was a member of a Greek organization, he was a Lambda Chi, and I have three older brothers, and they were all Sigma Phi Epsilon. And when I decided to come to college, obviously being in a Greek organization was probably a fait accompli, but as I went through recruitment, I found the men of Sigma Nu to be the kind of men I wanted to be around. They were a great group of guys in that era. They were very focused on academics, which probably I needed to be a little more focused than I was, and they were very focused on providing a leadership on campus that was second to none. Several of the men were in the top seven senior men on campus, they were involved in various campus activities. So, as I got introduced to Sigma Nu, it became pretty clear that rather than following my father, or my brothers, I was going to chart my own path, and I joined the Legion of Honor, and have never regretted it for one moment. It's been probably the most impactful thing in my life other than my marriage to my wife, Arlene.
0:20:18.5 Todd Eliason: So, as a collegian I was very active, I was the secretary of my candidate class, became active as the historian in my first year, I was a recorder, and then I served as a recruitment chair. So, I was able to give some things back to my Chapter. I was very involved in its executive leadership and very involved across campus as well. So, Sigma Nu, I think set me up for a very successful academic experience, as I mentioned, they were very focused in on academics. We always won the All-Grades trophy the whole time I was here. So, I ended up having a pretty stellar academic career, as well as a stellar social life, and graduated with honors and again, I thank Sigma Nu for the bulk of that.
0:21:08.9 Adam Girtz: That's awesome, it was really cool hearing your experience and I guess, both what your Chapter gave to you, as well as what you were able to give back to your Chapter at the time. I would love to hear how Sigma Nu has impacted your life post-graduation?
0:21:25.7 Todd Eliason: You know, it's interesting, when you leave college you kind of say, "Well, that was a great experience." I had a tremendous group of brothers and friends, and they will always be part of my life, and they have been. My best friend to this day, the guy who stood up with me as my best man, we're the co-leaders of the Zeta Nu Chapter Alumni Board right now, so those relationships run deep, and they run long and that's tremendous. But I didn't really realize it at the time, but when I started my career, the things I learned in Sigma Nu, the things I learned about living with a group of guys that are different and disparate, ability to get along with people, ability to set goals and to go to a common end point, all those things set me really well up for my career, which was an executive in the telecommunications industry. And so, as I look back on it now, probably the most impactful thing in co-curricular type of activity, absent my academic side, was really my leadership in Sigma Nu and the ability to learn and to gain trust and create relationships, that really served me well as an executive in GTE and Verizon. So, I look back and say that was probably one of the most impactful decisions I ever made in the fall of 1970 was to pledge Sigma Nu.
0:22:54.2 Christopher Brenton: That's really great, and I know that we're lucky to have you bring that experience on to our board of directors for the Foundation, and I believe you've been on the Foundation board for several years and are now serving as the Chairman. So, kind of tying into the theme of this particular podcast topic, we really wanted to make sure that we can provide our listeners with more information about what the educational Foundation is. We know that there are many recipients of scholarships and other awards that come from the Foundation, and those individuals may be more familiar with the direct benefits, but for maybe the average listener who hasn't had as much interaction with the Foundation, we want to make this episode for them. So, the question I have for you, just from your perspective and from your expertise, I'm interested in knowing, what is the Sigma Nu Educational Foundation? And then for those listeners who may not know as much about it, how is the Foundation different from The Fraternity Incorporated?
0:24:02.8 Todd Eliason: Great question. I think the average alumni looks at Sigma Nu national as kind of one big behemoth. One big thing back in Lexington, sometimes without a lot of interaction with them, they view them as maybe the policeman or the cop or the anti-fun group or whatever, because they are set up to be the standard bearer for our fraternity, and that's a very, very important role. And I think even myself, looking back at my experience with Sigma Nu, I'd always looked at national as one thing, but in reality, it's two, it's Sigma Nu Fraternity Incorporated and Sigma Nu Educational Foundation. And the Foundation is really there for a singular purpose, and that is to be the fundraising arm, to support the programming and the educational programs, scholarships, and charitable initiatives of the fraternity.
0:24:56.7 Todd Eliason: So, we exist legally as a separate entity because we have to, in order to be a non-profit. We are a 501(c)3 organization separate from the fraternity, not governed by the fraternity. We have our own separate board of directors that makes the decisions in the fiduciary relationship of a Foundation to shepherd the resources, so that they're there, so that we can eventually gift back these resources to the fraternity to fulfill the fraternity's missions of developing ethical men. So, we've got a very unique position in the fact we are a separate entity, but we also are very tied together with the fraternity and knitted together in terms of fulfilling the same mission.
0:25:45.7 Adam Girtz: So, talk to me about that mission. What is... As an organization, what is our mission and how does the educational Foundation support that?
0:25:56.8 Todd Eliason: Well, again, the mission of Sigma Nu Fraternity is certainly to develop ethical leaders, and we do that through the enduring principles of Love, Honor and Truth. The Foundation supports that mission, and we are basically there to support the efforts of our fraternity to continue to guide and develop young men to be ethical leaders in their Chapters, on their campuses and ultimately in their lives. And our support as a Foundation is there in a financial sense, so that we're there to help provide programming for LEAD, as an example, or provide scholarships through Chapters. We're to help chapters secure new educational facilities in their chapter homes, through capital raising campaigns and those sorts of things. So, we become the fundraising and the financial arm to help support the fraternity's mission. Obviously, the fraternity secures its resources from dues, primarily. The Foundation secures our resources through donations, and that is the two sides of that pyramid.
0:27:00.4 Christopher Brenton: That's awesome. So, for our listeners, I'm going to do a quick LEAD session of sorts. [chuckle] So I know if you are a current commander or a former commander, or you're an advisor who's attended, or an officer, a former officer who's attended a Sigma Nu Institute, you have heard for many years Sigma Nu cover the golden circle. So, you're starting with the "Why," kind of identifying your how are you're going to achieve that why, and then of course, you've got the "What." When we kind of apply that model to the fraternity, we think about our "Why" is our mission values and purpose. It's why we exist, what we aim to do, our founding values like "Love, honor and truth," our mission, "Excelling with honor." And then of course, we have the "How." And for the National organization, The High Council is defining that, so it's our strategic imperatives, kind of the priorities that the fraternity has set to accomplish within this biennium, and then of course, the "What" is the work that the fraternity does to go out and accomplish those things.
0:28:08.6 Christopher Brenton: Taking that same model and applying it to the Foundation, and we have a similar and shared "Why." We ultimately want to develop ethical leaders, we want to fulfill our mission of excelling with honor, but what does that "How" look like for the Foundation specifically? Does the Foundation Board have its own set of strategic imperatives, and could you share some of the goals that the Foundation Board hopes to accomplish in the next couple of years?
0:28:36.7 Todd Eliason: Absolutely, and we do. We are, as again, the High Council is the equivalent of the Board of Directors of the fraternity, the Foundation has the equivalent Board of Directors for the Foundation, that possesses a fiduciary responsibility to the Foundation. Our "How" is really to secure and provide enduring resources. So not just this year's resources, but enduring resources into the future to support the educational and the charitable mission of Sigma Nu fraternity. So that's really why we exist. We do follow a similar governance model as a fraternity. In fact, our Board of Directors goes through a semi-annual strategic planning process to come up with our strategic imperatives. They are listed on the Sigma Nu website, but on the top of the mind, there are really three strategic imperatives that we are focused in on right now.
0:29:36.7 Todd Eliason: The first one is to secure the fundraising necessary to support our operations and to provide enduring financial support, so that really consists of three major ways to do that. We have an annual fund, which is part of what the Day of Giving helps us to provide. We also have major gifts, and we have several brothers who have given substantial gifts to support the Fraternity now and into the future. And the third area is in Planned Giving, which is through your estate. So, there's methods to provide for financial resources, and that's really our number one goal, is to sustain and grow those three avenues of fundraising for the Fraternity and for the Foundation.
0:30:19.6 Todd Eliason: Many may not know it, but our second strategic imperative surrounds our headquarters property in Lexington. The Educational Foundation owns that property, so that property is ours. We provide it to the Fraternity for rent, that we generate from the Fraternity every year, but we own that beautiful piece of property on 9 N. Lewis Street in Lexington, Virginia. And frankly, for all you alumni who have never been there, go. It cements a bond with Sigma Nu that you cannot believe. It's a gorgeous, gorgeous location. We obviously own and maintain it. We keep the trees alive, hopefully. [chuckle] The ground's maintained, and this fall, we have very exciting news that will be breaking ground on a new Center of Excellence, the Spears Epsilon Epsilon Center of Excellence, that will be there for our chapters to use as they pilgrimage to Lexington.
0:31:22.2 Todd Eliason: It will be a dormitory type facility with some meeting rooms that will be a beautiful addition to our campus, so we're excited about that as well. Headquarters is our second strategic imperative to maintain and to make sure that we have a shrine that all of our brothers are proud of. And our last strategic imperative really kind of revolves around our corporate entity, and that is to ensure that we are practicing world class governance, because they... A corporation only is as good as its Board of Directors and the governance that it has, so we're focused in on continuing to enhance our ability to be good corporate citizens and govern our Foundation in a way that makes us all proud.
0:32:08.4 Adam Girtz: Awesome, and can definitely... You reiterate visiting headquarters, if you can. Like that... I'm just a huge believer in, if you're ever able to make it there, you're a active collegian or alumnus, it absolutely is a trip that you should make, and if you're just driving through, definitely stop by. We love giving tours. I love to hear that. And yeah, like you said, the grounds are beautifully maintained.
0:32:35.0 Christopher Brenton: And Adam, if I can interject really quickly.
0:32:38.0 Adam Girtz: Please.
0:32:38.6 Christopher Brenton: And so, one of my side responsibilities is managing this process for the collegiate side, especially. And so, when Chapters are interested in making a pilgrimage up to the rock, I work with them directly on that. But I was going to say, I've actually seen this question from alumni a couple of times, if you are interested in coming to visit, our normal office hours are 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday, but we can make arrangements, especially on the weekends to have staff available to provide you with a tour of the facility. Just contact us in advance. You can reach out at headquarters@sigmanu.org, we would love to welcome you and provide that tour experience. We just need to make sure that we're aware of it in advance, that way we can have the appropriate staff on hand for that tour. So, I want to make sure that we make that experience really memorable for anyone who is interested in taking Todd up on his challenge to go and visit the headquarters.
0:33:36.9 Todd Eliason: I... Again, I can't reiterate it strong enough, it's a magical place and a spiritual place for many of us. It's just absolutely awe-inspiring and quite frankly, a little humbling to be there and see that location. And not only what happens there as our fraternity, but to be able to look out over the City of Lexington and perhaps visit VMI while you're there, to see what our founders might have experienced when they were back there in 1869.
0:34:09.8 Adam Girtz: So, we mentioned the Day of Giving. I would love to hear more about that. So, it is one of our big events for the Educational Foundation, right? It's going to be taking place here soon, in a couple of days or in the next week, depending on when our episode actually releases here. [chuckle] But could you explain to our listeners what the Day of Giving is and why it's important to the work of the Foundation?
0:34:38.5 Todd Eliason: Sure, I think... Let me start with a point that I feel very strongly about, and that is that it's important for those that have received to also give back, and that really is what the Day of Giving is all about. I'd categorize us as a bit of a nascent fundraising organization, it has not been a well-oiled machine for an awful long time and Day of Giving is something for relatively new to the Educational Foundation. We've relied in the past on major gifts and those sorts of things to kind of tide us over, but in reality, the annual fund is what keeps us going, and the Day of Giving is a significant part of our annual fund. So really what the day of giving is, is a day that we've set aside in October that roughly corresponds to our founding... Granted we were officially founded on January 1st, 1869, but the three cadets got together in October actually, and dreamed of The Legion of Honor, so that's why we honor that day in October with our Day of Giving and for everyone to think about, in their own way, financially returning to the rock. It's a way for us to think about what Sigma Nu has done for us.
0:35:57.4 Todd Eliason: The kinds of things I articulated earlier in our interview, the things that mean so much to us, it's a chance for us to financially give a little bit back. So, our Day of Giving is really focused in on trying to cement relations with our young alumni and get them in the habit of thinking about Sigma Nu in their charitable giving plans, anything from $5 to the biggest number you can come up with are important for us. And getting in the habit regularly of thinking about Sigma Nu as part of your philanthropy. So, the Day of Giving is set aside for ambassadors to reach out to the folks they know and to encourage them to think about donating a few Starbucks... Equivalent Starbucks this year to help your fraternity maintain and to grow and to build programs that help fulfill our mission, and we're excited about it. We've had good success over the last couple of years with our Day of Giving. Our goals really are simple, they increase the number of donors we have on our Day of Giving and to increase the amount of money that we're raising. So, we'd like to create it into a very substantial day where people reflect on their membership in Sigma Nu, in their brotherhood, and to honor that with a financial commitment. And that's really what Day of Giving is all about.
0:37:22.7 Christopher Brenton: Yeah.
0:37:24.0 Adam Girtz: Really, having been on the ground recently in our active chapters, I personally can say I've really seen the good that this... I guess, fuel can do for the engine that is Sigma Nu, right? Through the foundation and the education programs that we're able to craft and deliver in our active chapters, truly does make a huge difference in the lives of the young men that we're serving directly, but then indirectly, their communities. So, I've been able to see... Do a... For example, an educational session on dignity, in the value of dignity, and then to hear back from our chapter and the Greek advisor for the school, hearing what the chapter went and did because of the inspiration they had from this session and the other sessions that we've been able to deliver with them. We're making tangible good in the communities that we serve as well as in the lives of the young men that we serve as well. It really is cool to see, but yeah, that is all fueled by the donations and the work that the educational foundation does. Todd, I'd love to hear if you have any specific highlights or stories or your successes over the past years with the foundation, or I guess... Up to you, I guess, whatever stories you have about the foundation.
0:38:55.1 Todd Eliason: Well, one of the things that the foundation is really focused in on, is building the organization structure and the support we need to just... To sustain and to grow our resources. Unfortunately, it's something I'm not proud of, and I know that it's something we're going to work on, is that we are not the largest foundation out there with the resources necessary to provide a lot of support and programming into the Fraternity, we would like to be. I think the last number I saw is, we probably are like 16th out of the major Greek organizations. And we'd like to be in the top five. So, we got our work cut out for us, but that is work that we are all about doing, and that starts with just creating awareness about what we're doing and why we're doing it. One of the things in the scheme of the Day of Giving that I'd like to emphasize is that we're really going to try to focus this year on using those proceeds to help continue to develop and enhance our mental health programming. The last two years has been pretty difficult for our collegiate brothers and certainly for our new candidates that have not gotten to experience even a normal high school relationship, so as they come into the university and hopefully find a home in Sigma Nu, we want to make sure that that home is welcoming, and that there are resources there to support that transition.
0:40:20.5 Todd Eliason: We know a lot of our collegiate brothers are struggling with mental health issues right now just because of the pandemic and the stresses going on on campus and beyond, so we want to make sure that our ability as a foundation to support the fraternity's efforts with Behind Happy Faces and other mental health programs, is strong. And so that's why one of the emphasis points this year for our fundraising is in mental health programming. Similar to that, there's areas like Lead Enhancement and programs like that that we really are excited about continuing to support for the fraternity, Lead program has been probably the bell weather in the fraternal world. We want to keep it that way, so it needs to be updated and enhanced, and we want to be a part of that as the foundation as we support the fraternity's efforts in that regard. And then lastly, scholarships. There's certainly financial pressures on all of us, but certainly our collegiate brothers, and being able to provide scholarship opportunities to them where the fraternity's being able to support them, is a key component of the foundation's mission. So, we are moving in all of those directions, and I guess, as you sit as a chair of a board, my mantra has always been "More, better, faster."
0:41:42.8 Todd Eliason: I have to be a bit patient, but I would really like to encourage all of our brothers to think about Sigma Nu in their charitable giving, because we certainly do make a difference, and it's a difference that I think our country and our world definitely need right now. So, we have a good story to tell and we're going to be shouting it from the rooftops.
0:42:04.2 Christopher Brenton: Absolutely. Well, and if anyone who was listening to Todd kind of give a reference to Behind Happy Faces, and you're curious to know what that is, we actually did a podcast episode with Ross Szabo, who was our subject matter expert that we brought in to kind of help develop the Behind Happy Faces curriculum. If you're interested in listening to that, you can find that as... I think it's episode four... Or it was our fourth episode of the podcast from back in April. So strongly encourage you to go check that episode out to learn more about the Behind Happy Faces work. But with that, Todd, and we kind of want to bring this to a close, but I just want to say thank you so much for being on the podcast with us today, and we really enjoyed the opportunity to get to talk to you more about the work of the foundation, and specifically the Day of Giving. For listeners, we've mentioned it a couple of times now, but just so you know, so this episode, the plan, and hopefully as you were hearing this, it came true, is that we plan on releasing this on Friday, October 15th, and that'll be just under a week before the Day of Giving, which is scheduled for October 21st.
0:43:14.4 Christopher Brenton: So, if you're listening to this, in that very short window, hopefully it has gotten you mentally prepared for what we hope is going to be your participation in the Day of Giving. But certainly, you are going to see a number of opportunities for us to engage with our members over social media, by email, you're going to see over course of different platforms. We encourage anyone who has resonated with this conversation, also to let your brothers know about the Day of Giving that's coming up. We need every ambassador for the program that we can, to just spread the good work of the foundation and to explain to others why your Sigma Nu experience mattered, and encourage them to give to continue providing that experience for brothers to come, so...
0:44:01.7 Adam Girtz: And if you're not listening to this episode during that short window, the best thing about the Day of Giving is that it comes once per year, and that very quickly, in 2022, there will be another Day of Giving. So, this episode is, yes, referencing this one in particular, but I think is evergreen through all of the years that we intend to continue doing the Day of Giving as well.
0:44:27.4 Christopher Brenton: That's exactly right.
0:44:28.7 Todd Eliason: And we are more than happy to accept gifts even after the Day of Giving.
0:44:32.3 Adam Girtz: Yes...
0:44:32.8 Christopher Brenton: Absolutely.
0:44:32.8 Adam Girtz: Yes, and they all do just as much good at the end of it.
0:44:40.9 Christopher Brenton: Well, Todd, thank you so much, and we really do appreciate it.
0:44:44.9 Todd Eliason: You bet. Thanks, guys. Appreciate it.
0:44:47.1 Christopher Brenton: All right. Take care.
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0:45:21.7 Adam Girtz: Welcome back, everyone. Christopher, what did you think of that?
0:45:24.2 Christopher Brenton: I thought it was great. I really enjoyed getting to talk to Todd. I thought it was super fascinating just to kind of, one, connect directly with the chairman of the Foundation Board to hear their vision and their goals for the foundation. I think that's a super unique and interesting opportunity to kind of hear directly from the leadership of the Board, so that was a lot of fun.
0:45:53.9 Adam Girtz: One thing I used to love doing when I was traveling around and consulting still, was facilitating our educational session on... Our lead session on the Sigma Nu international organizational structure, like how all the pieces of the organization fit together and... Because personally, myself, I had no real experience with fraternity as even a concept, before I met my big bro and ended up joining Sigma Nu. And to find out then you're going to College of Chapters and becoming a commander and then eventually joining staff, like all of the stuff that goes on behind the scenes, or maybe I'm in a place that I wouldn't have otherwise seen if I wasn't involved at that level, it was always super interesting. So to do an interview like this, and hopefully as a listener, people that are out there, if you didn't have intimate knowledge of Sigma Nu and the educational foundation and all of the headquarters and how all the pieces fit together, hopefully, this is a little bit of insight into that and into the good that our organization's able to do, and how that's able to happen, the fuel and the fire, if you will, so... Yeah, I don't know. That's my thought on it. I really enjoyed the interview, I'm glad we were able to do it, and I hope our listeners enjoyed it.
0:47:20.8 Christopher Brenton: Yeah, absolutely. And two, I think to borrow the analogy that you just gave, fuel, it doesn't matter how nice your car is if you don't have fuel in the tank. And so not only does the foundation do this work constantly to make sure that we have the fuel as well as just additional resources to make sure that our car runs properly, and then we can provide the services and programs that we do, but also I think for me, it's really cool to see the engagement side of it, that you have this collective effort on behalf of all of our brothers, to continue to provide the support and to continue to provide the promise of the programs and services that we really make during recruitment and then the lifelong commitment piece. Certainly, that doesn't... That isn't achieved on its own, and so we really need the collective support of our brotherhood, whether it is individuals who are giving their time or their talent, but then also, in brothers who are giving their treasure as well to make this organization run smoothly.
0:48:34.4 Adam Girtz: Yeah. The strength of the organization is the foundation, but the strength of the foundation is in all of the members of Sigma Nu that support it, right? That is how all of this kind of happens, right? It's how everything gets powered and pushed forward, is... Forward towards the goals that we have as an organization. So, love it. Love being able to talk about it.
0:49:01.9 Christopher Brenton: Absolutely, when... If you're a listener, again, who is interested in the Day of Giving, specifically, but also in the foundation in general. You can find more information on our website, but also be on the lookout. We're going to have a number of pieces of communication coming out, going directly to alumni as well as collegiate members also. We also have recruited some ambassadors to talk about their experience, who can kind of demonstrate their support for the foundation, why they're giving. We're going to be sharing those on social media. And then also, again, we hope that you are interested and are willing to participate with us on the actual Day of Giving, which is, one more time, on October 21st. So be on the lookout there, and certainly give if you can.
0:49:55.3 Adam Girtz: Excellent. Well, very glad to have you here to direct all of those communications, Christopher. That's good. Alright, everyone, thank you so much for listening and we'll talk to you next month. I always almost say next week, and I know I've probably said it at some point. Next month.
0:50:16.2 Christopher Brenton: Well, maybe at some point we'll get to a weekly podcast, but for now, the one a month is probably all that we can handle. But certainly, as we continue to get better, maybe so.
0:50:28.2 Adam Girtz: Yeah. We'll do the Dan Carlin thing where we just do one episode every nine months and it's six hours long.
0:50:37.4 Christopher Brenton: [laughter] Yes.
0:50:39.3 Adam Girtz: Bye, everyone.
0:50:40.2 Christopher Brenton: Alright, take care. Bye.
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