Nonprofit Financial Leadership
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Leveraging Ratios to Better Understand Community Impact and Organizational Success
Have you considered the success of the organization’s community impact through key social or political matters?
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Using Financial and Nonfinancial Data to Calculate Key Ratios
Nonfinancial data can give you context behind the financial data and help support the numbers and decisions made. Tracking ratios and metrics on a consistent basis, such as monthly or quarterly, provides clarity on the goals of the organization and how well the organization is meeting its goals and delivering its mission.
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Setting the Foundation to Interpret Nonprofit Financial Statements
As a board member, are these common questions you have for your organization?
• Who is responsible for the financial statements?
• How do I read and understand the details of the financial statements?
• How can I leverage the financial statements to fulfil our mission?
Learn more through the upcoming financial and nonfinancial data for key ratios series. -
Infrastructure Bill and its Support for Schools and Nonprofits
On Friday, November 5, 2021, Congress passed the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package, the Infrastructure Innovation and Jobs Act. There are many provisions in this future law that benefit schools and nonprofits, included are a few.
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Investing to Spite Ourselves: The Paradox of Nonprofit and Foundation Asset Management
With combined assets nearing $2 trillion, how and where nonprofits and foundations invest those resources has enormous consequences. For two sectors that are mission-based, the question is whether enough of those assets are financing community and economic ventures that truly augment their stated missions. Or do traditional asset management practices inadvertently work against the goals of the very organizations holding those assets?
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Whole Organization Budgeting: A Collaborative Approach for Nonprofits
A thoughtfully crafted budget is a blueprint for accomplishing your mission and program priorities. It does very little good if, once it is created, it disappears into your accounting system never again to be discussed with program leaders.
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The Nonprofit “CFO and” Syndrome: Strength or Symptom?
The key to identifying the right blend of skills, training, and experience for your financial leader starts with aligning the role you are seeking to the needs of your nonprofit. If the core needs of your organization expand across finance to HR, IT, facilities, and operations, then first consider whether one person should be responsible for all of these functions.
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Governance Isn’t Cancelled
In a time when everything seems to be cancelled or disrupted, how do we, as board members of nonprofits, ensure the missions of our organizations stay strong and steady?
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Building Equity into Nonprofit Finance
One place to look for tangible evidence of any individual’s or group’s priorities and values is to look at where they spend their money. If you are looking to see if a nonprofit is truly committed to racial justice and equity, ask to see what percentage of its expenses are invested in this work and in what way.
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The Proper Application of Hope in the Midst of a Crisis
How, in the midst of extreme uncertainty surrounding your people, programs, and finances, do you lead your nonprofit to a hopeful next phase out of such a troubling now? Every assumption you had about how your nonprofit did business prior to the downturn is open to question, and every question you ask could lead to innovation you did not anticipate.