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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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Elegant Nonprofit Reporting: System Design
Taking the time to design an elegant chart of accounts, cost centers, and allocations creates the conditions in which your accounting system will eventually bear fruit – reports and dashboards rich with information that effectively tell your nonprofit’s financial story.
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Managing Execution Risk: From Vision to Reality in Nonprofit Finance
From CLA’s Stacey Johnson: Whether running for office, or running an organization, where people rely on us for executing a mission, our decisions matter. How we make those decisions requires a strong team, which often includes bringing trusted consultants into our corner for both expertise and experience.
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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.
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How to Stick Your Landing in a Free Fall
For many of the nonprofit leaders that my colleagues and I have been advising recently, the current COVID-19-related turmoil feels like the financial and emotional equivalent of a free fall. The only real hope is to react rapidly and, as much as possible, choose wisely how and where to land.
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Recording: Personnel Strategies in the Face of Impossible Choices
Nearly all nonprofits can attribute the success of their missions to the dedicated, talented people who are at the core of their organizations. Because of their commitment to their staff, contemplating personnel cuts or salary reductions are particularly painful options to imagine.
