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Is Your Nonprofit Ready for a Capital Project?
I have an almost-two-year old who just discovered Mega Blocks and how to stack them as tall as possible before they fall. That usually leads to some two-way negotiation about where the next block should go, to avoid a cascade of blocks and tears. (Some …
A Board Member’s Guide to Nonprofit Overhead
Calculating overhead rates and managing overhead expense are important staff roles. Board members are not required to know how do staff accounting work, but we do need to bring an informed perspective to our oversight: Harvard’s indirect cost ra …
A Funder’s Message to Other Funders About Overhead
This article is adapted from a presentation made to Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO). Our deepest thanks to Unmi Song for speaking these truths: Good afternoon; I am Unmi Song, President of the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation. The overhead …
Stuck Between a Financial Crisis Wrought by the Founder and a Hard Place
A deputy director describes the crisis that befell her organization as the founding executive director left, how that organization almost closed down, and what she’s learned from it for her new job as an executive director in another state and an …
Get the Most Value from Your Audit
Audits are expensive in terms of money, staff time, and board attention. CPA Dennis Walsh tells us how to wring the most value from them: An IRS tax audit has been described as an autopsy without the benefit of death. The financial statement …
Outsource Your Bookkeeping!
The most strategic decision you make regarding how to staff your accounting department may be to not staff it at all. Well, at least not with employees of your organization. Outsourced accounting — having the accounting done by an outside person …
Lucky 7: The Casino Industry and Philanthropy
In some states, casinos are required by law to give a portion of their profits to community foundations which, in turn, are required to grant it out as well as allowed to put a portion into their endowments . . . just one of the overlooked fundraising …
Nonprofit Bookkeeping Test
If you’re not an accountant yourself, it can be hard to hire a qualified bookkeeper. How can you tell if an applicant really knows bookkeeping? CPA Dennis Walsh created this terrific assessment test you can give candidates for bookkeeping and ac …
Meaningful Budget Work by the Board
For many nonprofits, the annual "approval of the budget" is the cornerstone of board financial oversight. However, this annual approval is frequently an empty ritual: one where board members peruse a budget that they are unsure is realistic o …
A Board-Staff Agreement for Financial Accountability
Not all board members need to be familiar with financial terms and concepts, but eachorganization needs to develop a clear and explicit agreement for how financial accountability will be ensured. The following is a starting point for an agreement …
