You are browsing: Financial Management
Investing in Relationships with Donors: 5 Phases of Securing a Major Gift
Whether your organization considers $500 or $5,000 a major gift, you must take the time to invest in building a relationship with the prospective donor. If you have not started to build those relationships, the time is now. Major gifts are not just for …
IRS Tax Form 990 [Deadline Extended]: How to File It, When to File It, and Why It’s So Important
Special Covid-19 note: The IRS is giving a break this year to individuals and businesses. The IRS states in Relief Notice 2020-23 that filing due dates, including extensions, which were due after April 1st but before July 15th, can be postponed until J …
Audit on the Horizon? There’s a Silver Lining! Here’s What Nonprofits Need to Know
Audits can feel like the worst. No matter how you cut it, it’s never fun to be audited. When an audit is approaching, the organization goes into overdrive to review policies and procedures to make sure the audit goes smoothly. This can be extremely tim …
Donor-Centric Budgeting & Reporting: Top 6 Tips
“Pledge now and get an attractive station tote bag!” Sound familiar? The nonprofit industry I’ve been immersed in for nearly my entire career—public media—is among the most famous for taking a relatively transactional approach to fundraising. While eve …
No Budget, No Mission: A Guide to Basic Nonprofit Budgeting
What has always drawn me to a nonprofit organization is the mission. The mission of an organization speaks in ways that numbers do not. The mission instills hope, meaningful change, and impact. It elicits images of a stronger community and evokes the p …
Time to Fold: Keys to Gracefully Winding Down a Nonprofit
It looked like the Cancer Prevention Institute of California had a royal flush of a winning hand—a 40-plus-year track record of groundbreaking research, a stellar global reputation, 85 dedicated employees, a balanced $13 million budget, and one of the …
#RiskyBusiness: Why Earned Income Isn’t All It’s Cracked Up To Be
“When will your organization be sustainable?” This question is asked of nonprofits at an increasingly alarming rate in recent years. Where did this come from and who decided it is such a critical metric of success? More importantly, how can you determi …
Top 10 Nonprofit Board “Worst” Practices
Hey board members, let’s face it, navigating your position can be tricky. On top of your day job, you’ve agreed to contribute your best thinking to a nonprofit. If you don’t have much experience in the nonprofit world, it has its own set of rules, and …
Tips for Surviving the Government Shutdown
The government shutdown is resulting in a severe funding shortfall for many nonprofits, both large and small, which is forcing many organizations to consider furloughs, decreased pay, and even layoffs. How can you determine your best and least painful …
Social Enterprise & Earned Income: A Key To Revenue or a Distraction?
Have you been in a board meeting discussing funding and the challenges of growing revenue and heard someone say, “I know, we should open a for profit venture!” In an era of continuous government funding cuts and foundations seeking “innovation,” many o …
