Nonprofit Budget Planning Made Easy

Monday, March 26, 2012

 
by Lorraine Faithful, Operations Manager

In my agency, I am partially responsible for creating, implementing, maintaining, analyzing, and reporting against the company annual budget, and I am always looking for ways to make the process smoother and more meaningful for all involved, and to give it the attention it deserves. Since I know how important sound financial management is, as it is a core principle and best practice we teach, this year I am spending more time and thought into the budget planning process to find ways to improve it and make it easier. Jessica Logan of Clifton Larson Allen states, "A well planned, well documented, and well executed budget can help you monitor, predict, and maximize the activities that support your mission, ultimately making you more effective and successful."

I hope that some of the following information to streamline your budgeting planning process will assist you:

Do your agency strategic planning first. Your annual budget should match and mirror the goals and initiatives set forth in your strategic planning session which of course should include all key stakeholders - board members, staff, and volunteers or others as appropriate.

Create a budget timeline. Map out an annual timeline for the budget process months before a preliminary or final budget is needed to be presented to your board or finance committee for discussion and approval. Schedule your strategic planning first (see above.)

Define expectations from all key people. Keep participants knowledgeable about their roles and responsibilities in the planning process. Include everyone involved so that they understand ahead of time what you expect of them. Provide them reasonable due dates and deadlines.

Document everything. Write down all ideas, assumptions, plans, projections, etc. Perhaps you won't use every idea proposed, but you will want to capture everyone's contributions.

Determine what tools you need. Most small organizational budgets can be effectively managed using Excel spreadsheets. Larger agencies may consider special budgeting software. A simple Google search results in many options.

Collect your data and check for accuracy, including all Excel formulas and assumptions. It is very important that your agency budget be accurate as it will be shared with funders and other donors who will rely on you for correct and accurate information.

Here are some excellent, detailed budget tips from Kay Snowden of Third Sector New England.

Finally, remember that your budget should reflect and fully support your agency's mission and vision. I hope that some of the above tips will be useful in your next annual budget planning process.

Don't Neglect the Follow Up!

Monday, February 27, 2012

By Ashley Pero, Program Manager

You've just spent two hours at a networking event and you're finally home. You're ready to take your shoes off and sink into your DVR'd shows. WAIT - the networking event was just the beginning!

We're all guilty at times. We exchange business cards and then keep the stack on our desk for a few days and then they find their way maybe to our Outlook contacts, maybe to a drawer, or maybe to the trash can. If that is what happens then we really shouldn't waste our time at the events to begin with - just go straight home to your DVR. But, if you want to make the most of your networking you need to reconnect after the event. Then you'll be the one that stands out. Maybe nothing will come of it right away, but down the road you never know.

Here are a few steps to take in hopes that those short encounters eventually turn into something more meaningful:

1. Take 10 minutes right after the event to jot down something about the person on their business card. Maybe you both shared a love for baseball, your kids go to the same school or you know someone in common. Just write something down about that person on their card so you won't forget by the morning.

2. Take 25 minutes the next morning to send each person a quick email (save a few templates that you can fill in the info and overtime this will be an easy step). It is important that you don't put this step off - it is just like thank you cards, the longer you wait the more details you should include. This email shouldn't be a hard sale. It should make the person feel like you really did enjoy meeting them. It should include:

    a. The event that you met.
    b. Something that you discussed (love of baseball, kids schools, someone you know in common).
    c. A way to continue to conversation (coffee, lunch, phone call).
    d. Include something (link, article, website) that would benefit the other person.
    e. How nice it was to meet them.

3. Follow up periodically with articles or events that might interest them. This shows you aren't just looking for the business. It shows you are helpful and thoughtful.

Do you have any networking follow up ideas that really work for you?

Financial Leadership

Friday, February 10, 2012

By Lorraine Faithful, Operations Manager

When I came across an article about financial leadership, I happened to be in a place in my nonprofit career where I was ready to transition from financial management to financial leadership, so the article came to me at the right time and at the right place, as things so often happen to do.

This timely article entitled, “An Executive Director’s Guide to Financial Leadership,” helped point me to a new exciting direction as well as articulating something I had been thinking about but didn’t fully understand how to explain. Let’s start with the difference between financial management and financial leadership: the former is the collecting of financial data, producing financial reports and finding solutions of near-term financial issues; the latter is guiding an organization to sustainability and sustained financial health.  Financial management describes what I’ve been involved with for several years in the nonprofit sector; financial leadership is the leap I intend to make.

Written by Kate Barr and Jeanne Bell, and published last December by the Nonprofit Quarterly, the article provides eight key business principles that guide financial leadership practice. All eight principles represent best practices; some are familiar and others are not. They help organizational leaders to adapt to the demands of the changing environment and maintain the balance needed for mission impact and a healthier nonprofit.  Although these principles are often delegated to a nonprofit’s top leadership, they are relevant to financial staff and board members as well as executive directors.  Additionally, they will apply to small, mid-size or larger organizations.

If long-term viability is your nonprofit’s goal, this information is for you. To read the article, click here: http://bit.ly/wKw9TY.