| | A new grant or contract can be vital to funding your organization's programs—but it also brings responsibilities and risks as well. This assessment tool on FMA's website will help you evaluate whether a funding opportunity makes strategic sense and is feasible for your organization.
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| | This online calculator works like a student loan or mortgage calculator. It lets you determine the costs of a variety of options for high-quality afterschool programs and the summer portions of year-round programs. The calculator’s cost estimates, which come from
the most detailed study to date on the costs of high-quality programs, were updated in 2015 to reflect both the change in the general cost of living nationally and changes in the relative cost of living across cities. |
| | In this article from the Bridgespan Group, a variety of nonprofit chief financial officers and technical assistance providers offer ideas and advice on how to make financial information come alive for your organization’s frontline staff.
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| | Overview of concepts and strategies for developing financial reserves, including a discussion of types of reserves, tips on developing and managing reserves, and sample policies and worksheets.
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| | This presentation describes a team-based approach to budget development for nonprofit financial management, including goals, personnel and process. Download the presentation and watch the 30-minute webinar for step-by-step guidance. |
| | This data-visualization tool provides a snapshot of your nonprofit's financial health based on four years of financial data and with a focus on liquidity. The package here includes the tool, video guidance and a couple of related resources.
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| | This template can help you translate your operating budget into a detailed cash flow projection, including expense details over the course of a fiscal year. Download the template and watch the video for guidance on how to use it.
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| | Do you understand the implications of your revenue and expense models on your cash flow? Are you prepared for potential challenges with best-practice solutions for cash flow management? This article in Nonprofit Quarterly by FMA's Hilda Polanco and John Summers looks at how a variety of business models impact cash flow and addresses the “almost inevitable occasions” that inflows don’t match outflows.
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| | This resource on the Propel Nonprofits website outlines the sections in a nonprofit business plan for social enterprise or earned income ventures.
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| | This regularly updated website, maintained by the National Council of Nonprofits, provides an overview of state law requirements regarding nonprofit audits, as well as links to relevant statutes for each state.
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| | This resource center for nonprofit chief financial officers at the Bridgespan Group's website includes articles for new and prospective CFOs, articles for organizations hiring CFOs, as well as sample CFO and Controller job descriptions.
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| | The Finance Department’s primary tool for developing an organization-wide budget is the
Nonprofit Budget Template, a template for budgeting expenses and revenues by program/activity area.
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| | This article in Nonprofit Quarterly outlines eight key business principles for guiding the financial leadership practices of nonprofit chief executives.
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| | This presentation from FMA can help nonprofit boards understand their fiscal leadership role. It includes an overview of fiduciary duties, audit and finance committees, the audit and Form 990, and internal controls. You can watch the full presentation or download the pdf below.
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| | This article from the Bridgespan Group includes an overview of nonprofit business planning, breaking the process down into four distinct components: strategic clarity; strategic priorities; resource implications; and performance measures. It also explains how to use the plan both internally and externally.
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| | This article the Stanford Social Innovation Review proposes 10 nonprofit business models that describe the range of funding strategies available, arguing that leaders should understand and work within their particular funding model in order to maximize financial sustainability.
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| | Authors in this Nonprofit Quarterly article describe the Matrix Map approach to understanding the financial as well as the mission-related impact of a nonprofit’s programs and activities. Based on their book, The Sustainability Mindset: Using the Matrix Map to Make Strategic Decisions, the authors explain how to create a Matrix Map and what strategic decisions are implied by the positions in the matrix.
Watch the authors discuss the framework and how to use it in this webinar.
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| | Financial forecasting is an integral part of a nonprofit’s planning process and can allow for course corrections to meet your annual financial goals. This forecasting template helps you quickly estimate how you are likely to end the year financially based on year-to-date results and other assumptions. |
| | This quick, two-page checklist will help you assess what’s working and what may be causing friction between Finance and Development Departments. See how your organization rates against recommended best practices and learn how to improve collaboration between these two key components of the financial infrastructure.
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| | Use this excel tool to smooth communications between Development and Finance teams. Track reporting requirements for each contract or grant and keep track of all funding details and requirements in one place. The tool includes views across all grants/contracts as well as for each grant/contract individually.
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| | Keep your team on track with this excel-based tool that covers activities related to the annual audit process, internal reporting, budget process and regulatory reporting deadlines. The calendar is easily customizable by fiscal year with one click.
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| | Use this tool to monitor your organization’s temporarily restricted net assets (TRNA) and releases from restriction on either a quarterly or monthly basis.
The template tracks beginning TRNA balances, additions, releases and ending balances for funding sources as well as programs. Note: there are two versions of the tool available—one for releasing restrictions on a quarterly basis and one for releasing restrictions on a monthly basis. Please choose the tool that reflects your organization’s practice. |
| | This resource outlines 58 items critical to effective internal controls, including cash management, payroll, fixed assets, financial statements and more.
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| | Create a customized quarterly dashboard illustrating results among a set of key performance indicators (KPIs). Choose KPIs relevant to your organization, set targets/benchmarks for each and enter results on a quarterly basis. The template displays a table indicating whether results are better than the goal (represented by a "green" indicator), close to the goal ("yellow"), or worse than the goal ("red").
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| | This thorough guide provides all the materials you will need to conduct your research and selection process for an independent audit firm, including overall suggestions, a request-for-proposal template, an interview guide and sample selection criteria.
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| | Get your team on the same page with this free customizable tool pre-populated with essential tasks for a painless process. We've also highlighted dependencies and given you space to assign tasks in a Gantt-chart style project plan.
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| | Use this excel tool to track your organization’s fixed assets and annual depreciation estimates.
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| | This simplified version of the cash flow projections template allows users to compare detailed revenue projections to high-level expense estimates on a monthly basis, identifying potential cash shortfalls up to 12 months in advance. |
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