Financial Leadership For Nonprofit Executives

Making sure that your nonprofit is going to be around long-term requires financial leadership. This means creating a financial vision for your organization and planning how you’ll get there. Financial Leadership for Nonprofit Executives gives you the framework, specific language, and processes to lead with confidence. With it, you’ll learn how to protect and grow the assets of your organization and accomplish as much mission as possible with those resources. The good news is you don’t have to be a trained accountant, earn an MBA, or have run a for-profit business in another lifetime. You already have many of the skills it takes to be a financial leader. This useful guide makes the process understandable and doable. You’ll find clear, logical steps to learn how to get accurate financial data—in a format you can understand; use financial data to evaluate your organization’s health; plan around a set of meaningful financial goals; and communicate progress on these goals to your staff, board, and external stakeholders. You’ll also find five foundational financial leadership principles; three overarching questions every financial leader needs to be able to answer (and where to find those answers); two fundamental budgeting principles; and five steps to building a strong annual budget. At the end of each chapter is an evaluation tool. You can rate how your organization is doing relative to the component of financial leadership covered in each chapter. Each attribute is scored as being red, yellow, or green. “Red” items are below standard and require immediate attention; “yellow” items are widely practiced though not generally ideal; and “green” items are considered best practice. Over time, as you and your partners on the board and staff move the organization toward “green” in each of these areas, you will create an environment in which financial leadership can flourish.

Essential tools and guidance for effective nonprofit financial management Financial Management for Nonprofit Organizations provides students, professionals, and board members with a comprehensive reference for the field. Identifying key objectives and exploring current practices, this book offers practical guidance on all major aspects of nonprofit financial management. As nonprofit organizations fall under ever-increasing scrutiny and accountability, this book provides the essential knowledge and tools professional need to maintain a strong financial management system while serving the organization’s stated mission. Financial management, cash flow, and financial sustainability are perennial issues, and this book highlights the concepts, skills, and tools that help organizations address those issues. Clear guidance on analytics, reporting, investing, risk management, and more comprise a singular reference that nonprofit finance and accounting professionals and board members should keep within arm’s reach. Updated to reflect the post-recession reality and outlook for nonprofits, this new edition includes new examples, expanded tax-exempt financing material, and recession analysis that informs strategy going forward. Articulate the proper primary financial objective, target liquidity, and how it ensures financial health and sustainability Understand nonprofit financial practices, processes, and objectives Manage your organization’s resources in the context of its mission Delve into smart investing and risk management best practices Manage liquidity, reporting, cash and operating budgets, debt and other liabilities, IP, legal risk, internal controls and more Craft appropriate financial policies Although the U.S. economy has recovered, recovery has not addressed the systemic and perpetual funding challenges nonprofits face year after year. Despite positive indicators, many organizations remain hampered by pursuit of the wrong primary financial objective, insufficient funding and a lack of investment in long-term sustainability; in this climate, financial managers must stay up-to-date with the latest tools, practices, and regulations in order to serve their organization’s interests. Financial Management for Nonprofit Organizations provides clear, in-depth reference and strategy for navigating the expanding financial management function.

Budgeting and Financial Management for Nonprofit Organizations fills the need for a text focused solely on nonprofit organizations. Its treatment of financial topics as they apply to nonprofits is instructive, accessible, and appealing. The book's depth and breadth are a welcome contribution to the field.

As the position of nonprofit ED becomes more demanding, there is a need for an up-to-date resource. This revised edition of the best-selling book is filled with management advice for succeeding as an executive director. This new edition includes thoroughly updated information and new content. It covers topics on timely issues and practical strategies including: Avoiding Burnout, Accountability, Professional Networking, Financial Literacy, Measuring Effectiveness, and much more. Ideal for ED’s and board members, the book also includes new cases and stories from the field and “practical tips” sidebars.

Praise for NONPROFIT SUSTAINABILITY "This is much more than a financial how-to book. It's a nonprofit's guide to empowerment. It demystifies mission impact and financial viability using The Matrix Map to provide strategic options for any organization. A must-read for every nonprofit CEO, CFO, and board member." —Julia A. McClendon, chief executive officer, YWCA Elgin, Illinois "This book should stay within easy reaching distance and end up completely dog-eared because it walks the reader through a practical but sometimes revelatory process of choosing the right mix of programs for mission impact and financial sustainability. Its use is a practice in which every nonprofit should engage its board once a year." —Ruth McCambridge, editor in chief, The Nonprofit Quarterly "Up until a few years ago, funding and managing a nonprofit was a bit like undertaking an ocean voyage. Now, it's akin to windsurfing—you must be nimble, prepared to maximize even the slightest breeze, and open to modifying your course at a moment's notice. Innovative executive directors or bold board members who want their organization to be able to ride the big waves of the new American economy must read this book." —Robert L. E. Egger, president, DC Central Kitchen/Campus Kitchens Project/V3 Campaign "Most nonprofits struggle to find a long-term sustainable business model that will enable them to deliver impact on their mission. Thanks to Jeanne Bell, Jan Masaoka, and Steve Zimmerman help is now in sight. This book offers practical, concrete steps you can take to develop your own unique path to sustainability without compromising your mission." —Heather McLeod Grant, consultant, Monitor Institute, and author, Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits "At last! An urgently needed framework to prepare leaders to meet head-on the persistent twin challenges of impact and sustainability. This is a practical tool based on good business principles that can bring boards and staff members together to lead their organizations to sustainable futures." —Nora Silver, adjunct professor and director, Center for Nonprofit and Public Leadership, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley "Together, Jeanne Bell, Jan Masaoka, and Steve Zimmerman equal wisdom, experience, and know-how on sustainability and lots of other things. Buy, read, and learn from this terrific book!" —Clara Miller, president and CEO, Nonprofit Finance Fund "Wisdom, experience, and know-how. Buy, read, and learn from this terrific book!" —Clara Miller, president and CEO, Nonprofit Finance Fund

This accessible, practical textbook will prepare leaders in the arts to make the best possible decisions for the financial sustainability of their organizations. Designed for individuals without formal training or previous on-the-job experience in nonprofit management or accounting, Financial Leadership for the Arts makes organizational finance simple and clear, freeing creative leaders to do their important work for communities. Governing board leaders, working professionals, and students alike will appreciate clear case studies, as well as the several chapters that examine contemporary challenges and their implications for present and future financial management, program management, and program evaluation. Written by two experts in public affairs and nonprofit leadership with deep experience in teaching and fiscal management, this book provides guidance that will be immediately applicable to arts leaders' work, helping them continue to excel in their creative endeavors—and not only keep the house lights on, but thrive.

Leadership in Non-Profit Organizations tackles issues and leadership topics for those seeking to understand more about this dynamic sector of society. A major focus of this two-volume reference work is on the specific roles and skills required of the non-profit leader in voluntary organizations. Key features include: contributions from a wide range of authors who reflect the variety, vibrancy and creativity of the sector itself an overview of the history of non-profit organizations in the United States description of a robust and diverse assortment of organizations and opportunities for leadership an exploration of the nature of leadership and its complexity as exemplified in the non-profit sector availability both in print and online - this title will form part of the 2010 Encyclopedia Collection on SAGE Reference Online. The Handbook includes topics such as: personalities of non-profit leaders vision and starting a nonprofit organization nonprofit law, statutes, taxation and regulations strategic management financial management collaboration public relations for promoting a non-profit organization human resource policies and procedures.

This "quick start guide" is for people who have willingly decided to be nonprofit financial leaders, yet do not have the time or the need to learn nonprofit accounting in all its detailed glory. A multitude of very good books exist for the accountants on our boards and in our organizations. However, this guide is specifically for nonprofit executives and board directors who have fiduciary or management oversight responsibilities, but do not have detailed knowledge of nonprofit accounting. My experience tells me this "quick start" guide will help you become a more effective, financially literate leader of your organization. This in turn will help you lead your organization toward becoming a tighter, more well-managed nonprofit.