Nonprofit Investment Policies

Solid guidance for managers and trustees to better position their nonprofits now and in the future The Great Recession has left a paradigm shift for nonprofit leadership and their board members as fiduciaries. It has changed how boards make, evaluate and document investment decisions, the risks they are willing to take and the way these details are communicated to donors. Nonprofit Investment and Development Solutions + Website will provide solid guidance for nonprofit leadership, staff and volunteers to better position their nonprofits to thrive now and in the future. This guide will provide: Sophisticated investment and development principles that are easily understandable and adaptable Specific steps to take in order to avoid unnecessary investment risk and secure financial stability Solutions and techniques for capitalizing on opportunities created by funding shifts and evolving donor expectations Principles and practices of fiduciary responsibility, behavioral finance, socially responsible investing, strategic development planning and charity efficiency In addition, Nonprofit Investment and Development Solutions + Website offers a web site resource with a variety of online tools and templates to help readers implement key concepts discussed in this book.

Discussing the development of investment policies specifically for nonprofit organizations, this book helps directors, trustees, and development officers at nonprofits create sound, comprehensive policies for their financial advisors.

The book every nonprofit financial officer needs Relevant for both large and small nonprofit organizations, Cash& Investment Management for Nonprofit Organizations effectivelybrings practical clarity to a potentially complicated topic, andexplains how to use the best available methods and tools to helpyour organization achieve and maintain financial strength. Thismust-have book equips readers with a road map toward soundfinancial structure and strong internal controls, expertly offeringhelpful advice on everything financial officers need to know,including: * Knowing the appropriate financial target for yourorganization * The measures you can use to monitor and manage your organization'sliquidity * Preserving your organization's financial integrity through internalcontrols * How to tap sources of cash to improve your cash flow * Making the most of your greatest potential ally in managingcash--your banking partner * Mobilizing and controlling cash * Disbursing cash efficiently while averting fraud * Harnessing information technology (IT) to better accomplish cashand investment management * Investing policies and practices for cash reserves * Investing policies and practices for endowments and other long-terminvestment purposes Written by financial professionals for financial professionals,Cash & Investment Management for Nonprofit Organizationsprovides essential tips and proven financial methods for improvingand benchmarking your organization's practices. Discover how tobecome more effective in keeping your nonprofit financially healthywith the techniques and tools in Cash & Investment Managementfor Nonprofit Organizations.

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.

"The authors have provided an interesting and helpful resource to understand and manage the nonprofit organization's investments. I believe that this book should be in the library of all nonprofit practitioners that are concerned about prudent stewardship." —Jim Croft, PhD, Vice President, Finance and Administration The Field Museum (Chicago, Illinois) "This book is a straightforward, well-written guide to the strategies and administration of investment assets of nonprofit institutions. It relies on the principles of modern portfolio theory in emphasizing asset diversification, performance measurement, and careful manager selection. It debunks much of what passes for 'investment advice' in the popular media. To their credit, the authors describe the challenges, factors, and actors in the investment industry, from the perspective of the individuals and committees charged by nonprofit institutions swith investment oversight responsibility." —John E. Allerson, Senior Vice President, Finance and Operations and Chief Financial Officer, Roosevelt University (Chicago, Illinois) "I would consider this book 'Investments 101' for anyone who deals with overseeing investments of a company, whether it is a profit or nonprofit. Yet, at the same time, it would help all investors, small or large, in dealing with their own individual portfolios. DiMeo, Schneider, Benoit, et al. have organized the book in such a way that each chapter deals with the very essence of how to structure an investment portfolio and how to look at the complex environment in an easy way." —Kevin Higdon, Vice President of Finance Elkhart General Hospital (Elkhart, Indiana) "From modern portfolio theory to the role of the fiduciary, The Practical Guide to Managing Nonprofit Assets provides trustees of nonprofit funds with a chapter-by-chapter explanation of what they should know to carry out their responsibilities. For the uninitiated, it creates a foundation for understanding investing in a difficult environment. For the experienced, it serves as a checklist of issues to be considered in exercising appropriate investment oversight." —Thomas H. Hodges, Executive Vice President, Finance, and Treasurer Evanston Northwestern Healthcare (Evanston, Illinois)

An authoritative guide for effective investment management and oversight of endowments, foundations and other nonprofit investors Nonprofit Asset Management is a timely guide for managing endowment, foundation, and other nonprofit assets. Taking you through each phase of the process to create an elegant and simple framework for the prudent oversight of assets, this book covers setting investment objectives; investment policy; asset allocation strategies; investment manager selection; alternative asset classes; and how to establish an effective oversight system to ensure the program stays on track. Takes you through each phase of the process to create an elegant and simple framework for the prudent oversight of nonprofit assets A practical guide for fiduciaries of endowment, foundation, and other nonprofit funds Offers step-by-step guidance for the effective investment management of assets Created as a practical guide for fiduciaries of nonprofit funds—board members and internal business managers—Nonprofit Asset Management is a much-needed, step-by-step guide to the effective investment management of nonprofit assets.

This thesis examines the concept of mission investing (MI) and thus the role the mission of nonprofit organizations (NPO) plays when fungible financial assets are invested. In contrast to the traditional separation of programming and investment policies, MI stands for the explicit inclusion of the organization's mission into financial decisionmaking. Although initially developed in the context of grantmaking foundations, the concept of MI can be applied to any NPO with fungible assets. NPO as mission-driven organizations differ substantially from regular "for-profit" companies in the way they evaluate organizational performance. Therefore, questions regarding the assessment of desirability and the evaluation of investment opportunities arise. This thesis consists of four articles which all answer a different sub-question regarding the concept and logic of MI and thus adds to a more profound understanding of nonprofit investment management and complements existing theoretical analyses with empirical findings on value-based portfolio selection. In their exploratory approach, these four essays contribute to a holistic understanding of how investment decisions within a mission-oriented organization should be planned and evaluated - independent of their social or financial nature. In applying a logic framework approach, it is shown that the strict separation of social (such as grants) and financial investments within NPO leads to a misallocation of scarce resources. Only by judging both types of investments based on their combined ultimate mission-related impact, an optimal allocation of the initial inputs can be achieved. Thanks to the linkage of both, social and financial investments, the evaluation of investments within NPO is not about either financial return or impact only, but everything in between (i.e., hybrid investments, such as venture philanthropy or impact investments). Further, this thesis also bridges linguistic gaps between nonprofit research and finance and supplies practitioners with insights on how to structure investment processes in NPO and what effects they may expect from mission-based portfolio selection. This allows for a more effective allocation of tax-exempt funds in terms of achieving higher degrees of mission-effectiveness.