Capacity Building Toolkit
Financial Management
Financial Leadership for Boards
Board members can better serve nonprofits when they are well-versed in financial management and understand their roles as stewards. This session reviews how boards can help guide nonprofits by thinking big-picture in identifying strengths, gaps, opportunities, and risks; understanding financial health and performance; and supporting an organization through times of crisis.
At the end of this session, participants will be able to understand the board’s legal and practical role in guiding a nonprofit toward financial strength and mission achievement.
Consulting Firm: Nonprofit Finance Fund
Session Resources:
- Slide Deck (PDF)
- Strength Based Assessment (Word)
Operating in a Changing World
Part 1
This session grounds nonprofit leaders in the challenges of nonprofit finance and the implications of operating in a structurally inequitable system. The session introduces core concepts in nonprofit finance, such as how to build financial health amidst significant uncertainty and how to balance money with mission.
At the end of this session, participants will learn how to operate in a “flawed system”.
Consulting Firm: Nonprofit Finance Fund
Session Resources:
- Slide Deck (PDF)
Part 2
Building on Part 1, this session helps nonprofit leaders take stock of where their organization stands in the face of compounding health and economic crises. After presenting a framework for understanding a nonprofit’s strengths, we provide tools for assessing your organization’s position, setting priorities, communicating needs, and planning amidst uncertainty.
At the end of this session, participants will be able to take stock of where they are amidst compounding health and economic crises and how to navigate uncertainty.
Consulting Firm: Nonprofit Finance Fund
Session Resources:
- Slide Deck (PDF)
Financial Planning
Part 1
In order to plan effectively, nonprofit leaders must understand how their organization’s past income and expense dynamics influence its present and future finance picture. In this session, we cover how to read income and profit/loss statements, as well as how to assess an organization’s revenue and expense picture. You will learn key terms for forecasting revenue and expenses and best practices for budgeting for restricted revenue and one-time or episodic revenue and expenses.
At the end of this session, participants will be able to understand how to manage expenses alongside revenue realities.
Consulting Firm: Nonprofit Finance Fund
Session Resources:
- Slide Deck (PDF)
Part 2
In this session, we examine assets, liabilities, and net assets to better understand how each of these can influence key budgeting goals. We review the components of a balance sheet (both audited and unaudited), help you assess the liquidity of your organization, and outline key budget practices for determining your nonprofit’s long-term needs.
At the end of this session, participants will be able to review their organization’s financial reports and are aware of their financial picture from an outside perspective.
Consulting Firm: Nonprofit Finance Fund
Session Resources:
- Slide Deck (PDF)
Cash Flow Planning
In times of uncertainty, it’s especially critical to understand how cash flows in and out of organizations. Unlike a budget – which summarizes revenue and expenses for a block of time – cash flow projections plot total cash received and spent month-by-month or week-by-week. In this session, we focus on how to create a cash flow projection, manage cash flow, avoid common missteps in cash flow planning, differentiate between cash and accrual accounting, and connect cash flow management to credit assessment.
At the end of this session, participants will be able to understand how cash flows in and out of their organization.
Consulting Firm: Nonprofit Finance Fund
Session Resources:
- Slide Deck (PDF)
- Cash Flow Projection Template (XLS)
Strategic Budgeting and Scenario Planning
To effectively plan for the future, nonprofit leaders must imagine possible scenarios and determine how their organizations would respond. In this session, we cover how to incorporate scenario planning into your budget, allowing your team and your board to understand budget implications for various “what-ifs” and create plans of action. We will help you quantify the unknown, develop budget scenarios for possible future crises, identify key drivers of change, assess revenue and expense variability, and prepare for both best- and worst-case scenarios.
At the end of this session, participants will be able to incorporate scenario planning into budgeting, allowing leaders and board members to imagine budget implications for various “what-ifs” and create plans of action.
Consulting Firm: Nonprofit Finance Fund
Session Resources:
- Slide Deck (PDF)
- Scenario Planning Template (XLS)
Understanding Your Mission/Money Mix
To make informed decisions, nonprofit leaders must understand how their programs contribute to both financial and mission objectives. In this session, we will use Nonprofit Finance Fund’s Program Economics Analysis to see how your mission can inform financial decisions, explore where well-placed subsidy can maximize your organization’s impact, and determine how to adapt your programs in response to the current moment.
At the end of this session, participants will be able to assess and understand how their programs contribute to money and mission objectives.
Consulting Firm: Nonprofit Finance Fund
Session Resources:
- Slide Deck (PDF)
- Program Economics Analysis Worksheet (XLS)
Managing Risks and Opportunities
Nonprofit leaders are most adaptable when they understand their organization’s financial risks and the resources required to manage them. In this session, we cover how an organization’s capital structure supports financial resilience and how to strengthen capital structure during times of uncertainty. We also introduce the concept of “full cost”.
At the end of this session, participants will be able to assess their organizations’ financial risks and better understand the kinds of resources needed to manage them.
Consulting Firm: Nonprofit Finance Fund
Session Resources:
- Slide Deck (PDF)
Understanding Full Cost
Full cost refers to the true cost of doing business for nonprofits, including total expenses, working capital, and reserves. In this webinar, we walk participants through the full cost of operating your organization and communicating that cost to funders. We define the components of full cost, provide language that names and claims nonprofits’ full cost needs, offer guidance for prioritizing your organization’s hidden costs, and share tips for discussing full cost with key stakeholders.
At the end of this session, participants will be able to understand the full cost of operating their organizations and how to communicate them.
Consulting Firm: Nonprofit Finance Fund
Session Resources:
- Slide Deck (PDF)
- Full Cost Conversation Guide (PDF)
- Full Cost Workbook (PDF)
Partnerships and Collaborations
Nonprofits are exploring new ways to work with like-minded organizations. In this webinar, participants will learn how to recognize the conditions for successful collaborations, evaluate mission alignment, assess prospects, and facilitate productive conversations with potential partners. We also cover the difference between partnership and collaboration, strengths and full costs in partnerships and collaboration, value propositions for collaboration, partnership and collaboration finances, and potential barriers to forming new partnerships.
At the end of this session, participants will be able to recognize the conditions for successful collaborations, evaluate alignment, assess prospects, and facilitate productive conversations with potential partners.
Consulting Firm: Nonprofit Finance Fund
Session Resources:
- Slide Deck (PDF)
Telling Your Financial Story for Different Audiences
Nonprofit leaders must know, own, and effectively articulate their organization’s financial story. By communicating this story well, leaders build trust and credibility, contextualize financial reports, connect finances to mission, and advocate for their organization’s needs. In this session, we guide you through the process of crafting a compelling financial story for your organization with budgets, dashboards, financial statements, and other materials. We also offer techniques for getting to know your various audiences, positioning your financial story for each of your audiences, and engaging your board and other stakeholders during times of crisis.
At the end of this session, participants will be able to know, own, and effectively articulate their organization’s financial story to build trust and credibility, contextualize financial reports, connect finances to mission, and advocate for their needs.
Consulting Firm: Nonprofit Finance Fund
Session Resources:
- Slide Deck (PDF)
Finance for Small Organizations: Budgeting Basics
As cultural organizations work to sustain their critical role in their communities through turbulent times, collecting and analyzing financial data is more important than ever to help you weather the storm and prepare for a successful future. In this session, we will explore the annual budget process: why budgeting is critical, and how to use a budget template, create different types of budgets for different audiences, and monitor your budget throughout the year.
Consulting Firm: SMU DataArts
Session Resources:
- Slide Deck (PDF)
Finance For Small Organizations: Chart of Accounts
In this session, we explore the concept of a chart of accounts: how it’s directly related to the budget process, how to create and modify, and how to use segments and classes to capture details.
Consulting Firm: SMU DataArts
- Slide Deck (PDF)
Finance For Small Organizations: Basics Boards Should Know Regarding Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Planning
Board members have fiduciary responsibilities for the organizations they serve, but what does this typical phrase really mean? What items should board members pay close attention to? This session will attempt to fill in knowledge gaps for current cultural organization board members, and those hoping to do board service in the future, especially thinking about cash flow planning, risk assessment, and on using the balance sheet and balance sheet metrics to determine financial health, areas to celebrate, and areas of concern.
Consulting Firm: SMU DataArts
Session Resources:
- Slide Deck (PDF)
