Indispensable for all types and sizes of nonprofit organizations, this important book imparts a clear sense of the technical expertise and proficiency needed as a nonprofit financial officer and includes real-world case studies, checklists, tables, and sample policies to clarify and explain financial concepts.

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.

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.

A nonprofit’s mission cannot be achieved unless there are resources available to fund it—without a sound financial strategy, a nonprofit cannot thrive. By creating stable financial foundations for their nonprofits, managers take advantage of the nonprofit sector’s size and scope, realize all of the sources and distribution of revenues, and effectively develop fiscal risk assessment methods and apply strategies to mitigate risk. Nonprofit managers must comprehend and efficiently use the financial tools available to them to develop financial policies that will help them to succeed in many types of economies. The Second Edition presents financial concepts in a straightforward format grounded in real examples that are readily accessible to students from any background. The authors provide the groundwork for solid accounting principles and ethical guidelines, define and set standards for internal controls and audits, and explain the ingredients used to measure program performance. Today’s nonprofits must also be aware of the growing scope of the fourth sector of social enterprise, which can inspire nonprofits to be flexible, creative, and innovative in achieving their missions.

A complete guide to the financial requirements a nonprofit organization must follow to indefinitely maintain the volume and quality of their services An organization may have plenty of capacity in the long run, but in the short run, donor restrictions and limited financing options are constraining. Here-and-now liquid assets are the only resources available. Finance Fundamentals for Nonprofits: Building Capacity and Sustainability shows how to measure a nonprofit organization's financial capacity in different time frames and how to measure its ability to sustain capacity in each case. Explains how nonprofits differ from businesses and how they promote values-centered management Reveals how to improve financial capacity and sustainability Written by a nonprofit scholar Filled with real-world case studies and actionable advice relating financial health to financial capacity and sustainability, this book is essential reading for every nonprofit professional.

How to make strategic plan to help your nonprofit navigate turbulent financial waters and achieve strengthened revenues During this time of upheaval and instability with the country's financial markets and economy, you might be wondering how your nonprofit can emerge stronger from this unprecedented turmoil and prepare for future economic cycles. Practical and timely, Nonprofit Finance for Hard Times: Leadership Strategies When Economies Falter helps your nonproft get strategic in the weak economy. Nonprofit Finance for Hard Times shows you how surviving the current economic conditions means dedicating yourself to understanding the details of the current financial crisis and identifying those Board members and other leaders who can give you deep analysis on the crisis and act as your analysts of the winners and losers in real time. Emphasizes that the core of all strategy is engagement Helps you reassess your nonprofit's communications tools for both messages and markets Asserts that the operative need is for strategy, not panic Revisits all assumptions Explains how to sort and cull past supporters for those who will emerge from the turmoil first and strongest Reveals how to identify new audiences Providing the guidance your nonprofit needs-not to just hang on for the white-knuckle ride, but to plan their best strategy to survive and succeed-Nonprofit Finance for Hard Times equips you with the tools you need to get started.

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

Finally! Nonprofit financial oversight is simplified. If you are looking for a way to quickly and efficiently equip your nonprofit board or finance committee members to oversee the financial affairs of your nonprofit organization, look no further. With more than 30 years of hands-on experience serving hundreds of nonprofit organizations, Mike Batts brings his concise and clear communication style to this important topic. Each chapter of this book is an easy read, and the book is loaded with information provided in a plain-language format. The Appendices provide a wealth of useful resources. You don't need to be a financial expert to oversee the financial affairs of a nonprofit organization, but you do need to know what to look for and how to evaluate the information you receive. Nonprofit Financial Oversight - The Concise and Complete Guide for Boards and Finance Committees helps you do just that - simply and efficiently. Resources in this book include: Annual Board Financial Oversight Checklist Your board or finance committee can know the bases are covered by using this helpful plain-language checklist as a reminder of key financial oversight issues that should be addressed in your organization every year. Sample Policies Not only does this book tell you in a straightforward manner what policies most nonprofit organizations should have in place, it provides an array of sample policies to greatly simplify the process of adopting them. Sample Finance Committee Charter This book will help you determine whether your organization needs a finance committee or an audit committee. And if you do, you are ready to go with a sample finance committee charter and guidelines for an audit committee charter! Chapter Titles 1. The Duty of Board Members to Oversee Financial Operations 2. The Finance Committee 3. Audits and Other Accountability Practices 4. Key Areas of Financial Oversight 5. Governing Documents and Policies 6. Internal Financial Reporting and Monitoring 7. Financial Health 8. Tax Compliance 9. Risk Management Appendices A. Annual Financial Oversight Checklist for Boards and Finance Committees B. Sample Conflicts-of-Interest Policy C. Sample Executive Compensation-Setting Policy D. Sample Policy on Dishonesty, Fraud, and Whistleblower Protection E. Sample Donor Privacy Policy F. Sample Gift Acceptance Policy G. Sample Expense Reimbursement Policy

BOOKKEEPING FOR NONPROFITS Bookkeeping for Nonprofits is a hands-on guide that offers nonprofit leaders, managers, and staff the tools they need to create and maintain a complete and accurate set of accounting records. This much-needed resource provides those with little or no bookkeeping experience with practical advice in a highly accessible format. Written by Murray Dropkin and Jim Halpin, Bookkeeping for Nonprofits is a step-by-step introduction to keeping accounting records, which form the foundation for a nonprofit organization's financial reports, tax returns, budgets, cash forecasts, and grant proposals. Using this volume as a guide, nonprofit leaders and staff will be able to set up books with or without accounting software and ensure that the records meet the needs of their organization. Bookkeeping for Nonprofits is a comprehensive resource that Discusses how transactions provide day-to-day information for tracking cash balances and cash requirements Shows how transactions provide information to management and the board of directors for budgeting and other essential tasks Explains basic bookkeeping concepts, such as the accounting equation, the chart of accounts, and income and expense tracking Guides readers through the nuts and bolts of recording a transaction Provides an overview of alternative recordkeeping methodologies and how to choose among them Designed to be easy to use, the book is filled with illustrations and checklists. "Bookkeeping for Nonprofits is the remarkable new guide for a new generation of accounting challenges bookkeepers face every day." —Frances Hesselbein, chairman and founding president, Leader to Leader Institute "Bookkeeping for Nonprofits provides a rare combination of consummate professionalism and clear, accessible writing. Underlying the wealth of technical information lies a great deal of wisdom. The authors have found a way to translate their enormous, on-the-ground experience into usable, actionable policies, procedures, and practices. It is a book that gives all you need to create a fiscally responsible agency with the bonus of helping you become a better manager and a wiser person." —Peter Block, business consultant and author of Flawless Consulting and The Empowered Manager "Bookkeeping for Nonprofits provides an excellent understanding of the practical application of bookkeeping in the real work environment." —Ron Werthman, vice president, finance/treasurer and CFO, Johns Hopkins Health System, The Johns Hopkins Hospital "This is a wonderful book that every bookkeeper in a nonprofit organization should have." —Eusebio David, fiscal director, Federation of Multicultural Programs, Inc.

This best-selling nuts-and-bolts workbook, now in its second edition, has become the gold standard for nonprofit managers and boards who must work through the budget cycle. The book offers practical tools and guidance for completing each step of the budgeting process. Designed to be comprehensive and easy to use, The Budget-Building Book for Nonprofits provides everything budgeters and nonfinancial managers need to prepare, approve, and implement their own budgets. Includes new chapters on Zero-Based and Capital Budgeting as well as an accompanying website with spreadsheets, worksheets and a new budget-building software, the CMS Nonprofit Budget Builder, designed to help you implement the concepts in the book. The software includes an expandable standard chart of accounts (COA) and will aid in building, organizing, tracking and planning budgets.