Our Work with Funders and Community Based OrganizationsWith offices in Chicago, New York City and Valhalla in Westchester County, FMA has a long history of working with community-based organizations, and takespride in our record of direct, hands-on work at client sites. As a mission-driven organization deeply committed to the not-for-profit sector, FMA understands that the mission of any organization is inseparable from the culture of its members, and we strive to deliver our services in a way that respects and affirms that culture. We consider cultural competency an integral component of the delivery of our services, as awareness and sensitivity to the nature of cross- (and intra-) cultural communication and understanding is essential to the success of any collaborative endeavor. A Latina-founded and led organization, FMA is made up of a highly diverse team, coming from a wide range of cultural and economic backgrounds and representing a spectrum of race, age, language, and sexual orientation. Languages spoken by FMA staff include English, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, French, and Hindi. In carrying out our mission of bringing the highest quality financial and management practices to organizations in the not-for-profit sector, we have found that the support and active involvement of funders can be a critical factor in enhancing the management capacity of nonprofit organizations. FMA has partnered with many funders in their capacity-building initiatives. Who We’ve Worked With Our management assistance services support the capacity building efforts of funders and foundations including the Donors Forum, New York Community Trust, the United Way of New York City, the Robin Hood Foundation, Department for the Aging, Center for Charter School Excellence, the Clark Foundation, The City of Chicago Family and Support Services, the Tiger Foundation, the Kellogg Foundation, and the Wallace Foundation. We have assisted in delivering training initiatives to a wide range of community-based organizations for funders and umbrella groups such as Public Health Solutions (formerly MHRA), UJA-Federation, the New York State Community Action Association, and the Union Square Awards Program. The Wallace Foundation FMA was contracted by the Wallace Foundation to conduct a research study of the management capacity needs of organizations providing out-of-school-time (OST) programs in New York City and Chicago. This study, showing that even programmatically strong organizations struggled with limitations in financial and administrative management and planning capacity, resulted in major implications for both service providers and funders throughout the youth-serving not-for-profit community. As a follow-up to the findings of the study, the Wallace Foundation has engaged FMA to provide a comprehensive financial management consulting and training initiative that will target 25 Chicago-area OST providers over the course of 4 years. The results of this initiative will be formally evaluated to document the improved strategic financial decision making and sustainability capacities of the participating organizations. New York Community Trust: Fund for New Citizens FMA provided a combined workshop and 1:1 capacity building initiative to 15 New York City based immigrant rights organizations. The program covered the basics of not-for-profit fiscal management: an overview of core fiscal structures; financial documentation; budgeting cash flow management and internal controls; audit preparation and audit process; and board fiduciary responsibilities. New York Community Trust evaluated the effort and produced a results document that lays out the impact of FMAs services. One immigrant group, as reported in the document said working with FMA upgraded everything we do in terms of fiscal accountability and board oversight.
The support and active involvement of funders can be a critical factor in enhancing the management capacity of nonprofit organizations.
MixtecaMixteca reported that as a result of creating a foundation for financial management they were able to attract funding from new donors, including both city and private donors. Union Square Awards FMA has provided extensive management training workshop services to 25-30 nonprofit organizations funded by Union Square Awards. These workshops focused on implications of the current recession on the non-profit sector, assessing organizational financial health, cash flow management, and scenario planning. In addition to the initial workshop, FMA is also providing three follow up session to 10-12 organizations. These sessions will offer each nonprofit a unique peer-to-peer learning environment that focuses in-depth on a financial management aspect of their choosing including software, budgeting, and financial staffing issues. FMA has provided, with the funding assistance from Union Square Awards, a similar training program for the past 5 years. |
Our Work with Funders
       |
|
