FMA E-AlertsFriends, clients, and FMA Institute members receive a monthly e-alert on happenings in the nonprofit sector. Want to start receiving these in your inbox? Click here to join our mailing list. To download the articles or the full e-alert please click below:October 2011 Stay True to Your Cost By Andrea Mills, FMA Director For many nonprofits, contracts that fund key programs carry a double-edged sword. While the contracts provide important program dollars, they often bring costly administrative demands and call for a reporting system that puts funder needs before your organization’s. As a result,administering contracts may make it difficult for senior management to keep pace with the true cost of their programming. Read More. September 2011 Better Budgets through Team Decision Making By Amy Gudgeon, FMA Chicago Manager Too often, in conducting the annual budgeting process, an organization starts with an Executive Director and the Director of Finance sitting down in front of a blank excel file and populating some of the cells with last year’s numbers. To many Program Directors and Development Directors, aka those out of the loop, the initial budget development process can often look mysterious and foreboding, leaving them wondering, once they see the spreadsheet, “Where did these numbers come from?” Read More. Full September E-alert June 2011 Rethinking Your Budgeting By Sarah Walker, MPA, FMA Senior Consultant In the “new normal” of today’s economy, there is increasing need for organizations to refocus on their budget development process. In the past it may have been feasible to look forward on only a 12 month horizon when matching dollars to your organization’s planned activities. However, to address the challenges of the economic paradigm as we now know it, and to ensure sustainability in the long-term, organizations must work to broaden the scope of their financial planning process. Read More. Full June E-Alert April 2011 Dashboards Can Help You Find the Way Dipty Jain, Manager, Consulting Services, FMA “Where are we going? When will we get there? Can we make it with what we’ve got?” No, this isn’t a family vacation. These are the sorts of questions all nonprofits should be asking themselves when considering the success of their organizations…along with this one: “How do we know?” That’s where dashboards come in. Increasingly, fiscal dashboards are becoming a tool for executive staff and their boards to measure performance, relate activity to goals, and gauge the long-term impact of their initiatives.Read More. Full April E-Alert March 2011 Is Outsourcing the Financial Function Right for your Nonprofit? Henry Lopez, Manager, Outsourcing Services, FMA When determining the proper role for the financial function, an organization has a number of strategic considerations to make. For many nonprofits, that includes the decision to internally conduct financial operations or to employ a third party team so it may outsource this key apparatus. Read More. Full March E-Alert November 2010 Article - That Thing called Transparency Andrea Mills, FMA Director We all know that one of the tradeoffs to being a nonprofit is the constant need for transparency. With the acceptance of tax free status, the federal government requires us to make our financial information available to the public through websites (e.g. Guidestar, Charity Navigator, and others) or in person, upon request. With transparency comes the forced acceptance of public scrutiny from prospective donors, peers, stakeholders, and the occasional print or television reporter. The last thing any nonprofit wants is to see its profile raised in a highly public venue for all the wrong reasons. Handling public scrutiny is all about prevention. So how do we protect our organization’s public image through the financial lens? Read More Full November E-Alert October 2010 Article - Lean Six Sigma: How Nonprofits Can Move Beyond “Do More with Less” Rebecca Coker, FMA Consultant, MPA It is an adage, all too well known, that most nonprofit managers dread: “do more with less”. Combined with advances in technology and the ever changing needs of clients, it is also a reminder that in the nonprofit world, no one can afford to stand still. In order to be efficient and effective, nonprofits need to continuously evaluate their organizational structures and make adjustments. But how can we both provide better services and increase our ability to serve more? Read More Full October E-Alert August 2010 Article - Audit Readiness and the “Audit Time” Myth Andrea Mills, FMA Director With the close of June 30th year ends, many nonprofit organizations are preparing for the season that they grudgingly call “Audit Time” – but, in reality, what does it mean to be ready for your audit? We here at FMA believe that “Audit Time” is year round, and recommend that you always be prepared for an audit, no matter what the season. Read More Full August E-Alert July 2010 Full July E-Alert June 2010 Full June E-Alert May 2010 Full May E-Alert Want to start receiving these in your inbox? Click here to join our mailing list. Other Published FMA Articles
Principles for Good Governance and Ethical Practice:
A Guide for Charities and Foundations
Panel on the Nonprofit Sector convened by Independent Sector – October 2007 Read the excerpted document created by FMA. The Yin and the Yang of Strong Fiscal Infrastructures and Sound Programs April 2009, Jean Ries In responding to the increasingly complex not-for-profit compliance, funding and operations requirements the sector is facing, many leaders are choosing to strengthen their organizations by reviewing their fiscal infrastructures.This article gives you a brief overview of the components and the process. Fiscal Management: How Do Nonprofits Do It? New York Nonprofit Press September 2008 How should nonprofits manage their finances? That is an easier question to ask than to answer. On the one hand, there are certain financial standards and “best practices” to which all organizations should aim. Yet, the range of actual fiscal management practices can be as variable as the nonprofit sector itself. To read more and download the PDF, click here. Summary Document: Principles for Good Governance and Ethical Practice: A Guide for Charities and Foundations Panel on the Nonprofit Sector convened by Independent Sector – October 2007 The Independent Sector has released the Principles Workbook: Steering Your Board Toward Good Governance and Ethical Practice, a tool designed to help the nonprofit community meet its commitment to examine and improve their governance practices. FMA has provided an excerpted document that highlights the main aspects of the document including: Principles for facilitating legal compliance and public disclosures, effective governance, strong financial oversight, and principles of responsible fundraising. Read the excerpted document created by FMA here. Articles featuring FMAWorst Case ScenariosBy Ben Gose The Chronicle of Philanthropy, July 2009 This article highlights how charities with contingency plans are doing better in the recession and mentions Managing Director of FMA, Hilda Polanco and our work with foundations. To read the full article visit The Chronicle of Philanthropy's website and search for the "Worst Case Scenarios" article. (To read the full article you must be a member of their site.) "Judge for Yourself: How a board self-assessment can help ensure accountability" by Robin A. Lempert. Advancing Philanthropy. Features FMA's "Fiscal Oversight Checklist" and guidance on how a nonprofit can conduct a self-assessment. |
Resource Center: Publications: FMA Articles
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