Jennifer E Goldman, Nonprofit Consultant

Somewhere in time it became standard practice for nonprofit organizations to plan a balanced budget for their upcoming fiscal year. I don’t know where that came from, but can we please send it back? Ask any small business owner and they will tell you that the bottom line matters. They’re looking to be profitable in their year. They want their budget to indicate sustainability and growth. They’re ok with expenses going up as long as income increases even more. I encourage nonprofit organizations to adopt this mindset as well. How will your nonprofit be able to serve your community next year if you aren’t making money? Your annual budget should be a reflection of your growth plans, your program development , and the increased impact you plan to make in your community. Here are a few examples of things I encourage you to STOP doing to your nonprofit budget: ·         Stop purposely making your income and expenses equal – for two basic reasons. If y...

The most common question I get from nonprofit leaders when they hear about my business is “Do you do grant writing?” I used to say yes, but then the conversation typically continued like this: Nonprofit: Great! There’s a grant we’d like to go after and applications are due in two weeks. Me: Ok. Tell me about the program this grant will be funding. Nonprofit: {crickets} Me: Ok. Then tell me what you’d like to use the grant money for. Nonprofit: General operations. Me: Did you read through the grant to see if they allow for their funds to be used that way? Most don’t allow for use of funds to pay for payroll, rent and other operational expenses. Nonprofit: {crickets} Me: I could help you try to find funding to help with specific programs that you have, or even see if we can find a funder who has a particular interest in helping nonprofits with a mission like yours who will allow funds to be used for operational funds. What is your budget? Nonprofit: How much can you get us? And it’s ok i...