They were flying the Cessna outside of Fairbanks, Alaska, so the story goes. Richard was training for his Instrument Flying Rules (IFR) test, certifying him to fly in poor visibility such as clouds, fog, rain or dust. My father, an experienced recreational pilot and already instrument rated, flew as co-pilot to help his friend prepare. Richard was wearing the standard IFR hood that covered his eyes from the Read More
The Ideal Nonprofit Lifeline: An Unrestricted Restricted Gift
A Development Officer friend of mine called me with a strange request. Could I please help an nonprofit Executive Director decide what to do with a six-figure donation? It’s not often nonprofit leaders don’t know what to do with a large gift. But this gift had a unique restriction. The money must be allocated to an account reserved for emergencies or unplanned incidents, whatever they may be; an unrestricted, Read More
Help a Nonprofit Hit a Homerun: The Case for Unrestricted Donations
Heather used to display a baseball bat proudly in her office cubicle. She was hardly the sporting type, so I finally asked her about it. She explained she’d been awarded the bat, along with a monetary bonus, by participating in a company program called “Homerun” that challenged back-office staff to demonstrate how a weakness in their department could lead to poor client service. Those who effectively proved the case Read More
5-Point Emergency Reserve Check for Nonprofits
A question nonprofit leaders constantly ask us is: How much does our nonprofit need in emergency reserves? This question now has been brought into greater focus in light of the coronavirus pandemic. But the answer isn’t straightforward. How much a nonprofit needs on hand for emergencies is dependent on its risk profile. Risk profile is the organization’s ability and willingness to take chances that could lead to Read More
Afraid to Talk About Money?
Sharing our financial challenges and insecurities can bring relief and ideas on how to take control of our financial futures. Many of us were taught as children and young adults not to talk about money. “It’s vulgar,” our parents would say, or “That’s rude to ask someone what they make or how much their house costs.” Instead we ruminate in private about these things, slyly looking up our friends’ houses on Zillow Read More
Checklist for Surviving a Broken Economy
We asked Brit Summerill, Partner with NOW CFO what lessons CFOs learned from the last recession. Here are a few things organizations need to do to start protecting themselves. Cash Flow Forecasting 13-week projection of the company’s available cash. Operational cost forecasting by week for the quarter—inventory, fixed costs, variable costs, payroll, etc. Establish Break-Even Point What is the minimum revenue Read More
4 Budget Rules for the 21st Century
For organizations managing to a calendar year, January told you how effective you were as a financial forecaster. Did it bring good news or bad? Is it what you expected? Does one month even matter? How organizations develop and use budgets has changed over the past decade and it’s essential that leadership reflect the new thinking toward financial strength. Twelve Month Budgets Are Arbitrary An annual budget is a Read More
Can Financial Planning for Nonprofit Employees Reduce Stress?
There was a moment as a college kid when I realized I had no money in my checking account, and I owed $300 on my Mastercard. That might not seem like a lot to anyone nowadays when you can spend that much in a weekend at restaurants and bars, but to a college kid with a part-time job back in the 90’s, it was a lot of money. My stomach and my head hurt every time I looked at the bill on my dresser. And I wasn’t Read More
Ten Essential Ingredients for a Powerful Form 990
At our last Social Impact Advisory Group round-table discussion held at Thrive Alliance, Karen Hahn of Karen A. Hahn CPA shared her perspective on why the IRS Form 990 matters many to nonprofit stakeholders so nonprofits should take heed. To emphasize that fact, Fairlight Advisors asked Karen to guest blog her Top Ten essentials to completing a powerful Form 990. -------------- Here is a fun fact, the Internal Read More
Won the Lottery? Don’t Do This.
Your adult son is asking you for money again. He wants $100,000 to open a second restaurant to expand into a new market. You’re inclined to gift him the money since his first restaurant has been a great success. But here’s the thing: he’s sitting on $44 million after winning the lottery a few years ago. He invested the proceeds prudently so that the performance gains alone have amounted to almost $3 million a Read More
