A large institution that provides hundreds of millions of dollars in grants every year shared a secret with me. They would be reevaluating nearly 1,000 recurring grants to determine whether their nonprofit recipients were fiscally and operationally sound enough to carry out their intended impact. In other words, nonprofits that have been counting on a large grant year after year might get nothing very soon. True 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
Running on Empty: Nonprofit Doesn’t Mean No Profit
“It's a nonprofit...so I assume it’s not supposed to have profits." Direct quote from a nonprofit board Chair. The term “nonprofit” was never supposed to mean an organization that is managed in the red. It simply means that surplus income pays to further the organization’s mission and is not distributed to shareholders or members. The idea that nonprofits need not strive for positive revenue hurts the sustainability Read More
Jet Skis and the Perception of Risk
This summer I drove a jet ski for the very first time and it made me think about nonprofit risk. My family rented a couple of jet skis for a 30-minute ride at a Mexico vacation spot. My daughter was perched on the back of my vehicle, egging me on to go faster and faster to catch up to my husband who was lapping us many times over. The problem was, I was scared out of my skull—eyes laser-focused on the water, knuckles Read More
A More Robust Nonprofit in 3 Steps
A community museum had it made. A local philanthropist was passionate about the museum’s mission and made substantial annual donations to the nonprofit for close to a decade. These major gifts allowed the museum to keep exhibits fresh, throw lavish annual galas and pay staff above market salaries. So when this vital donor decided to retire out of state and cease donations all together, the museum’s operational Read More
