Newsworthy – Fairlight Insights
Social Impact Insights
These articles explore the cross-section where nonprofits, businesses and government come together to strengthen the human condition.
Investment Insights
Whether you’re an individual investor or philanthropic leader with an endowment, these articles demystify the world of investing so you can be better informed.
Featured
If your nonprofit is looking to grow after a major gift, investing is the next step. Learn how to get started with nonprofit investing in this article.
The stock market has been extremely unpredictable or volatile, zigzagging like a rollercoaster, reacting as it will to the latest news. Here are 3 things nonprofits should know about investing endowments in turbulent markets.
On Friday March 10th, major headlines around the world announced the failure of Silicon Valley Bank (ticker SVB) and the largest bank failure since Washington Mutual in 2008. Understandably, this made investors nervous, including nonprofit leaders and board members even though many did not hold deposits with SVB directly.
So what does your nonprofit learn when banks fail? Three lessons come to mind:
The last five years of returns have been lumpy for emerging markets to say the least. However, at Fairlight Advisors, we’ve long advocated for a well-diversified, global market portfolio which includes both equity and fixed income allocations to emerging markets.
While the fixed income markets have taken a rare beating due to rate increases by the Fed, nonprofits now have more options to invest operational funds parked for a short time horizon. Nonprofit leaders should become familiar with the array of fixed income investments as they can provide returns at a lower level of risk, depending on an organization’s time horizon.
During market volatility, nonprofit leaders and board members can begin to get nervous about the endowments investments. While most nonprofits can refer to their investment policy for guidance, it also helps to remember three important concepts when reviewing your nonprofit’s long-term investment.
We spoke to Bill Kan, the founder of Candent Capital, to ask him what he thinks about all of the buzz around whether we are going to suffer another recession, after having experienced one two years ago.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has created another setback for a global economy struggling to recover from the ravages of the pandemic. But there are glimmers of hope for the US economy.
Since Russian military forces invaded Ukraine, pundits are predicting dire global economic and investment consequence. Still, the outlook is very uncertain, which means sticking to one’s long-term investment strategy is the best defense.
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With the US possibly running out of cash in a month, nonprofit leaders and board members should be seriously asking themselves how much cash on hand the organization has in the event of an emergency.
Recession fears leave nonprofits bracing for the double threat of increased demand from their communities struggling to make ends meet as well as donors holding back until the economy shows some strength. Yet this is THE time for nonprofits to show their own strength, particularly for organizations focused on communities in financial straits.
While any unplanned funding bounty provides enormous opportunity for a nonprofit striving to improve philanthropic impact, a sudden increase in financial support requires an equal level of preparation to effectively receive that funding.
In these chaotic economic times, it’s important that your nonprofit’s financial plan to address how easily the organization can access cash. Here are three things nonprofits should know about emergency reserve cash.
A nonprofit with a robust financial plan will ensure that the organization’s cash reserves are fully insured BEFORE an economic crisis.
A quick update from Fairlight Advisors on nonprofits with an investment, economic and financial lens.
Having a powerful network can bolster a nonprofit’s donor base, ensure financial resilience and open access to additional funding sources. But what happens when the Executive Director and Board Members do not have a powerful network? The result is a Network Gap.
How do nonprofits build up financial resilience? They practice these three financial strategies.
As a nonprofit board member, you may not know how to assess whether an organization is financially resilient, yet you can see from the outside that the nonprofit is well supported. You can start by taking the Fairlight Resilience Assessment and help give your nonprofit board x-ray vision. Read on for more information to support your nonprofit’s financial resilience.
Is your nonprofit financially resilient? Can it survive the onslaught of crises after crises and still fulfill its philanthropic mission? There are a few factors your organization can x-ray to get an initial indication of financial resilience in the face of uncertainty.