There’s more speculation about recession out there. According to the Bureau of Economic activity, US Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a measure of economic output, the US grew at a rate of 1.1% the first three months of 2023. This is a decrease from the last quarter of 2022. Which was a decrease from the quarter before. Seeing a trend? Nonprofits are bracing for the double threat of increased demand from their Read More
Predicting Nonprofit Financial Resilience
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
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
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
Top Nonprofit CFO Shares Her Secrets for Financial Success
I met Sally Petersen about a year ago to discuss our common interest in nonprofit risk management. She brought great insight to the discussion, leveraging her obvious, deep experience in accounting and finance. I only learned later I was talking to powerhouse in the nonprofit financial management sector. During her 12 year tenure as CFO for Second Harvest Food Bank of Silicon Valley, she helped the organization Read More
