Nonprofit Leadership: Using Data for Better Decision-Making
Leveraging data for strategic decision-making has many benefits–from improving your efficiency to increasing the success rate of strategies.
Tag Archive for: nonprofit
When You Should Consider Merging a Nonprofit
Many nonprofits use merging to strengthen their organizations. Nonprofit mergers can help an organization better fulfill its mission.
What is Financial Forecasting and Why Does it Matter to Nonprofits?
Having a sense of what your finances may look like in the future is crucial. The best way to do this is through financial forecasting.
Why You Shouldn’t Start a Nonprofit
If you dream of devoting more time to a cause you believe in and taking it to the next level, you might ponder starting a nonprofit.
How to Properly Record Revenue for Nonprofits
While the nature of a nonprofit means you’re focusing more on your mission than making money, bringing in revenue is still essential.
Volunteer Management: What Every Nonprofit Needs to Know
Volunteering is an essential piece of any nonprofit. Some nonprofits can’t function without the help of their volunteers.
Provide a ‘WOW’ Experience in your Nonprofit Marketing
About David
Welcome everyone to A Modern Nonprofit Podcast. Today, we explored the importance of websites, nonprofit marketing, and how to bridge the gaps between departments to achieve digital success.
When we think marketing, we think of getting the word out and expressing the mission behind the help non-profit organizations (NPOs) provide. In 2023, this goes much deeper than we could imagine. There are many tools and resources that can be utilized to enhance NPOs, especially online.
We invited David Pisarek of Wow Digital, Inc. to give us a behind the scenes look at SEOs, attracting and retaining visits to websites, digital marketing and much more!
David started Wow Digital Inc. with the goal of providing effective websites, branding and design for Canadian based charity organizations. With over 20 years in the nonprofit sector, passionately working to revolutionize it one website at a time. An expert in design and programming, he’s also an educator at the college level. With a track record of 240+ complete projects since 2016, David and his team are the go-to experts.
We welcome David to the show!
Continuous Improvement
We engaged in an in-depth conversation with David, where we unraveled a series of questions regarding nonprofit website redesign and the importance of web analytics.
- When should nonprofits consider a full redesign on their website?
- What does that process look like?
- What should it include?
- How often should a NPO consider a redesign?
Of course, there is much to learn about in each of the posed questions. David stresses that websites are not something that are sat and forgotten about. Or ‘one and done’ as he calls them.
They need constant love and care. A part of that care comes from measuring analytics. A free tool that can help organizations achieve this is Google Analytics. It’s important to note that Google Analytics 3 is the system that has been used for years. And as of July 20th, 2023, this was updated to GA4. So, if analytics are the next move for business, make sure GA4 is the system used.
GA isn’t just for tech-nerds; it’s a great tool that can help businesses identify what consumers, donors, or website searchers are looking for and take them back to the website over and over again. Keep an eye on:
- What keywords are being used?
- Which call to actions are listed?
- Where are consumers landing on the business website?
- Are they navigating 3 to 4 pages in order to find what they are looking for?
All of these are key questions that businesses should be asking when it comes to analyzing their web traffic.
David makes a great point regarding website analytics. The word ‘conversion’ is a data point that can be measured. So for example, on a for-profit’s page this may mean that a conversion leads to an eventual sale. This has a different definition for NPOs. A conversion data point may indicate converted volunteers, donations, or simply subscribing to an email or newsletter.
Not only is it important to understand what data points to pay attention to, but also how they differ from business to business.
Revamping a Website
Before Tosha and David take a deeper dive into the topic of SEOs, David compliments Tosha’s question about a website revamp.
He and his team did an audit that lead to 5 indicators for revamping a website:
- Is the page layout unique or common in comparison to other websites?
- How old does the site look?
- Building more off of this point, how does the website look on a smartphone? Is it compatible? Google will rank the site lower if it isn’t mobile friendly – certainly something to consider.
- Is your mission and purpose clear as day on the website?
- Is the website accessible?
- World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is a website that creates accessibility guidelines. For example, when defining accessibility is the website accessible for an individual that may be physically impaired? The tiny detail that goes into naming a photo on a website could play a huge role in this consideration.
- Finally, how identifiable is the business contact information?
Number 5 may seem like a small task in the big scheme of things, but this is actually a great segway into the SEO conversation. Even if your organization is completely remote, putting a PO Box on your website can do wonders. Why? When people search for things near them (like volunteer opportunities), Google uses their location to find the best match.
In most cases, each device holds an IP address that gives Google some idea of your location. Because of this, when searching for ‘volunteering opportunities’ while the IP is in, let’s say the St. Louis, MO region, then Google can direct individuals to a website associated with that area.
Measuring Frequency
Piecing the conversation together, NPOs are a different breed than for profit businesses. They still require constant measurement and effort, but the data points that are studied are much different. How this plays into the website traffic and SEO conversation, is what makes all the impact.
For example, revenue may increase in the winter months because of a historically associated ‘giving season’. Therefore, measuring data on a quarterly basis may be more effective when it comes to the NPO’s website as opposed to week over week or month over month analytics.
NPOs also work on a conservative budget basis, meaning that they can stretch a dollar.
With this, they may not be able to pay an individual, group, or department to only analyze data points for their website development. Looking at the numbers on a quarterly basis can help whomever lands this task a better window for analysis and time management.
Want to connect with David and his team? Email him at [email protected] or check out their website, wowdigital.com. His team also works with NPOs and website development by providing templates and website management through a website called, Mighty NPO. By using the coupon code charitycfo, this may qualify your business for a lifetime discount up to 70%.
To hear the full story, listen to our podcast here.
You can also find Tosha and The Charity CFO team on Youtube or our website, thecharitycfo.com!
Using AI to Maximize Impact for Nonprofits
Savvy nonprofit leaders will be able to harness the power of AI to maximize their impact on the causes that matter to them.
Understanding the Job of a Nonprofit Operations Manager
No time to read this article now? Download it for later.
There are more than 1.54 million nonprofits globally. To ensure that a nonprofit runs efficiently, several people work behind the scenes to make things much easier, and one of those people is the operations manager.
The operations manager might be the secret weapon of the most successful nonprofits we know. By taking charge of getting things done, an operations manager helps executive directors focus their energy on the strategic big-picture that will move their mission forward.
If you’re looking to enter the world of nonprofit organizations with a background in operations management, you might be wondering how your skills can help you. Or, if you’re a nonprofit founder or an executive director, you might be wondering how an operations manager can help make your organization ruthlessly efficient and highly effective.
Read on now to find out what the job description of a nonprofit operations manager might look like.
What does an operations manager do?
A nonprofit operations manager, or director of operations for a nonprofit, is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the organization.
They oversee the administrative staff and make sure that the office runs smoothly. They also develop and implement operational procedures and systems and manage budgets and financial reports. In short, they ensure that the nonprofit runs like a well-oiled machine!
Now, if that sounds like they do a bit of everything, it’s because that’s true!
An operations manager, by definition, is a manager. They don’t necessarily need to be an expert at any one thing. Still, they need to be able to be proficient enough at many things to manage a highly productive team to get results for their organization.
Here’s how Krysta Grangeno described her day-to-day tasks in operations for a nonprofit organization:
Who reports to the operations manager?
And who do they report to?
It depends on the organization, but generally, any department is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the entity. That may include
- Finance Department
- Fundraising Department
- Program directors
- Human Resources
- Information Technology
- And more!
You can see that, depending on the size and structure of your organization, the ops manager will have to oversee a large number of departments.
In turn, your operations manager will either report to the Director of Operations, the Chief Operating Officer (COO), or directly to the CEO or Executive Director. They may also have some direct interaction with the Board of Directors, although the board isn’t technically their supervisor.
What are the job responsibilities of a nonprofit operations manager?
As mentioned above, their primary role is to supervise and organize the efforts of the departments under their responsibility. Here’s a breakdown of what duties a nonprofit operations manager will be expected to handle:
Ensure the Office Runs Smoothly
The administrative staff is responsible for keeping the office organized and running smoothly on a day-to-day basis. The operations manager will make sure that they have everything they need to do their job effectively and that they are meeting all deadlines.
An operations manager must be exceptionally well organized, as they’ll be responsible for creating systems and processes that ensure every department is meeting its expectations. Often, they’ll also need to be aware of all legal or reporting requirements that the organization may have in executing their programs.
Implement Budgets and Oversee Financial Strategy
The operations manager will be responsible for spearheading the budgeting process for the organization and ensuring that the accounting department delivers timely and accurate financial statements for the board of directors or other stakeholders. You’ll also need to be intimately familiar with these statements as well and review them proactively to identify potential issues before they become problems.
As the operations manager, part of your role is to ensure that the financial department runs effectively. This includes ensuring that checks and balances are in place and that employees in the financial department are adequately trained to do their jobs.
The operations manager must also be acutely in-tune with the organization’s budget. Because their role is so wide-reaching, they need to be aware of how shortfalls in one area (like fundraising) may impact the ability to execute in others (like executing programs or meeting payroll).
That doesn’t mean that the operations manager needs to be an accountant. Generally, they’ll oversee the accounting team or work as a liaison with an outsourced accounting firm. But ultimately, they are responsible for ensuring that the accounting work is done correctly and on time.
Supervise Human Resources
Ideally, the operations manager’s role in human resources is limited to supervision, but that’s not always the case. In some smaller nonprofits, HR may get put completely onto the ops manager’s plate, but we’d recommend against it.
Human resources is a specialized field that requires experience and specific knowledge. You need to comply with employment law, collect the correct information, withhold taxes appropriately, and onboard and train new employees.
A knowledgeable HR professional should establish the policies and procedures for the human resources department, but many nonprofits can’t afford a full-time HR coordinator. That’s why many nonprofits choose to outsource their HR to external firms as well.
Even if you’re working with an external firm, the operations manager will probably need to be involved in many day-to-day items related to HR—like searching for employees to hire, interviewing, training, counseling, and terminating employees.
Manage Technology Integration
Technology is a massive part of the work that nonprofits do. Almost every person in your organization depends on technology. And the networks and systems that keep those people aligned take organization, security, and maintenance.
Depending on your mission, you may even be dealing with highly sensitive personal information that you have a legal responsibility to protect, even in digital form. As the operations manager, you’ve got to make sure the appropriate technology systems and controls are implemented throughout the business.
Not utilizing the proper systems could mean the loss of crucial data needed in the future. Or it could mean a crumbling IT infrastructure that can’t support the business model being implemented.
Nonprofits often don’t need, or can’t afford, an internal IT department. And relying on someone’s husband or nephew to fix problems isn’t an acceptable solution. Instead, many organizations outsource their IT department to a service provider. In this case, it’s the operations manager’s job to liaison with the IT provider to ensure the office gets the support it requires.
Ensure Compliance and Organization
Records need to be kept in order within any business. There are several reasons for this, but compliance is an important one for many nonprofits.
Your organization needs to comply with accounting regulations, legal restrictions, employment rules, and other industry-specific regulations. And the operations manager is ultimately responsible for ensuring that the company is prepared to prove its compliance when audited.
Not only does record organization help when something needs to be located, but it also speeds up business efficiency. Instead of wasting time hunting for something, it will be easy to access the record database. All you’ve got to do is type in some information and locate the data needed.
How to evaluate performance and further development
Whether you’re building the leadership team to include an operations roles, or you’re currently in an operational leadership role — it’s important to regularly evaluate performance as well as work on developing to further improve your work.
If you’re evaluating your ideal candidate, after they’ve been in the position for a certain period (a year, for example), it’s important to compare their achievements to the job description. For self-evaluations, read resources (like this one) to find usable knowledge to help improve your performance.
Key areas to concentrate your efforts include:
- Purposeful communication: In operations, too much communication is nearly as problematic as not enough. What you say, how you say it, must be as useful as possible. That’s where developing purposeful communication tactics come in handy.
- Organizational processes: As someone who ensures compliance and handles intricate areas of a nonprofit, the ability to develop processes takes precedence over nearly every other aspect of your role.
- Continuing certifications: There are a number of nonprofit certificate programs available for leadership teams. Those instructing the programs often have robust experience in the sector. Taking these programs helps you find the additional knowledge to improve your performance.
A Note on Outsourcing Professional Services:
We’ve mentioned outsourcing a few times here, related explicitly to bookkeeping/accounting, human resources, and information technology. That’s because this is an emerging trend we see gaining steam in the industry.
Traditionally, many nonprofits had a scrappy, do-it-all mentality when it came to these areas. So, an operations manager or financial director frequently ended up having responsibility for everything— from making bank deposits and firing employees to troubleshooting network issues.
But this approach causes more problems than it solves. Having trained professionals handling complex tasks that are outside their area of expertise is hugely inefficient. And it’s just asking for mistakes.
Yet most organizations can’t afford a full-time accountant, HR coordinator, and IT professional. And that’s where the operations manager comes in.
When organizations outsource these 3 functions and have the operations manager work directly with each team, they can get the full professional support of each team without paying a full-time salary. Often, these teams are more talented and efficient than an internal team member would be.
We believe this is the operational business model of the future for successful mid-sized nonprofits in the $1M to $15M/year range. If you’d like to talk to us about outsourcing your bookkeeping and accounting to The Charity CFO, send us a message to set up a free consultation.
What Qualities Make a Good Operations Manager?
Let’s turn to Krysta again, to offer a first-hand perspective on what skills an operations manager needs:
What A Nonprofit Operations Manager Does: A Recap
A nonprofit operations manager has many responsibilities, but their primary role is to coordinate all the various departments to ensure that business runs smoothly.
The operations manager will oversee the finance department, human resources, information technology, programs, fundraising, and more. And they must grasp how each department impacts the other to ensure that the entire organization runs harmoniously.
By doing their job well and assuming responsibility, they free up each department to focus on what they do best, rather than overlapping tasks or getting tied up in work that’s unrelated to their department. They also help free up the directors to focus on strategy rather than the day-to-day minutiae of each department.
No time to read this article now? Download it for later.
How to work with your donor’s financial advisors to create the greatest impact.
On this week’s episode of A Modern Nonprofit Podcast, CEO Tosha Anderson invites David Foster, CFP®, CAP® as her guest. David Foster is a financial advisor at Gateway Wealth Management of our client.
David speaks about, “How to work with your donor’s financial advisors to create the greatest impact”. He gives advice to listeners on should development officers ask for specific dollar amounts why or why not? He also hits on whether or not development officers should be afraid to ask about planned giving and how to be direct when asking about planned giving? Should you ignore your donor’s team of professionals, CPAs, Attorneys, Financial Advisors, when asking for large gifts? Or should you offer to reach out and get to know your donor’s professional advisors? You may think that getting a donor’s professional advisors involved will increase the time you spend and reduce the size of the gift you ultimately “bring in.” What are the three reasons the opposite is true?
These are just a few questions David answers, this episode is an interesting conversation with to experts in their fields.
This episode is a must listen.
Follow David’s career and reach out for any help with all nonprofit donor questions and more.
Here is how to get in contact with David Foster.
Website: gatewaywealthstl.com
Click on Talk with David
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 314-349-2711
The most effective ways to expand visibility and maintain funding in your business.
On this week’s episode of A Modern Nonprofit Podcast, CEO Tosha Anderson invites Eric Ressler as her guest. Eric Ressler is the Founder and Creative Director at Cosmic, A Social Impact Creative Agency. Eric Ressler expresses his opinions and expertise about, “The most effective ways to expand visibility and maintain funding in your business.” Why do so many social impact organizations struggle to find, grow, and maintain funding? Eric breaks this question down and gives listeners tips to implement in your own processes. What does the future of social impact fundraising look like? Eric goes into the importance of your digital footprint and doing it in an authentic way. We cover why does social impact organizations invest in their digital strategy and platforms? We also hit on why should social impact organizations concern themselves with their brand when it seems like there are more important things to focus on? Finally why is the overhead percentage the wrong metric for assessing a social impact organization’s effectiveness? This episode is a wonderful conversation and a must listen.
Reach out to Eric Ressler @ [email protected]
Website: designbycosmic.com
Nonprofit Fundraising Strategies: Tips for Running an Effective Campaign
Are you looking to raise more money for your nonprofit and bolster your fundraising strategies?
When you run a nonprofit, knowing how to get money from your supporters should consist of one of your chief goals. Many nonprofits become born out of care for certain needs in the world, yet they can’t exist without a solid marketing plan. You need effective fundraising strategies to get the money you need to continue your initiatives and keep your talent.
So, how do you go about getting the proper funding? We’ll go into nonprofit fundraising strategies below. Keep reading to bring in more money for your cause today!
1. Use a Professional Mass Email Service
You may have a great mission, but you won’t attract many donations if your emails don’t look professional. Even if you run a small nonprofit, professionalism inspires confidence in you and your organization.
In turn, this prompts less hesitation about giving. When people believe you operate in a professional manner, they may trust you with more of their funds.
But how do you ensure your emails maintain a professional appearance? Get a mass email service. These platforms allow you to store your contacts’ information and even provide templates you can edit with your own text. This gives your emails a professional look.
2. Use More Than One Platform
If you just advertise your cause via email, you likely aren’t getting the most money you can. Instead, you should seek to get funds from other platforms as well.
You should start out by having a donation page on your website. Make sure people can navigate to this page from any other page on your site. Your donors should have the ability to find it without much effort.
You can also put donation buttons on each of your blog posts or news updates. This encourages people to give to causes after reading about them.
Some people even advertise their causes on social media. To do this, create posts targeted to raising money for specific causes and include links to donate.
3. Create Nonprofit Fundraising Strategies
You shouldn’t create random fundraising opportunities. Instead, fundraising works best when it gets planned out in detail. As such, you should dedicate much of your marketing endeavors toward creating nonprofit fundraising strategies that work for you.
How do you customize your own strategies? A lot of it involves doing research on how well different types of strategies work with your donor base. Any time you try something new, make sure you look at how well people received your new endeavor by viewing your analytics. The best working attempts will result in more donations, shares, or donor interactions.
Then, once you have an idea of what works well, incorporate it into your fundraising strategy.
4. Plan Out Fundraising Campaigns
Fundraising campaigns should comprise a lot of your fundraising strategy.
But what is a fundraising campaign? Think of them as a multi-component attempt to raise money for a specific cause. Fundraising campaigns harness the power of sending email messages to highlight your mission and the initiatives you want your donor base to give to.
For these, you shouldn’t send out one message. Rather, plan out several that build upon each other and encourage your donors to give.
To get the best results, you should start out with a soft launch of your campaign. These launches target only your committed donors. Ask them for feedback on the campaign and pay attention to the issues they raise. Then, you should implement these changes to your campaign before you send it to the rest of your email list.
You should also create thank you notes to send out to people who donate!
5. Know About Prime Fundraising Seasons
Did you know you can maximize your profits by launching campaigns at certain times of the year?
In particular, people like to give before the end of the year because they can claim their donations on their tax forms. Giving Tuesday kicks off this season. It lands on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, when people follow Black Friday and Cyber Monday with an opportunity to give. You should always start your end-of-the-year campaign on Giving Tuesday.
Then, send messages throughout the month of December. Finish the campaign with a last chance message toward the end of the month, and then follow up with a thank you statement in January.
You can also run fundraising campaigns around holidays.
6. Use Specific Stories
People connect to stories. A well-told story pulls on the heartstrings of your audience and convinces them that they should spend their money giving to your cause.
The more specific the story, the better. Telling the story of one specific beneficiary of your services shows people the impact a donation to your organization can have. These stories also encourage people to put themselves in someone else’s shoes, encouraging empathy and furthering their dedication to your cause.
7. Get Reviewed by a Nonprofit Financial Organization
People want to make sure their money goes to the cause to which they intended to give. Most nonprofits manage their money well, but some don’t, and so it becomes important to have documentation to show how you spend your donations.
To do this, get reviewed by a nonprofit financial organization. These companies focus on reviewing the finances of nonprofit organizations and making this information public for any potential donors. Then, when potential donors contact you asking how you spend your donations, you can send them to the organization’s website so they can view the information for themselves.
This gives your donors confidence in your ability to handle money well and not use it for purposes other than your cause.
Need Nonprofit Financial Services?
Nonprofit fundraising strategies become the crux of many nonprofit organizations. They enable them to raise money for the different initiatives they run and help them keep their lights on.
But you shouldn’t just fundraise and not manage your money. If you need financial assistance for your nonprofit, we offer a full team of accountants who can help you manage the funds you receive. Request a meeting today!
A Guide to Nonprofit Risk Management and Cybersecurity
We are living in an age that is characterized by risk. Every decision a company makes needs to take various risk factors into account. If you fail to properly consider risks through a risk assessment and risk management, it could be disastrous for your company.
One area in which non-profit organizations frequently miscalculate risk is cybersecurity. This article explains how you can secure your organization against various cyber threats.
What Is Risk Management?
Essentially, risk management involves trying to foresee what could go wrong for your organization. You then take measures to mitigate the risk. Of course, organizations don’t take measures against every conceivable risk. Instead, they evaluate each risk based on perceived likelihood and expected damage.
For example, consider an event such as a meteor hitting your office. The damage from this kind of event would be catastrophic, but it’s very unlikely that it would ever happen. Therefore, a risk management analysis would conclude that there’s no need to take measures against a meteor strike.
On the other hand, events like a fire happening on the premises are much more likely, and the damage from such an event could be just as severe. Therefore any reasonable risk management strategy would take fire into account.
Risk management looks at both intentional harms caused by malicious actors and accidental harms.
Cyber Risk Management
Some of the biggest risks you’ll face in nonprofit security are cyber threats. These kinds of threats involve harms caused by computers and computer network systems. Most organizations have robust and sensible risk management approaches when it comes to “real life” threats such as fires and earthquakes, but their approach to cyber risks is often lacking.
This is because digital technology has progressed so quickly in the last few decades. Risk management approaches have not had time to catch up. It doesn’t help that many people in management positions are not very knowledgeable about computers and the internet.
Unfortunately, this means that many nonprofit organizations take a reactive rather than a proactive approach to cybersecurity. You can’t afford to take this kind of approach to cybersecurity as threats like data breaches could have a devastating impact on your organization.
Data Security
As a nonprofit organization, one of the biggest cybersecurity threats you face is a breach of your data. Quite often, if data is stolen from your organization, it will mean you’re in violation of data privacy regulation. This could result in fines or other legal action against your organization. It could also have a negative impact on your reputation.
Your risk management strategy should involve reviewing your cybersecurity. This should be on the hardware and software level. For example, all employee workstations should have antivirus and firewall software installed. If you don’t have dedicated IT support staff at your company, you might consider working with a managed IT company.
Two-Factor Authentication
One of the best and most efficient ways to protect yourself against a data breach is to use some form of 2-factor authentication. Basically, this involves using a second device to verify your identity.
The most common form of 2-factor authentication is using a cell phone to verify who someone is who is attempting to log in. This is an effective security measure because it means a hacker who has the password of an employee still won’t be able to log in.
Consider setting up such a system to protect yourself against a data breach.
Consider Social Engineering
One mistake that organizations often make is that they focus all of their risk management on software protection. This is certainly important, but many cyber-attacks involve using social engineering to breach a system.
Social engineering involves using trickery and manipulation in order to breach a system. A firewall or antivirus software won’t be able to protect you against this kind of attack.
An example of a social engineering attack might be an attacker calling up someone at your company. They might then and convince them to give out their password. It might sound implausible, but it’s a lot easier than you might think.
Security Culture
Sadly, there is no straightforward solution for dealing with social engineering attacks. If you want to protect yourself against this kind of risk, you need to create a strong security culture in your organization.
This means that everyone in your organization takes security seriously and knows how to recognize cyber threats. A common way to achieve this is through seminars, presentations, and other activities.
With that said, you can’t just host a seminar on cybersecurity risks and call it a day. Cybersecurity is a constant process. To achieve a true security culture, employees need to have security on their minds at all times.
It helps to have a dedicated member of staff responsible for investigating potential cyber threats. Staff should report and all suspicious activity to this individual. This should be encouraged, even if the majority of reports are false positives.
Consider Shadow Security
Security culture is important, but pushing security too much can actually make your company less rather than more secure. When you implement excessive security policies, this results in what is known as shadow security.
Shadow security is when workers find the official security policy too restrictive. In response to this, they may adopt their own unofficial security methods.
This is problematic because most of your workers are probably not security experts. This means that they may inadvertently do things that could cause a data breach or some other threat.
To avoid this kind of behavior, you need to have an open dialogue with your employees. People may feel like the official policy is interfering with their ability to get work done. you may need to modify the policy to avoid workers taking matters into their own hands.
Risk Management Is Crucial
As you can see, risk management is crucial for running a nonprofit company. You need hardware and software solutions to keep your digital environment safe. You also need to develop a strong security culture in your organization.
If you want to learn more about running a nonprofit organization, check out our FAQs page.
Modern Fundraising: Community Centric Fundraising Movement
Your community is where your donor base resides, so it’s time you start understanding it more. Listen to our podcast to find out how!
Scaling Your Nonprofit: Moving from a Solo Operating to a Team with Travis Johnson
Your nonprofit organization is only as strong as its weakest link. And if your nonprofit was previously a solo operation, and now more recently evolving to a team, then you need to know the importance of scaling.
Every nonprofit will have to determine what and when they need to scale itself as an organization. When expanding your organization, you need to consider important points like its infrastructure, budget, team members and even strategy as it relates to your mission. These are so important!
However, “scale” can mean many things. To ensure that you can grow your nonprofit through the most successful way possible, you need to ensure that your organization has certain structures in place that will make for a long-term future you can be proud of.
If you want to learn all there is about scaling your nonprofit, then you need to listen to this episode of A Modern Nonprofit Podcast. In this week’s episode, Travis D. Johnson of the Nonprofit Architect Podcast joins forces with Tosha Anderson of The Charity CFO for an in-depth discussion geared towards board members, charity leaders and aspiring nonprofit professionals.
LISTEN TO TRAVIS AND TOSHA DISCUSS HOW TO SCALE YOUR NONPROFIT HERE.
On this episode, the two converse about important questions such as:
- What do nonprofits need to scale so they can get paid?
- What processes need to be in place in order for this to happen?
- What is holding nonprofits back from taking these steps?
- Does this process work for solo operations?
- And more!
Travis Johnson is this week’s guest on A Modern Nonprofit Podcast!
It’s a great episode for any listener wanting to learn more about reaching your organizational growth goals and how scaling will effectively manage your expansion, if done correctly. You shouldn’t take on the challenges of the nonprofit sector alone! And fortunately, you don’t have to.
Here’s how podcast listeners like you are tackling challenges within the nonprofit sector
We’ve had many new listeners request a free consultation with Tosha and her team of expert, certified public accountants at The Charity CFO after recognizing that their organization’s structure and bookkeeping were in desperate need for improvement across a variety of areas. Our team performs outsourced accounting work for hundreds of nonprofits and we want to walk alongside your nonprofit to help you save money, modernize and truly achieve its mission. Check out our services here.
Aside from Tosha, Travis Johnson is the current host of The Nonprofit Architect, which is the only nonprofit podcast dedicated to giving you the actionable steps needed to build a stronger nonprofit. He has interviewed tons of nonprofit leaders, business leaders, and consultants in order to help you say no to more work and say yes to more donations. Check out his podcast series here.
Lastly, make sure you subscribe to both A Modern Nonprofit Podcast and The Nonprofit Architect! Hear something that stood out to you in this week’s episode? Share your thoughts with A Modern Nonprofit Facebook Group, which you can request to join here. There’s hundreds of nonprofit professionals conversing about topics and challenges they face across their organization. It’s one big, exciting think tank. Don’t miss out!
How Do We Classify Charities?
You probably know that there are many different charities with many different causes. In fact, you might be the founder or part of the leadership team for a nonprofit yourself!
Nonprofit organizations have a lot of causes and missions. But, we can get even more specific than that.
What Qualifies as a Section 501(c)(3) Organization?
Under Section501(c)(3) and the IRS, there are three main types of charities:
- Private Foundations
- Public Charities (most common)
- Private Operating Foundations
Private Foundations
According to the IRS, the difference between a private foundation and a charity has to do with the financial support it receives. Private foundations usually have a smaller donor audience and generate income from invested endowment funds. Then, they rely on this income to distribute grants to advance the nonprofit work of other organizations. An example of well-known private foundations include the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Public Charities (most common)
The most common type of 501(c)(3) is a public charity. Public charities can accept donations. These donations are tax-deductible. In fact, one can donate up to 50% of their income, while corporations/businesses may donate up to 10% before being taxed. Typically, pubic charities are governed by board members. Now, take a second to reflect: are you/are your board members working too hard on your accounting and bookkeeping? Are you, or someone on your board, trying to teach themselves accounting practices and specifics? You shouldn’t be trying to overwork yourself, nor feeling distracted from your mission. We encourage you to view our services and plans for outsourcing your nonprofit on our website, which can be found here.
Examples of public charities include churches, animal wellbeing agencies and educational organizations. What type of organization do you oversee? Share in the post comments of this article!
Private Operating Foundations
The last, and least common 501(c)(3) organization(s), is what we call a private operating foundation. Many see private operating foundations as a hybrid between a public charity and a private foundation. Both private foundations and private operating foundations aren’t criticized as much as other charitable foundations because donors have close ties to charities.
What Current/Future Board Members Need to Know about Charities
Board directors and other nonprofit leaders must be aware of specific laws that they might navigate alongside, or against, when working in the nonprofit sector. An insightful article from Nonprofit Hub outlines some key things your nonprofit shouldn’t do!
Next Steps for Charity Leaders
If you are ready to enhance, or begin, your nonprofit journey, we encourage you to check out A Modern Nonprofit Podcast, which is a weekly podcast series that The Charity CFO generates to help leaders, like you, maximize your mission. Also, make sure to check out A Modern Nonprofit Facebook Group, a community of leaders and professionals who converse about relevant topics every single day.
Strategic Planning vs Scenario Planning
Recognizing potential situations and environments your nonprofit may encounter in the future, and determining how your organization should react, are important towards its long-term success. To build a successful nonprofit, one must learn the importance of nonprofit strategic and scenario planning.
While these two terms sound similar, they are fundamentally different. Quickly, strategic planning typically focuses on identifying and/or describing likely futures, then developing a plan that allows an organization to succeed. Similarly, scenario planning process tends to explore the uncertainty involved in analyzing a long- term future.
But, you shouldn’t just rely on the short paragraph above as your information, or all that you need to know for your nonprofit.
You should rely (and listen) to the latest episode of A Modern Nonprofit Podcast if you want to learn everything you need to know about strategic and scenario planning.
LISTEN TO EMILIE AND TOSHA DISCUSS NONPROFIT STRATEGIC AND SCENARIO PLANNING ON A MODERN NONPROFIT PODCAST HERE!
On this episode, Dr. Emilie Socash, CEO of Nonprofit Help Center, to talk with Tosha Anderson, founder and CEO of The Charity CFO, to review this important topic. Some questions covered during the episode include:
- What’s the difference between scenario planning and strategic planning
- What’s unique about the scenario planning process for nonprofits (vs. for-profits)?
- What does the scenario planning process look like? Is there just one way to do it? Does it require a specific skill set?
- Can you give an example of how a nonprofit has effectively used scenario planning?
- And more!
Make sure to subscribe to A Modern Nonprofit Podcast and share our episode to your nonprofit, professional network to get the word out about the helpful tips and tricks shared during this nonprofit-oriented series!
Dr. Emilie Socash is the CEO of Nonprofit Help Center, and also joins Tosha Anderson on A Modern Nonprofit Podcast!
So, you’ve listened to A Modern Nonprofit Podcast. Now what?
Nonprofit organizations—and the people who lead them—bring unique value to our communities, particularly during times of challenging change. The Nonprofit Help Center delivers a leader-focused suite of services that are grounded in organizational and leadership psychology, delivering transformational and long-lasting change where it’s needed most. Is your organization looking to build itself into an organization that can truly succeed? Become a NHC member today, which includes full access to all live and pre recorded webinars, special member resources, and a discount on coaching!
Visit the Nonprofit Help Center Website to learn more.
And if you want to build your organization, you need to focus on the work that matters. That means you shouldn’t have to spend your nights and weekends completing financial paperwork, performing bookkeeping tasks or learning nonprofit accounting jargon. You need to outsource your accounting, and ensure you have a team of certified public accountants who actually know nonprofits.
If this sounds like your nonprofit and your own needs, then you should consider us, The Charity CFO. Discover what bookkeeping and accounting services we can provide your organization, then schedule a free consultation with us to start your journey.
Benefits of Having Nonprofit Accounting Services
Is your nonprofit organization finding the mountain of accounting paperwork stifling? For a nonprofit organization, accounting can often take a lot of much-needed time away from achieving its mission. If this sounds like you, then you need to know how nonprofit accounting can transform your workflow.
Removing the burden of budgets and preparing reports can give your workforce newfound freedom. Read on for our guide on the benefits of nonprofit accounting services.
Nonprofit Accounting Services Can Monitor Financial Visibility
When managing the finances of a nonprofit, the deficit between transactions and the appearance of money in a ledger can be a long time. While a transaction may happen once or twice in a month, it may take a while for it to register on your books.
Nonprofit accounting services can ensure that transaction entry is entered promptly. Done in real-time, this makes the planning of a budget easier and more transparent.
Security
Security in your accounts, either from external or internal factors, is often overlooked. Malicious attacks and the theft of information are a real threat to any nonprofit, that needs to be taken seriously.
You should already have an IT department, who can monitor your network for suspicious activity. By having a designated accounting service, you also have someone who can make sure financial information is secure. The accountancy team can observe in macro to see if details change or things do not look right.
By having dedicated accounting services, you also limit the number of people on your staff who have access to finances. For most nonprofits, they have a choice to let almost everyone or hardly anyone view their finances. Accounting services can facilitate transparency while also monitoring access.
They Can Track Grants
If you are tracking grants, it can become confusing and messy, particularly if you have applied for multiple ones. They may all be at different stages or require different actions, such as submissions, at various times of the year. You also need to be in regular contact with the grantors, to see where you stand on getting the grant itself.
All of this can lead to financial instability as you wait to hear the news. If you have other jobs to work on, grant tracking can often become lost in the workload.
Specialist nonprofit accounting can track all grants for you. It will use either a designated tracking method for grants via software or have someone to deal with your cases. This will allow prompt communications, applications, and updates.
Up to Date Compliance
Accounting principles for all businesses are set by the Financial Accounting Standards Board. Very often, these can change quickly. If you happen to miss them and account incorrectly, then it can be costly.
Having a dedicated nonprofit accounting team will mean you do not have to check for these updates. As professionals, they will keep abreast of any changes put out by the FASB.
Digital Services
A dedicated team for your finances will have specialist accounting for nonprofit organization software. These will not only track and record finances but track applications and workflows. This can result in the creation of automated processes that make the whole system much easier to use for you and your team.
You will no longer have to rely on reams of paper and receipts. Records can be stored digitally and archived without the need for bulky physical records.
Quick Data Access
Financial updates need to happen on an almost daily basis. It is no longer enough to get a monthly financial report. In a nonprofit organization, where income is not a steady turnover, then a month can be a long time.
To run your organization you need access to accounts quickly. Nonprofit accounting can produce reports that include all the information you need. Budget, expenses, donor reporting, grant reporting, and cash balances can be produced almost instantaneously.
Once you have this, you can make better assessments and decisions on a daily basis. You will be able to make better management choices and inspire confidence in your donors.
Tax Reporting
Tax reporting for nonprofit accounting is complex. This is to ensure non-profits are not acting fraudulently, and that tax exemption applied to nonprofits is not used in an incorrect manner. This makes the whole process, especially for small businesses, hard to complete.
As your accounts will also be in the public domain, it is important that you get this whole process right. Doing it yourself can take a lot of time, and even then you may get it wrong. Nonprofit accounting services will be able to use their experience to get this done quickly and efficiently.
Financial Experience
Your organization may have someone trained in accounting or with some background in it. However, for most small nonprofits this is not the reality. This means inexperienced people are left finding their way with accountancy.
You may also have board members who are well-known professionals. Very often they will have hired accounts to do that aspect of the job for them. Having professional financial accounts can provide them with the level of accuracy they need to make the right decisions.
Getting the Right Service
Now you know the benefits of nonprofit accounting services, you need to locate the correct company. Do not opt for standard accounting services. Nonprofits have a unique specialism and set of rules that require expert assistance and knowledge.
Your first stop should be Charity CFO. We bridge the gap between the accounting you need and the accounting you can afford. Contact us here to discuss specialist accounting services for your nonprofit.
From a Nonprofit CEO: How to Understand Your Financials
Nonprofit financial statements, reports and jargon are the key to ensuring your organization, or business, can operate at its full strength. Thus, it is important that you can understand financials- which involves reading, creating, editing and analyzing your financial reports.
Financial reports will shine light as to how much money your organization operates with, how much donations you received and how much your staff are making. Understanding these numbers is especially important when tax season rolls around!
To better help nonprofit leaders and CEOs understand their financials, Tosha Anderson of The Charity CFO invited Sara Lahman of Annie Malone Children and Family Services on A Modern Nonprofit Podcast.
Sara Lahman of Annie Malone is this week’s A Modern Nonprofit guest!
Previously an Assistant Vice President of Residential Treatment Services with Great Circle, Sara knows a lot about helping the community. And as the CEO of an organization with a very influential mission, she knows how important nonprofit finances are.
If you want to learn how to understand nonprofit finances to help your nonprofit thrive, then you need to subscribe and listen to the latest A Modern Nonprofit Podcast episode!
LISTEN TO SARA AND TOSHA DISCUSS FINANCIALS ON A MODERN NONPROFIT PODCAST HERE!
Some of the topics the two discuss include:
- Differences between being the head of a program vs. head of an entire organization
- Tips and tricks to understand numbers
- The most important thing(s) a nonprofit leader should know about their financials
- Strategies to improve financial knowledge for beginners
- And more!
Don’t forget to subscribe to our podcast for future episodes, as there’s tons of more exciting content coming your way!
So, you’ve listened to the most recent episode of A Modern Nonprofit Podcast. Now what?
Everything that Annie Malone does is aimed at ‘Making Lives Better’ for the children and families they serve. As a premier organization that provides a diverse array of services advancing the quality of life for children, families, and communities, Sara Lehman and her team at Annie Malone play a vital role in their community. To learn more about Sara’s organization and to support their mission, make sure to visit their website here.
For individuals who might have realized you’re in over your head with your nonprofit financials, then you are not alone. Have you considered outsourcing your bookkeeping and accounting? Check out the services and pricing that The Charity CFO has to offer, and get the help you need to ensure your financials are not only up-to-date, but efficient and modernized.
Fortunately, you’re not alone if you are struggling to understand nonprofit financials. That’s why Tosha and her team created A Modern Nonprofit Facebook group, which is filled with insightful comments, posts and discussions from industry leaders. The best part? It’s completely free to join this inclusive community! Learn more and join today using this Facebook link.
When to Look for Expert Nonprofit Accounting Services
When you are a nonprofit organization, finding expert nonprofit accounting services may not be high on your to-do list. Surely there are more important things to focus on instead of focusing on accounting, especially because your organization’s goal is not to make more profit?
In reality, nonprofit organizations can benefit a lot from nonprofit accounting. This article will go through the scenarios when you would need to look for expert nonprofit accounting services.
1. You Need to Consider COVID-19 Implications
The pandemic has resulted in a lot of changing regulations and greater overall uncertainty regarding the finances and accounting requirements of a firm. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which was passed in March 2020, affects nonprofits as well.
For organizations with less than 500 employees, you can have access to small business administration (SBA) loans or loan forgiveness. You can also access emergency economic injury disaster loans (EIDL) grants and employee retention credits.
For larger organizations with more than 500 employees, you can only access employee retention credits and EIDL grants.
The eligibility criteria and the need to report benefits from the CARES Act will mean that you can benefit from having expert accounting services providing you with greater insight. They are a lot more knowledgeable on how the CARES Act will change what you report on your statements, and they will ensure that your financial reports will accurately reflect the adjustments while complying with regulations.
At the same time, other COVID-19 considerations can cause an accounting headache for your nonprofit. For instance, you may experience modifications in the number of liabilities you have or will need some guidance with the ongoing financial concerns of your nonprofit.
The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented situation, and responding to accounting rule changes can be a challenge for everyone. By relying on an accounting service, you can rest well knowing that your audits and bookkeeping are all up to par.
2. You Find it Hard to Manage Cash Flow
Managing cash flow in a nonprofit can be more difficult or unstructured than a typical company. At the same time, it’s an important thing to consider, because you need that money to keep your organization going. You will therefore be able to benefit from nonprofit accounting, which aims to both manage and improve your cash flow.
A common challenge that nonprofits face is that their greatest cash flow only happens in certain seasons or months in a year, which means they will have to allocate this money throughout the less profitable months. By taking the time to properly plan your cash flow and ensure your balances will remain positive, you will need to spend a lot of time evaluating your finances and your budget.
An accounting service can analyze the existing financial information to understand where you get most of your revenues and benefits, and whether this is enough to sustain operations for a certain period of time. They can also pinpoint risk areas, where you may be spending too much or where you may be liable to losing a lot of money.
The information they gather will allow you to make well-informed decisions regarding your cash flow.
3. You Need Better Staffing and Payroll Strategies
Payroll management is a headache for any company, and it is a particularly challenging aspect of running operations for a nonprofit. Nonprofits are usually motivated by passion, so matters of staffing changes or payroll requirements can be a bit awkward to focus on. What happens, for instance, if there are some incredibly loyal staffers who are also becoming financially burdensome?
An accounting service can provide some insight into this area by identifying cost-effective strategies and the financial impact of having a certain amount of staff members. While it may not be the easiest thing to consider, expert accounting services will be able to pinpoint areas where you will have to cut costs to ensure that your organization can succeed in its endeavors.
At the same time, you will benefit from speaking with an accountant before hiring someone new so that you can understand how this will impact your financial position in the long run.
4. You Have Difficulty Tracking Revenues
As a nonprofit organization, the way you receive revenues will be very different from the orthodox method of selling products for profit. Your revenue will come from donations and grants more than anything else. The accounting process will be different for you, but it is just as important so that you can manage cash flow and understand your company’s financial position.
By having nonprofit accounting services helping you out, they will be able to maintain accurate and updated financial records which track all the revenues you receive. This ensures that you have a sound knowledge of how well your company is doing, and also prevents the possibility of you presenting inaccurate data in your financial reports.
Tracking this information will also be important in ensuring you continue receiving grants in the future.
Situations When You Need Nonprofit Accounting Services
As a nonprofit, you can benefit a lot from accessing nonprofit accounting services. Your accounting needs may be unique, and you may not be profit-motivated, but managing your finances is essential to ensure your organization survives.
Nonprofit accounting services can provide assistance if you need help with COVID-19 considerations, if you find it hard to manage cash flow, if you need better staffing strategies or if you have difficulty in tracking your revenues.
Contact us today for expert accounting services for nonprofits.
How Nonprofit Accounting Services Can Help You Succeed
Did you start your nonprofit because you love number-crunching?
Or was it because you have a passion for helping those in need and serving your community?
Most nonprofit directors wish they could focus on relationships, not finances. However, professional accounting help can seem intimidating at first. How do you know when it’s time to transition to professional accounting?
Are you wondering whether nonprofit accounting services are worth it? If so, this article is for you. Read on to learn how specialized accounting services can help your nonprofit succeed.
Lets You Focus on Your Nonprofit
If you founded or joined a growing nonprofit, there are likely many ways you want to give your time. You’re busy hosting galas, networking with your supporters, and doing charity work.
As your organization grows, its finances grow too. Success makes your nonprofit more complex. That means you’ll need to devote more time to financial administration.
Does the financial work take your attention away from your organization? If so, it may be time to seek professional accounting support.
After all, a professional accountant can look after the books. Only you can lead your nonprofit.
Choose the Services You Need
There are two main types of financial administration. Your organization will need both: bookkeeping and accounting.
As a nonprofit, you may be able to fill one of these roles with volunteers. You may find someone to donate their skill to cover a few of these tasks. Every nonprofit has unique resources, and unique needs as well.
That’s why nonprofit accounting services are flexible. They allow you to decide whether you need to outsource some or all of your financial management. This makes professional accounting more affordable as well.
Bookkeeping Services for Nonprofits
A bookkeeper manages the daily financial interactions of your organization, including:
- Accepting and recording donations
- Paying out bills
- Managing banking deposits
- Allocating and recording expenses
- Executing payroll
Many nonprofits manage these tasks in-house. This works well if they don’t overwhelm your time. You may even divide these tasks among your employees for convenience.
However, as your organization grows, your daily financial tasks increase as well. You may find that they put increasing demands on you and your staff’s attention.
Don’t overlook the dangers of assigning bookkeeping to financially untrained staff. Innocent bookkeeping mistakes can reflect badly on your organization.
If your staff is spending its time on financial tasks instead of charitable work, it’s the right time to seek professional accounting services.
Accounting Services for Nonprofits
Accounting involves analyzing your organization’s financial health. It gives an in-depth look at your nonprofit’s transactions and financial history.
CPA services (chartered professional accountants) include:
- Making sure your expenses and income stay in balance
- Planning an annual budget
- Analyzing expenditures
- Preparing your year-end financial report
- Evaluating your organization’s overall financial wellbeing
Some of these services can be conducted in-house if you have accounting-trained employees (or volunteers). However, they are time-consuming, especially for non-professionals.
A specialized accountant can administer your accounts faster and more accurately than non-professionals. You will need an independent accountant to perform your mandatory yearly audit (see more below).
Navigate Nonprofit-Specific Issues
Nonprofit organizations have different financial inner workings than businesses. They face unique financial challenges and unique financial requirements as well.
A nonprofit accounting service understands these differences. It can help your organization navigate the special financial requirements you will face.
Nonprofit Audits
Most United States nonprofits are required to have a yearly financial audit. This audit must be conducted by an independent party. Some states require proof of a financial audit before granting registered nonprofit status.
A transparent yearly audit assures donors that your nonprofit is financially responsible. It gives the stamp of integrity to a charity.
However, nonprofit finances are different than for-profit businesses. Their financial audits have to be conducted differently as well. That’s why it’s essential to choose a nonprofit auditor who can analyze your nonprofit finances.
Nonprofit Taxes and Tax Reports
Keeping track of revenue in a nonprofit is always a challenge. Nonprofit revenue streams can include:
- Personal donations
- Fundraising drives
- Honoraria
- Membership fees
- Public grants
- Private foundations
- Monthly contributions
With such diverse income streams, nonprofits often struggle to account for their income.
Your organization needs to report your income accurately. Otherwise, you could incur penalizations.
You may also need professional help when it comes to registering for your 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. Professional accounting services can help in both these areas.
Are Nonprofit Accounting Services Worth It?
Nonprofits often start very small. When is the right time to spend money on outsourcing your accounting tasks?
First, think about how much time your staff currently spends on accounting and bookkeeping.
Time is money, even in the nonprofit sphere. If your staff spends excessive time on finances, you are already spending money on accounting.
Second, think about the quality of your financial management. Do-it-yourself solutions may seem attractive in the short term. In the long term, however, inexpert bookkeeping can make your organization seem unprofessional.
Most importantly, consider the quality of your charity work. Is your staff so busy with administrative work that they don’t have time for your mission? When you spread yourself too thin to do your charity work, it’s time to get accounting support.
Accounting Services For Your Nonprofit
Your nonprofit may have started small. However, it may quickly outgrow your financial administration abilities. If your finances need more time than you can give to them, it’s time to get a professional solution.
Is your organization ready for nonprofit accounting services? Contact us today to schedule your free consultation.
How to Raise Donations with Online Marketing, featuring Jeff Roman of EPIC Agency
For years, nonprofit fundraising has been quietly evolving. Specifically, industry professionals have been watching as it moved further and further online. And in 2020, the COVID pandemic accelerated this process, ultimately changing your options as a not-for-profit leader to raise donations.
Jeff Roman of EPIC Agency is this week’s A Modern Nonprofit guest!
Such a drastic change has forced fundraising practices to transform into digital endeavors. That’s why Tosha Anderson, founder & CEO of The Charity CFO, invited Jeff Roman, founder & president of EPIC Agency onto A Modern Nonprofit Podcast. In this informative episode, the two cover topics like:
- Why digital marketing is so important for nonprofits and their fundraising goals
- How to maximize social media to help spread awareness about your organization
- Understanding the power of social media, trending topics and hashtags for nonprofit social media channels
- Tips new nonprofits can implement to help them achieve best brand
- And more!
LISTEN TO JEFF ROMAN AND TOSHA ANDERSON DISCUSS ONLINE MARKETING FOR RAISING DONATIONS EPISODE HERE!
For listeners of A Modern Nonprofit Podcast
Are you looking for a team of specialists who can deploy integrated solutions that seamlessly connect with your target audience, create world-class content to highlight your organization, strengthen and develop new revenue channels, help you increase platform visibility, sell your products and services, or promote a cause or mission well? If so, then you are in luck. EPIC Agency is here to serve you. If you’re interested, feel free to get in touch with one of their partners will contact you about beginning the proposal process. Make sure to check them out!
And for individuals looking for specialized, cost-efficient nonprofit bookkeeping and accounting services, look no further than Tosha Anderson of The Charity CFO. With more than 10 years of experience in the not-for-profit sector, Tosha knows what it takes to have financial thought leadership. So, stop working late nights and doing the books yourself. Get an expert team of certified public accountants to help you, all at a price you can afford.
Schedule a free consultation with Tosha to start your bookkeeping journey.
Keep up with A Modern Nonprofit Podcast
Want to stay up to date with all the latest and greatest that A Modern Nonprofit Podcast has to offer? Make sure to subscribe to the podcast series so you don’t miss a beat.
Also, if you’re not already part of A Modern Nonprofit Facebook Group, you don’t know what you’re missing out on. It’s a great community of nonprofit and industry leaders who converse in an open space that encourages collaboration and learning. Request to join here!
A Founder’s Story: High School Student turned CNN Hero
Zachary Wigal is an avid gamer, hard rock devotee, traveler, sporadic bookworm, and racing enthusiast from southeast Michigan. And now, as the founder of Gamers Outreach Foundation, his life is split between Ann Arbor and Los Angeles.
His nonprofit organization helps kids cope with long-term medical treatment by providing gaming hardware and software to hospitals. From a bunch of high school kids with an interest in hosting video game tournaments, to helping thousands of children per year in hospitals, Gamers Outreach has evolved since its founding. The organization’s vision has since evolved to ensure children in hospitals everywhere have access to relief and activities.
LISTEN TO ZACHARY WIGAL AND TOSHA ANDERSON ON A MODERN NONPROFIT PODCAST HERE!
Zachary’s vision and unique nonprofit experience is what prompted Tosha Anderson, founder & CEO of The Charity CFO, to join her on A Modern Nonprofit Podcast. In the latest episode of this widely-informative series, the two discuss:
- How to target unique donors and volunteers
- The power of social media and marketing for nonprofits
- Changing leadership styles of nonprofit founders and enthusiasts
- Hacks to effectively managing a small team
- Advice to newbie nonprofits
- And more!
If you’re looking for a compelling story and want to be inspired to achieve more with your not-for-profit organization, then you’re in luck! Don’t forget to subscribe to A Modern Nonprofit Podcast for more content, stories and insight.
Additional Notes for Listeners
Interested in helping others level up? You can make a difference for your fellow hospitalized gamers too. Join Zachary’s quest to provide kids in hospitals with access to play through the power of video games by visiting the Gamers Outreach webpage. You can also follow Zachary and the entire Gamers Outreach crew on Twitter.
And if you’re looking to maximize your nonprofit’s mission as it relates to improving your accounting and bookkeeping, then you are in luck. Tosha and her team of expert accountants at The Charity CFO provide specialized bookkeeping services for nonprofits of all shapes and sizes. Visit our website to learn more about the unique opportunity to walk alongside our boutique, nonprofit-centered accounting firm.
