Posts Tagged ‘Budget’

Publishing the Nonprofit Annual Report: Tips, Traps, and Tricks of the Trade by Caroline Taylor

“As the former CEO of an educational nonprofit whose heart sank at the sound of the words ‘we have to put together the annual report,’ I now make only one recommendation-Buy this book and do what it says.” —John Agresto, president, John Agresto & Associates, former deputy chairman, National Endowment for the Humanities

“At last, a book that helps nonprofit associations produce annual reports on time, on budget, and on target for their audiences.” —J. D. Andrews, chairman, the Council for Professional Recognition

“Timely, relevant, and thorough-every nonprofit that publishes annual reports should have this book, and those that don’t should heed its counsel. We’ll certainly recommend it to our clients.” —George A. Brakeley III, president, Brakeley, Inc.

“Chock full of useful information for nonprofits from small to large. In the course of describing the production process from conceptualization through distribution, Taylor shows how this vital communications tool can be published economically and on time.” —David Slater, director of communications, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation

I think when we hear free coming from a business we think there is a catch to it, and while there can be, it isn’t always the case.

On Wednesdays from 10:30am to 11:30am, I have blocks of 15-minute time slots set aside for people to use to ask questions about the start-up process for creating a nonprofit. While this event has had some attention, I am hoping that every Wednesday for that hour I’ll be completely busy answering questions. I truly want to help you get started. There’s a lot to consider when starting a nonprofit, and it is all doable. I’m here to encourage you, and if you decide you want to use my services to start your nonprofit that’s absolutely fine too!

So, I thought I would share a question that I answered from one of the calls I’ve had so far. Perhaps this will give you an idea of what to ask as you consider your nonprofit vision.

What percentage of overhead should be included in your budget?
As I stated in an earlier post Budget-Fudge It, your budget needs to be thought through careful and absolutely realistic. If it will cost you more in overhead than the program itself, you need to show that clearly in your budget and you program documentation. This is where an accountant would be instrumental in helping you filter through the finances of this organization creation.

Take the time to Interview several accountants, if you don’t have one. Make sure to let them know you are creating a nonprofit. Find out if they have worked with a nonprofit before, and just how familiar are they with the 990 form. (This a special form that you’ll have to fill out for taxes as a nonprofit.)

If you need recommendations for accountants, here are a few places to try for referrals: 1) Local Chamber of Commerce, 2) Local Business Network International (BNI) group, 3) referral from family or friends, and 4) referral from other business owners.

Remember, if you have a question regarding your start-up nonprofit, please select a time during my free office hours on Wednesday from 10:30am to 11:30am, and get an answer!

Every business needs a plan; therefore, you are encouraged
to create a business plan. Then you need a way to ensure that that plan is
implemented, this is where strategic planning comes into play. Strategic
planning, in simplest terms, is the process of taking your business plan and
making it into action items. Identifying what you’ll spend time accomplishing
in order to meet your business plan objectives.

You need a few tools as you start to create your strategic
plan, they are:

·        
Personnel roster – know who is on your team and
what their skillsets include. You’ll create jobs for personnel, and need to
know what job is best suited for that individual.

·        
Calendars – make measurable milestones. At the
end of this process there should be a timeline with clear milestones as ways
for you to measure the success of the process.

·        
Time – allow yourself, and your staff, time to
develop this plan. Many organizations make an event out of strategic planning
by having an office retreat, or conference, and spend at least 8 full hours
working on it.

·        
Creativity hat – this is an opportunity to think
outside the box. If you’ve had an idea that you’ve wanted to try, now is the
time to share and brainstorm more innovative ways to reach your target market.

·        
Open mind – this goes hand in hand with being
creative. All ideas should be considered as this fosters sharing.

·        
Physical tools – there are some actual tools you
should have around the room during a retreat, such as: paper, pens, poster
pages, markers, tape, and the mission statement should be posted everywhere.

·      
Your mission statement is a key element to
accomplishing anything for your organization. Every staff person should clearly
know the mission statement. It should be reiterated in every activity. So, have
it posted clearly.

While it isn’t mentioned as an essential component, it
should be, there should be a facilitator present. The facilitator should be a
non-staff person as they will be the most objective. Their job will be to keep
the conversation moving forward. They are not there to control the
conversation, but to ensure that everyone gets an opportunity to join in and
share. It should be a safe place for people.

Strategic planning can happen whenever you deem it
necessary. If you take time to do this before you start looking at next year’s
budget, then you can perhaps add new ideas into your funding process. This will
give your strategic planning more of a business development approach, and your
creativity and new business strategies will really come into play. Now, if you
decide to do your strategic planning at the beginning of a new fiscal year, you
may not have the opportunity to manipulate the budget; therefore, you’ll have
to make sure your new business development stays within your allotted budget for
each department. As you can see there is no right or wrong time to do strategic
planning, and no one will say you can only do it once a year. However, as I’ve
already mentioned, it is imperative that you 
keep in mind that strategic planning is directly tied into your budget.

Here’s
a resource that I found that may be helpful as you are walking through this
process. If you need a referral for a facilitator, please contact me as I
know several.