In preparation for the September webinar, we present this blog post from the National Council of Nonprofits on building a better budget.
“We’re going for a strategic process that helps you plan – not just taking last year’s numbers and updating them. We encourage nonprofits to look a few years ahead and take a multi-year approach because that will result in a better budget.
(One of the myths about budget is) that they are static, and that they are for one-year only. Better budgets are flexible … and they are also forward looking and multi-year, so they can accurately reflect not only multi-year funding sources, but also projects that extend beyond one fiscal year. Also, if you start from scratch (we call this a “zero-based budget”), you can think about what you really need to make a program or activity successful. What would it cost if you built it from the ground up? Don’t be bound by last year’s budget.”
And, if that didn’t cheer you up about your budgeting process, here is a fascinating video interview from Nonprofit Quarterly about financial failures and what can go wrong, complete with links to case studies of nonprofits that went under (some spectacularly) for budget mistakes or malfeasance. Sometimes you just need a little motivation to pay attention to your budget process instead of just trying to endure it.
Please join Johan on Wednesday September 20th from 4-5pm for a full update on nonprofit budgeting for IT.
