Posts in category: Uncategorized

In the past four years, I’ve built a business from absolutely nothing to serving dozens of clients around the globe every month and creating a sustainable lifestyle and income for my growing family.

It hasn’t always been easy and I haven’t done it alone. As a Type A, Enneagram 3 (“The Achiever”) it’s hard for me to ask for or accept any type of help. I’m fiercely independent and my natural instinct is to go it alone (true story: I asked multiple college professors to do group projects by myself, citing a myriad of reasons but mostly just preferring to work alone).

When my daughter was a newborn, I hated accepting meals from family and friends (like, I can’t handle feeding myself?) but learned that I needed the help and couldn’t have been more grateful to have hot, homemade meals available when I was so exhausted. I felt weird about hiring a biweekly cleaning service for my home because I physically CAN clean my own house, but the relief I felt at not seeing my dog’s hair tumbleweed-ing across my kitchen floor every day and not spending my precious limited hours doing it myself are invaluable.

I cannot run a balanced life or business alone.

But the absolute biggest game-changer for me has been hiring a coach.

Four years ago, I had never built a business before and had absolutely no clue what I was doing. I wanted someone to help me get on the fast track – to have a full client roster and a full pipeline at all times. My coach has provided practical, strategic advice on business stuff and has helped me get past mental roadblocks too.

Our relationship has been so much more than a one-and-done course or conference where I forget everything once I get back to real life.

Coaching has provided…

A community. A coach becomes a tribe to reach out to, no matter how challenging my day, and seek advice, support, or encouragement. She’s been there and done that in a way that my team hasn’t. I’ve been given the confidence and clarity to make the toughest and most important decisions for my business and life with this tribe behind me. My coach has built an intentional network for herself and has generously shared not only her skills but her contacts to help my own business grow. Community over competition.

Accountability. It’s so easy to toss ideas around in our heads while driving to the office or chatting with our spouse, then let the ideas disappear into the ether. My coach has helped me turn those ideas into reality. For example, I’d thought for months about adding to my team but my Type A, control freak nature held me back. Once I told my coach about this idea, she provided the push I needed to make it happen. And she was right there for the virtual high-fives when I reported back that my team had tripled.

Fresh perspective. My coach gave me the permission and ability to think bigger. Left to our own devices, we are all inclined to play small. We move slower than we could and think we can’t do as much as we truly can. Now, I’m not advocating for pushing yourself beyond your natural limits or breaking yourself in the process, but when I envisioned my business model looking the exact same in five years from now, I knew I was playing small. When I think about the value of my coaching investment, I used to try and come up with a dollar amount ROI. I took the amount of money I spent and then think about the value I received. Well, I got a couple clients so that’s X amount, and I was able to launch a course which will make Y amount, so I guess it was a good deal.

But I realized that my coach has given me something so, so, so invaluable.

I now have the confidence and skill to think bigger than I ever have, and I’m pretty sure you can’t place a price tag on that.

1. Are you on the list? In our next email, I’m diving headfirst into the super awesome thing I’m launching starting early August 2019! You REALLY don’t want to miss this.
2. Can’t wait until the next email? Find out more here!

Have you seen the pretty scary statement from the Nonprofit Times that “most charities are teetering on financial peril”? According to this 2018 study, 50% of organizations, created to do more good in the world and serve those in need, are disappearing, dissolving, or closing up shop on a regular basis which means that whatever need they were created to fill is still out there. Eight percent of organizations are currently operating in the red and 30% are on the verge.

Financial peril. That’s a strong statement, but one that hits home to many organizations.

I recently wrote an article about the five steps nonprofits should take to build financial sustainability, and avoid the stress of living paycheck to paycheck (or donation to donation). But what I got to thinking about was the WHY behind this.

Why are organizations operating on a shoestring when there is a world of abundance out there?

I believe it boils down to two things:

1. Scarcity mindset. Believing that there is only a limited pot of resources to go around, creating small fundraising goals and trying to cram our expenses (and impact!) into that goal.
2. Lack of a business growth mindset. Growth = survival, and when we play small we don’t grow.

Forbes published an article titled Eight Ways Nonprofit Managers Can Embrace A Growth Mindset and I love that these eight strategies all come from nonprofit leaders, people who understand our sector and have traded the scarcity mindset for one of growth and abundance.

Here are a couple of my favorite strategies:

1. Stay curious. When I go into a new organization and deep dive into their processes and procedures, especially as it relates to financial management, I hear the phrase “this is how we’ve always done it” far too often. Change (and growth, and impact!) doesn’t come by doing the same things the same way.
2. Keep your eyes on the future. “What are you doing today to ensure that you’ll still be here tomorrow? Strategizing and planning for increases, both financially and in terms of capacity, are critical success factors.” I love this because in order to ensure we will be here in 5, 10, 20 years, we need to make sure we have the balance sheet and income statement to support that. (Check out my article on five steps to nonprofit sustainability!)
3. Think like a business person. Know how to read your financial statements! Yes, yes, yes! (Want to be super savvy with your financials? Check out my article on insights hiding in your financial statements.)
4. Encourage the team to share your growth mindset. Yes! I always encourage organizations to adopt a collaborative strategic planning and budgeting process to allow the whole team to dream big AND understand the resources behind those big dreams. When the team is involved from the beginning, they are more invested and engaged in the process to making those dreams a reality! (Want to learn more about my collaborative strategic planning process? Find the article here.)
5. Invest in professional development. When things get tight, professional development is usually the first thing to get cut. But I’m pretty sure that it’s been proven to increase happiness and longevity of workers AND help the organization (I can’t provide any stats on this, so you’ll just have to trust my gut!) We have an online course in financial management over here which is perfect to help nonprofit leaders understand the ins and outs of managing the financials of a growing nonprofit. The best part is that it won’t blow your professional development budget AND the knowledge is transferable to everyone on your team! (Click here to Master Your Nonprofit Numbers!)

What do you think? How is your organization and leadership adopting a growth and abundance mindset? (Click over to Forbes for the whole article.)

PS – Are you ready to dive into a collaborative strategic planning process NOW? Remember, involving your team in your plans will lead to more engaged employees ALSO focused on growth! Grab our free strategic planning template here! >>>

If your fiscal year is the calendar year, October is the start of Q4 and when you should begin crafting your next year’s budget. Your budget is the road map to accomplishing your mission, growing your organization, and making a bigger impact, and without a detailed budget you will be lost.

To help you get started, I’ve put together a list of frequently asked questions about budgeting.

First, grab our Budget Checklist to ensure your organization is on track to make the biggest impact this year with a solid road-map!

Big Picture Budget Questions:

1. Do you have to have a break even budget? No! There is no nonprofit law that says you MUST have a break even budget or someone will revoke your 501(c)(3) status. It is generally understood (and the IRS says) that nonprofits exist to execute their mission, so your primary goal is not to generate massive profits that will pad someone’s pocket, but there are some important exceptions.
2. Can you budget for a surplus? Yes! As nonprofits, we are not out to make a profit that will be put into shareholders’ or CEO’s pockets, but we can budget a surplus and oftentimes, we SHOULD budget for a surplus. If we need to build up cash reserves to have at least six months of expenses in the bank to ensure sustainability, or we want to start a new program next year and need the extra cash flow, these are great reasons to budget for a surplus. This is one area where nonprofits should operate more like businesses, so be prepared to share your goals and intentions with your board and stakeholders.
3. Can you budget for a deficit? Again, yes, but with a few caveats. It’s certainly not a practice I would encourage on an annual basis if the reason you’re budgeting a deficit is simply because you are unable to bring in enough revenue to sustain your programs. That would be a cause for concern and a reason to take a deeper dive into the numbers. However, if you booked multi year revenue in one year and the expenses will catch up the following year, budgeting a deficit is perfectly okay. Again, do the analysis and ensure that your revenue stream is enough to keep the organization going without that bump in revenue, so you’re not just draining your cash.

Logistics of Preparing Your Budget:

1. When should you complete your budget? Ideally, you would have the budget approved and input into the accounting software by the first day of your fiscal year, so you can immediately begin reporting budget versus actuals to ensure you’re staying on track. Start by getting input and buy-in from your team, then approval from the board. Here is a great timeline to get you started!
2. How do you project next year’s budget? A great start is to look at this year’s actual numbers – both revenue and expenses – plus projections. So if you’re preparing your budget in October, look at January through September YTD numbers, PLUS October through December projections, to get a total estimate for the whole year. Then go from there. Maybe you know you will be expanding a program or adding a new staff member – add it in! Avoid contingency or “miscellaneous” line items and be as accurate and realistic as possible. Don’t forget to budget revenue too!
3. How do I analyze my budget draft? Once you’ve compiled your first draft of the budget, it’s time to step back and give it a thorough once-over. Add in variance amounts and percentages so you can see your projected growth or budget decrease. Do you have the resources to grow by as much as you’ve projected? Maybe we scale back and progressively grow over multiple years instead.

Budgeting season is a great time to step back and review your numbers from 30,000 feet. Does your budget align with your strategic plan? Do you have a solid plan in place to accomplish your goals? Dig deep – do you really need to budget that much for office supplies?

I love budgeting, my friends, and you can too. You will be amazed at how a well-made road-map next year will transform your organization by attracting more dollars and enhancing your mission impact.

Ready to dive in? Grab your Budget Checklist here to ensure that you’re on track for next fiscal year!

#budget #CFO #nonprofit #finance #consultant #strategicplan #strategy #planning #budgeting #mission #projections

The concept of “open book management” isn’t new, but it seems to be making a comeback recently due to years of corporate scandals and catastrophes. Investors and employees alike want to know who they’re supporting or working for and what’s going on behind the scenes, so CEOs are putting it all out there.

Allowing access to your most intimate (usually financial) data can be risky though. Often there are nuances or anomalies within the numbers that someone could easily misinterpret, causing even more distrust or concern than before they had that inner circle level access.

I’ve compiled a Transparency Tip Sheet to help you share your financials the RIGHT way. Download it here! >>

As a CFO, I LOVE sharing the financials with anyone and everyone – your employees, your board, your leadership team – so I’m a huge proponent of financial transparency. However, transparency is easy to get wrong when you share too much information without explanation, so I NEED to share three ways to be transparent the RIGHT way.

1. Begin by sharing strategy and goals. In order to execute the strategy and accomplish the goals, your people need to be on board with what you’re doing. Better than just sharing your strategic plan with a top-down approach, why not get everyone involved in the creation process? Hold roundtables, create working groups, and let everyone be a participant in the process to ensure buy-in. Without this background and investment in the strategy, the numbers you share will mean little.

2. Add context to the numbers. Sure, it’s easy to run a P&L and balance sheet and drop them into an email, or just forward your board documents to the organization. But the financial dexterity and comprehension of your team surely varies and many people won’t have the first clue on how to interpret the numbers. If you’re going to share, you must take the extra step to explain the numbers. Whether you send a dashboard with concise and clear talking points, or host a webinar or meeting to walk through the actions behind the numbers, this step is crucial. Bonus – this is great professional development for your employees!

3. Don’t leave out the negative stuff. Of course we all want to share the good – people get excited when we exceed our revenue numbers or land that multi-million dollar grant. But what happens when we miss our targets or severely exceed our expense budget? If you want to build trust, you still have to share the bad and the ugly. Worried that it will freak your people out? See above – add context to those numbers! For example, you missed your target because a funder’s board meeting got rescheduled, NOT because your organization is folding – and your people need to know that critical fact.

Are you ready to put it all out there? Grab our Transparency Tip Sheet to help you determine the Who/What/Where/When of sharing your numbers.

#strategicplan #strategicplanning #transparency #financialmanagement #financialstatements #finance #CFO

Let me clarify: Old school strategic plans are dead. Picture a bunch of old guys in suits sitting in a room, developing a plan for the next five years, which gets printed and put into three ring binders, and promptly filed on dusty bookshelves. THAT is dead.

The new strategic plan is filled with energy, creativity, ideas, vibrancy, and life. The new strategic plan lives on in our daily work lives but isn’t cumbersome. Most importantly, the new strategic plan encourages and generates results.

There are a ton of very good resources out there that talk about SWOT analyses and environmental scans, which are very important, but I’ve found very few resources that help organizations through the actual process and format of a plan that will be useful and results-oriented. So today’s post is intended to add to the strategic planning conversation so you can walk away with a plan that changes the world.

Do you need a strategic plan template for your organization? Download one here!

So how, exactly, does an organization ensure they have the new strategic plan instead of the crusty, old, dead plan? Check out my three part process:

1. Center your plan around a vision​

a. A good strategic plan is centered around an organizational objective, or vision. The vision is big picture, long term, change the world type thinking. Typically, this is well-aligned to the mission of the organization and the team is on board with this – it’s likely one of the reasons they joined the organization!

b. I’ve found an ideal format for the strategic plan to be as follows:

i. A three year vision…

1. Followed by 3-5 big strategies to accomplish this vision…

a. Followed by 3-5 tactics under each strategy…

ii. Each tactic has a measurable Key Performance Indicator (KPI) associated with it too, because the only way to ensure a living, breathing plan is to measure your results periodically. (These tactics should be SMART!)

2. Promote organizational inclusion

a. In order to get results, your team needs to be bought into the plan, and the way to get buy-in is through an inclusive process. The leadership team should not be the only people contributing to the strategic vision of the organization. Create thoughtful, multi-disciplinary teams with the same objective: to create strategies, tactics, and KPIs to accomplish the organization’s mission and vision.

3. Execute your plan to keep it alive!

a. Once the plan is completed and approved by the powers that be (leadership, board), share it with the entire organization. This is the critical step that most organizations forget and where almost all strategic plans go to die. Everyone needs to be familiar with the plan in order to execute. One of my clients had their strategic plan blown up to poster size and hung on the wall – talk about a daily reminder!

b. Quarterly reviews are vital to making sure the plan stays alive. Since we built KPIs into the plan, we must update our actual results so we can compare where we thought we’d be to where we actually are. I’ve found that monthly reviews are too often for bigger picture goals, but annual reviews don’t allow us to change course along the way. Quarterly reviews are perfect to check in and adjust our actions to achieve maximum results.

c. Because our plan is meant to be long-term, we need to reassess annually and sometimes make changes. We’re not likely going to revamp the entire plan unless your mission makes a major pivot, but we may need to adjust a couple strategies along the way so I recommend an annual review. Do a deep dive into each strategy and tactic to make sure they still make sense.

Follow along with the steps above to ensure your strategic plan doesn’t go to three ring binder hell AND to help your organization create lasting change in the world!

Grab your strategic plan template here and create a plan filled with vibrancy, creativity, and LIFE!

#transparency #finance #guidestar #financialmanagement #incomestatement #balancesheet #nonprofitmanagement #trend #strategicplan #strategy #strategicplanning

Grab our Financial Metric Calculator Workbook to better understand and communicate your financials, then dive in!

I have a young daughter, and like most parents will say, one of the joys of having a little one is watching them discover new things. It’s almost like you can see their brain neurons developing by the minute. I remember not too long ago when my daughter discovered that her hands can grip things, not just flail around indiscriminately. She was so proud of her new discovery and used it as much as she could (on my hair, the dog’s tail, etc)!

Similarly, the more I review financials from a diverse group of clients, the more insights I discover hidden within the lines of the financial statements. If you’ve been in business for any length of time, you probably know the basics of your balance sheet (cash, receivables, payables, equity) and income statement (revenue, expenses, net profit) and what they mean.

But, dig a little deeper and you will find some hidden insights into your business that can help you make better decisions. (And yes, I am totally giving away my secrets of financial analysis!)

Download our Financial Metric Calculator Workbook to better understand and communicate your financials!

Here are three areas of your financial statements that you’re probably overlooking, but that tell a robust story about your organization.

1. Revenue diversity. Take a look at your revenue detail for this year. If you’re a service business, is over half of your revenue coming from one client? If you’re a nonprofit, is one donor supporting most of your programmatic expenditures? If so, this is a red flag. To ensure the stability of your business, you need a diverse revenue stream so if one source drops off the face of the earth, your operations aren’t in jeopardy.

2. Cash collection time. You probably know, at any given time, how much cash is in your checking account and as long as it’s enough to pay your bills, you probably don’t think twice. But as your organization grows (and we hope it is!), it will become increasingly difficult to meet your expenses if you don’t have a good cash collection process in place. Take a look at your accounts receivable and see what’s outstanding beyond 30, 60, and 90 days. Make some phone calls to collect that cash, regardless of whether you “need” it now or not.

3. Revenue and expense growth. When you run your P&L (also known as your income statement), include last year’s data for comparison. Now take a look at the percentage growth of revenue and the percentage growth of expenses. Which is higher? Are they equal? Your expense growth should not outpace your revenue growth because that means you’re tapping into your equity or reserves to cover those additional expenses. If your revenue growth is higher than your expense growth, congrats! You’re gaining efficiencies as you grow your business.

Next time you run your financial statements (which should be at the end of the month, RIGHT?!), dig a little deeper and see if you can find any hidden insights within those pages of numbers.

Want more metrics and don’t do math? Grab our Financial Metric Calculator Workbook to better understand and communicate your financials!

More insight means you can make better decisions and tell a more robust story about your organization!

#financialmanagement #financials #financialstatements #incomestatement #balancesheet #metrics #financialanalysis #revenue #expense #nonprofitmanagement #nonprofit #smallbusiness #PL #cashmanagement