The True Costs of Nonprofit Budgeting with Excel
Excel is the go-to reporting and budgeting tool for countless finance teams, including financial planning and analysis (FP&A) professionals. In fact, there are more than one billion users worldwide—that’s about one in seven people! Excel is comfortable and familiar, but for growing nonprofits, it can be a real drag on your budgeting processes and productivity....Read More
How Can Nonprofits Measure Success and Impact?
How do you know if your nonprofit is making an impact—if your mission is a success? The answer to this question affects everything about your organization, from day-to-day operations to the success of your fundraising efforts. The National Council of Nonprofits alludes to five actions: Identify what success looks like to you. Make a plan...Read More
Outputs vs. Outcomes: What’s the Difference and Why Does It Matter?
Donors want to know if their donations are impacting the work of your nonprofit through its mission. Increasingly, this means telling your story through numbers—something that nonprofits don’t always do well. Marc J. Epstein, co-author of the book, Measuring and Improving Social Impacts: A Guide for Nonprofits, Companies, and Impact Investors, says that “The need...Read More
How to Tell Your Nonprofit’s Story
How do you measure the success and impact of your nonprofit’s mission? Similarly, how do your donors—be they individual, foundations, or corporate—know if their donations are impacting the work of your nonprofit through its mission? Many nonprofits gauge their impact through statistics such as the number of people served, families fed or housed, or the...Read More
From Servers to SaaS: Your Nonprofit’s Journey to the Cloud
At some point in your technology journey, you’ll have to decide whether to step up your investment in servers and other infrastructure upgrades—or seek a more cost-effective option. For many businesses and nonprofits, costs related to IT infrastructure, personnel, outside services, and other expenses necessary to keep your critical applications running can consume up to...Read More
Cloud vs. Traditional Fund Accounting Software: Comparing the True Costs
In the good old days, comparing the cost between different financial management solutions was fairly straightforward. They were built on similar technology platforms and were going to be deployed in roughly the same fashion. The only considerations were subtle differences in system requirements and pricing. The advent of subscription-based (SaaS) cloud applications for fund accounting...Read More
Top 5 Myths about Fund Accounting in the Cloud
In the mission-driven nonprofit world, fund accounting software can sometimes slip down the priority list. It’s not always easy to allocate budget dollars to back-office infrastructure that doesn’t directly support the nonprofit agenda and harder to find the time and expertise to make it all work. Some of the obstacles include: Capital investment for software...Read More
Nonprofits in the Cloud: It’s More than Cost Savings
Moving your nonprofit financials to the cloud from an on-premises solution can significantly reduce your costs. There are other benefits you may not have considered, though—pluses that are just as beneficial as bottom-line savings. Your fund accounting becomes more efficient, compliance is easier, and you have a better view of your organization’s performance. A closer...Read More
Using Sage Intacct for Multiple Budget Reporting
Being able to comply with FASB and funder guidelines for compliance reporting is a requirement for every nonprofit organization. To truly realize your nonprofit’s potential, you need the ability to plan, forecast, and deliver meaningful insight to the leaders of your organization. In this post, I’ll discuss, reporting strategies and tools every Intacct user can...Read More