Blackbaud

JUNE 5, 2025

Budgeting for a nonprofit organization is much like planning that road trip. In this blog post, you’ll learn the essential steps for creating an effective nonprofit budget. What Is the Purpose of a Budget for Nonprofits? At its core, your budget is a list of expected revenue and expenses for a set timeframe.

Budget

Blackbaud

JUNE 12, 2025

Many nonprofits rely heavily on grants to fund their missions, but successfully securing and managing grants requires a clear understanding of the grant lifecycle. This article breaks the grant lifecycle into two main phases: the pre-award phase and the post-award phase. Ensure compliance.

Grants

Blackbaud

FEBRUARY 13, 2025

As a nonprofit finance professional, you want all your data to be accurate. And payroll and grant reporting are two areas of your financial processes where accuracy is non-negotiable. You want your staff paid fairly, and you want to maintain good relationships with your grant funders.

Grants

Ann Green's Nonprofit

MAY 5, 2025

With all the economic uncertainty right now, you may be worried about your nonprofits finances. Dont skimp on your communications budget. Maybe you need to reallocate your budget to cover some of these expenses. Plus, weaning yourself off grant funding isnt a bad idea. It may be something you should be investing in.

CRM

Allied Grant Writers

DECEMBER 26, 2024

The World of Grant Money for Artists Understanding the Importance of Grants Grant money serves as a vital resource for artists, providing financial assistance to pursue creative projects. Grants also promote artistic innovation and diversity by funding a variety of artistic expressions, from visual arts to performing arts.

Grants

Blackbaud

MARCH 31, 2025

An efficient grant distribution process builds trust with your grantees and improves transparency across your organization. Here are five tips for streamlining how you get grant awards to your recipients. This is also where you can set up your grant distribution process for success.

Grants

Ann Green's Nonprofit

NOVEMBER 26, 2024

In it, include guidance on gift acceptance, conflicts of interest, expense reimbursement, and staff compensation, among other aspects of nonprofit finance. According to Jitasa , most nonprofits start out using the cash accounting method to track their finances—i.e., Grants: Government grants, foundation grants, marketing grants.

Finance

Blackbaud

JANUARY 13, 2025

Your revenue is overly dependent on a handful of major donors or a single government grant. Ask the finance team. Finance teams can help their nonprofit organizations evaluate new revenue streams, enhancing the organizations stability and mitigating risk while intentionally experimenting with varied income sources.

Finance

Grant Professionals Association

MAY 1, 2025

Between the time of submission and award, things change, including factors that could affect your grants success. Working as a grant professional for the past 30 years, I have witnessed a honeymoon phase when you receive the exciting news that your grant is funded. Grants are NOT free money!

GPC

Blackbaud

MARCH 20, 2025

While you may already have an annual budget and are reporting against it, the question remains: are you planning for cash? Begin by taking your monthly budget and assuming you pay everything on the first of the month. Scenario Planning Create a budget that zeroes out any government funding and make a plan from there.

Management

Blackbaud

JULY 18, 2025

Government grants are always competitive. Government grants operate differently than most other revenue streams. This guide covers the fundamentals that your finance team needs to know during every stage of the grant so you can handle it confidently from award to closeout.

Government

Blackbaud

JUNE 4, 2025

For example, a newly hired finance manager is stepping into a nonprofit with no formalized internal control policy. Consider a small community nonprofit that receives a grant for the first time. Without proper controls, the organization may inadvertently misuse funds, jeopardizing both its grant eligibility and reputation.

Policy

Grant Professionals Association

JULY 29, 2025

Now, imagine submitting a grant application in January and receiving the award notice in June. Much like athletes, grant professionals must prepare well in advance to perform at their best. Often, the finance department handles the process, leaving grant managers unaware until after the fact.

IT

Blackbaud

JUNE 16, 2025

For finance teams in donor-focused and grant-funded organizations, working hand-in-hand with fundraising partners is critical to crafting reports that truly engage and tell a story. Grant Reports Grant stewardship requires detailed reporting on how funds were allocated and whether they achieved the intended outcomes.

Finance

Allied Grant Writers

DECEMBER 25, 2024

Introduction to Grants Definition and Purpose of Grants A grant is a financial award provided by a government agency, foundation, or corporation to support initiatives aligned with their objectives. In essence, grants play a critical role in fostering growth and innovation by providing the necessary financial backing.

Grant Writing

Grant Professionals Association

FEBRUARY 26, 2025

Although inflation has cooled, balancing budgets hasnt necessarily become easier. Dive Deep into Your Budget Cost-cutting isnt just a once-a-year task during the annual budget season. Dive Deep into Your Budget Cost-cutting isnt just a once-a-year task during the annual budget season.

Budget

Allied Grant Writers

DECEMBER 25, 2024

Decoding Grant Writing Understanding the Basics of Grants Grants are financial awards provided by government agencies, foundations, or corporations that do not require repayment. Understanding what constitutes a grant is essential for applicants. Understanding what constitutes a grant is essential for applicants.

Grant Writing

The NonProfit Times

OCTOBER 29, 2024

As a grant professional, you have identified a great grant opportunity but the lead time is short. It’s a perfect match, but you know you’re going to have to set up meetings with the program director, finance, and possibly the executive director. You need to talk budget, set outcomes, and ask about capacity.

Grants

Grant Professionals Association

JUNE 27, 2025

Over the last 20+ years, I have been privileged to help hundreds of organizations receive significant grant funding. Many of these grant awards have been large federal grants that advanced an organization both in its mission and its overall capacity. Securing the grant itself is, of course, an achievement.

Award

Assel Grant Services

DECEMBER 8, 2024

While board members play an important role in assuring agency finances and grant funds are treated ethically, they are also partially responsible for resource development that is, ensuring their organization has the resources needed to fulfill its mission. certifications, grant agreements). braided funding strategies, direct v.

GPC

Blackbaud

JANUARY 9, 2025

Find the Right Number for Your Nonprofit Operating Reserves The Nonprofit Operating Reserves Initiative (NORI) Workgroup suggests that the minimum operating reserve ratio at the lowest point during the year should be 25 percent, or about three months of the annual operating expense budget. However, this is not a universal benchmark.

Contract

Allied Grant Writers

DECEMBER 25, 2024

Grant Writing Essentials Understanding Grants and Their Purpose Grants are financial awards provided by governments, foundations, or corporations to support a specific project or initiative. Organizations or individuals seeking grant funding should clearly understand how grants function and the requirements they entail.

Grant Writing

Blackbaud

DECEMBER 23, 2024

When your nonprofit is just getting started, your budget for an accounting system is likely very close to $0. You have multiple income streamsdonations, grants, service feesas well as all the ways you use the money. And this data rolls up into your organizational budget to give you a holistic view of your finances.

Finance

Blackbaud

APRIL 7, 2025

Like your K12 private school budget. A well-crafted budget is essential for aligning financial resources with the strategic goals of your private school, and with the right processes and tools, it doesnt have to be stressful. Your school may have multiple budgets, each with a different purpose.

Budget

Wild Apricot

JUNE 16, 2025

Whether you’re just getting started or looking for a way to manage grants and donations more effectively, understanding fiscal agents can help you move forward with fewer risks and more confidence. Here’s what that usually includes: Receiving and managing funds : The fiscal agent collects donations and grant money on your behalf.

Logic Model

Blackbaud

APRIL 16, 2025

The finance team shoulders immense responsibility to make sure funds are well-stewarded, often while being understaffed and under-resourced. A well-thought-out system can do the following automatically: Track Funding Sources Nonprofits often receive funding from diverse sources , such as grants, donations, sponsorships, and events.

Finance

Candid

MAY 14, 2025

Department of Housing and Urban Development a termination notice of a little-known but vital grant program called Section 4 that allows small housing providers to stay afloat and create more affordable homes. Thats because the financing of new or preserved affordable homes is something like a Jenga tower.

Finance

DH Leonard Consulting & Grant Writing Services

JULY 23, 2025

. …Not how many days in advance of a formal deadline a grant is submitted (we already track that too). Rather, I have started to count how much time is collectively spent by our team, and the clients we support, navigating two-factor or multi-factor authentication (MFA) systems in order to gain access to grant application portals.

Grants

Blackbaud

DECEMBER 30, 2024

Coffman stated in their GuideStar article : Theres no question that nonprofit organizations have an obligation to manage their finances responsibly. Unfortunately, philanthropies are typically (and problematically) judged by the first two criteria. As Chuck McLean and Suzanne E.

Metrics

Blue Avocado

DECEMBER 17, 2024

Nonprofit Grant Proposal Budget Calculations: A Road Map Whats the best way to make your nonprofits budget stand out on a grant application? Finance Once your nonprofit or private foundation is tax-exempt, you never have to deal with the IRS again, right? Simple acts can have a big impact on the community!

Budget

Grant Writing Made Easy

MAY 20, 2025

When youre the only one writing grants, you dont have time to start from scratch every time a new application comes up. Thats where a Grant Writing Toolkit comes ina collection of reusable content, data, and templates that make the grant writing process faster, smoother, and less overwhelming. What Is a Grant Writing Toolkit?

Grant Writing

Blackbaud

JULY 28, 2025

In this article, you’ll learn about the different types of audits nonprofit finance teams commonly work on and the most common nonprofit audit mistakes for each, giving you a better understanding of how to avoid these mistakes for your next audit. Time sheets could be incomplete, or grant expenses might be missing proper authorization.

Finance

Grant Writer Team

MARCH 27, 2025

The board approves budgets, reviews financial reports, and ensures proper controls are in place to keep finances in check. Risk Management From finances to reputation, the board identifies and mitigates risks. Grants are competitive, and you will not win every grant you apply for. Should You Hire a Grant Writer?

Government

Blackbaud

JULY 21, 2025

Your nonprofit’s finance team is juggling restricted funds, grants, and project-specific donations, all while trying to prepare reports, stay compliant, and keep the organization’s mission on track. For nonprofits, managing restricted funds—such as grants earmarked for specific programs—requires an added layer of detail and precision.

AI

Seliger + Associates Grant Writing

OCTOBER 27, 2024

We get many calls from nonprofits and public agencies seeking federal grants to build or buy and renovate a building*—the proposed uses could be anything from a youth center to a SUD treatment facility to affordable housing. A similar process unfolded for many other federal grant programs for funding facilities. In FY ‘23, $3.8

Federal Grants

Greater Giving

DECEMBER 2, 2024

Their key responsibilities include: Creating fundraising plans and strategies Setting fundraising goals Establishing the budget for fundraising activities Working with other departments to ensure a smooth fundraising process This role is crucial for your organization’s nonprofit success, so choose the right individual to fill it.

Fundraising

Blackbaud

FEBRUARY 14, 2025

These may include delays in grant approvals, rescheduling of major events due to unforeseen circumstances, or sudden increases in demand for disaster relief services. Budget Line Item for Reserves: Include a specific line item in the budget dedicated to contributing to the operating reserves.

Management