Nonprofit financial management centers upon the most effective and efficient ways to deploy an organization’s resources while meeting overall objectives. Today, that practice has never been more prevalent. The COVID-19 pandemic has had far-reaching impacts on the nonprofit sector, and the disruptive effects have certainly hindered finances and constrained capacity, forcing organizations to plan for and address financial uncertainty while focusing on sustainability and, most importantly, survivability.

In collaboration with the Wallace Foundation, Fiscal Management Associates (FMA), a national capacity-building firm that advises nonprofits on strategic financial management, has compiled a thorough and extremely useful list of resources for nonprofit organizations to utilize, highlighting the following areas of focus:

• Planning for and Addressing Financial Uncertainty
• Connecting Organization Goals with Financial Realities
• Calculating the Trust Cost of Programs
• Managing Cash Flow and Financial Results
• Strengthening the Budget Development Process
• Planning for Growth
• Projecting Cash Flow and Financial Results

Financial experts from FMA, Hilda Polanco and Gretchen Upholt (pictured below), also partnered alongside Wallace to host an educational webinar, Navigating COVID-19 for Nonprofits: From Financial Triage to Scenario Planning, that reviews key areas nonprofits should consider focusing on and provides tools to help weather the current economic crisis. Check out the webinar to learn more about grounding financial decision making in data and values, understanding your current financial position and what specific resources are available that can be utilized for an immediate response.

The webinar and slide deck also offer guidance and links to essential tools on the strongnonprofits.org website, a partnership between FMA and Wallace.