Curriculum
Participants can register for multiple sessions in the Assessing Financial Health Virtual Training Series. Please register for each session individually.
Understanding Grantee Financial Health and Financial Resilience
Wednesday, September 11, 2024, 3:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m. ET
In this workshop, we will introduce a framework for understanding nonprofit financial resilience, explore how to synthesize key metrics into a coherent picture of an organization’s financial health, and discuss how a race-neutral approach to financial analysis may unintentionally exacerbate inequities. Participants will develop the following skills upon completing this session:
- Assess financial health with an equity perspective
- Understand key financial metrics and the importance of trend data
- Apply newfound knowledge of the financial health of the US nonprofit sector to inform their own financial review processes
- Recognize what can be learned from key external financial documents
- Use publicly available data as a tool to assess a nonprofit’s financial health
Understanding a Nonprofit’s Financials and the True Cost of Programs
Thursday, October 17, 2024, 1:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m. ET
Participants will learn how to review financial documents—and the inherent challenges—and what these documents communicate about an organization’s financial health. We will also explore the importance of nonprofits covering the true costs of their operations and how to understand an organization’s indirect cost rate. With this as context, we will explore the approaches funders can use to support nonprofits’ financial resilience and how to use information garnered from the financial review process to foster supportive, grantee-centered conversations. Participants will develop the following skills upon completing this session:
- Identify key takeaways from internal financial statements
- Understand the true cost of nonprofit operation and how funders can support organizations with indirect cost policies and practices
- Recognize how to support financial health through various grantmaking approaches
- Use the financial health assessment tool to prepare for conversations with grantees
Reframing Your Financial Vetting and Assessment Processes to Support Nonprofit Organizations’ Financial Health
Thursday, November 7, 2024, 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. ET
Participants will consider how they might strengthen or adapt their financial review processes in order to support grantee financial resilience in the long-term. They will also be explore how to advocate for reevaluating their indirect cost policies as well as how to structure grants to more effectively support the ability of their grantees to sustainably achieve their missions over the long term. We will incorporate PEAK’s collection of Steward Responsively resources to support participants in reframing and recalibrating their approaches. Participants will develop the following skills upon completing this session:
- Identify opportunities to refine their financial review processes
- Prepare for conversations to advocate for supporting grantees’ financial resilience
- Gain awareness of tools they can use in their financial review process
Trainers
Jennifer Pedroni
Managing Director
BDO, Nonprofit & Grantmaker Advisory
Melissa Cameron
Experienced Manager
BDO, Nonprofit & Grantmaker Advisory