http://www.nonprofitsassistancefund.org/blog Kate Barr shares her thoughts and insights on nonprofit management and finance Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:16:15 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Worrying about cash shortfalls is, without a doubt, at the top of the list of stressors for nonprofit directors and finance managers. In this situation, everyone's dream is to have a stash of cash - a cash reserve account set aside to tap at a moment's notice to solve the ... http://www.nonprofitsassistancefund.org/blog/2009/06/26/beyond-cash-reserves/ This is not a breakthrough idea, but I am completely convinced that leadership will be the only determining factor for the survival and success of nonprofits throughout this recession. I see signs of it all the time. As the months of recession drag on, the effects of the presence and ... http://www.nonprofitsassistancefund.org/blog/2009/06/08/be-a-leader-now/ Where do you send the condolence card after the death of a nonprofit? Today’s Star Tribune reported that the Senior Federation to Shut Down because of financial challenges resulting from drops in both grant support and memberships. The economy is certainly a big factor since the Federation’s funders include several health ... http://www.nonprofitsassistancefund.org/blog/2009/05/19/a-celebration-of-the-life-of-%e2%80%a6/ I think that I'm losing my ability to be patient and finesse conversations about how nonprofits can deal with the recession. Instead, I'm becoming a blunt instrument with one recurring message - Act Now. Unfortunately, quite a few nonprofits are in very fragile financial condition and don't have much elbow room. ... http://www.nonprofitsassistancefund.org/blog/2009/04/28/understand-and-act-now/ At the pace we're all traveling it's easy to forget what you said last week, much less a few months ago. It's interesting, then, when we receive a comment on a past post and go back to re-read it. So much is happening and developing in the nonprofit world that ... http://www.nonprofitsassistancefund.org/blog/2009/04/13/hit-singles-remixed/ For years I've wished that the programs of the Small Business Administration (SBA) were available to nonprofit organizations. The SBA is all about strengthening the country's economy, and as a business banker the SBA was at the top of my list of resources for entrepreneurs as they started and grew ... http://www.nonprofitsassistancefund.org/blog/2009/04/01/seeing-nonprofits-as-businesses/ We've heard a lot from nonprofit clients in the last week or so about cash - too little, too restricted, or just right. Maybe the right amount, but the wrong timing. Maybe the right timing, but too risky or some other problem that results in cash on the balance sheet ... http://www.nonprofitsassistancefund.org/blog/2009/03/11/cash-is-cash-sometimes/ All of us are reading waves of economic information right now - the stimulus, the proposed state and federal budgets - and are trying to sort out which parts have a direct impact on our communities and organizations. Both the stimulus and federal budget are big and bold and pretty ... http://www.nonprofitsassistancefund.org/blog/2009/03/02/seeing-the-forest-for-the-trees/ The Minnesota Council on Foundations invited Judith Alnes from MAP for Nonprofits and me to contribute an article for their current issue of Giving Forum. The title is Nonprofit Survival: Four Steps to Take Now. Add this article to the dozens that have been written in the past few months ... http://www.nonprofitsassistancefund.org/blog/2009/02/11/who-said-leadership-was-fun/ Maybe it's a holdover from my former life as a banker, but I often read the business section of the paper first (yes, I still like to hold an actual printed newspaper in my hand). Lately, of course, there is news almost every day about job cuts at some of ... http://www.nonprofitsassistancefund.org/blog/2009/01/30/sharing-the-job-cut-blues/