This week's:
Start Today for a Better 2011 Budget Process
Some nonprofits have a large enough staff to have a financial officer who is tracking and analyzing trends in revenue and expense year-round and developing 18- or 24-month projections from a variety of perspectives; some nonprofits have one person who spends a weekend drafting a budget and submittingit a few days later to the board for approval. No doubt your organization is somewhere in between these two extremes. One thing that many of us have in common is that now is the right time to begin the budgeting process for 2011.
We received some wonderful insights from Cindy Willard, program officer for the Denver-based Helen K. and Arthur E. Johnson Foundation , on the subject of budgeting at a recent Bagel Banter Breakfast here at RMA. Our roundtable discussion included the following:
- Allow sufficient time for your data gathering, discussion, presentation to the board, questions, and final vote. Whether you have a finance committee or not, 3-4 months is about the average time you should spend on this process.
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