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What Every Board Member Needs to Know About Nonprofit Accounting

What Board Members Need to Know

Justifying the price tag on nonprofit accounting software probably isn’t easy for you as a board member. Because financial resources are often tight, your focus might be to spend money on advancing your organization’s mission and not on its accounting needs. Besides, accounting software is often free, so why spend money you don’t have to, right?

While the price might be difficult to overlook, a good accounting software can arm your organization head to toe with better security, reporting, and fund management. Without it, you’re leaving your financials susceptible to error and errors aren’t easily overlooked by those funding your nonprofit.

As a board member, you have an important role guiding your organization, but you might not be aware of the unique problems nonprofits face when it comes to accounting. Setting your nonprofit up for success begins with properly maintaining the finances, so here are a few reasons why nonprofit accounting software is so important.

Accounting, Board of Directors, Grant Management, Reporting, Security

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7 Reasons Why Nonprofits Are Switching to Denali Fund

The last 10 years has seen a rise in nonprofits by almost 20% while the for-profit sector has increased only 3%. Unfortunately, the increase in nonprofits hasn’t translated into more companies building accounting software specifically for nonprofit accounting practices. Denali Fund, however, is designed just for that purpose. So let’s breakdown why nonprofits find Denali Fund to be the software they’ve been searching for!

Audit Trail, Reporting, Security, True Fund Accounting

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7 Tips for Scaling Back Your Nonprofit’s Expenses

No matter the size of your nonprofit, every organization experiences a low point in either their revenue or funding sometime throughout the year.

In order to stay afloat, you need to find some options for scaling back your expenses.

This list is designed to give you some of the best tips and tricks that your nonprofit can use to cut down on your overhead costs and better prepare for your future.

Campaigns, Expenses, Saving, Waste Management

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3 Essential Features That Define True Fund Accounting Software

3 Essential Features That Define True Fund Accounting Software

Running your nonprofit on a typical accounting software, like QuickBooks®, isn’t going to cut it nowadays if you want to be successful.

If you want your nonprofit to thrive, it’s important to have software that is designed specifically for handling the complexities of your nonprofit organization.

With hundreds of software packages available on the market, knowing the right one to choose from can be confusing. So, we created a list of three features that your nonprofit NEEDS to have in your True Fund Accounting software. These three features include a secure audit trail, individual user rights, and fund management.

Audit Trail, Fraud Prevention, Fund Management, Security, True Fund Accounting

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A Quick Guide to Building Your Nonprofit Budget

As a nonprofit, one of the hardest obstacles you will face is not receiving enough funding to do the things you want to do. But, if you have a solid budget that you stick to, you can get through the low points until funding picks up again.

Unlike a business, you aren’t trying to increase profit margins or meet sales goals. Your bottom line isn’t about making money. It’s about calculating the costs it will take for your organization to achieve its goals.

That’s why practicing good budgeting techniques is crucial to accomplishing your mission with any level of funding.

With this article, we’ll address why you need a budget, what the benefits are, how you should build your plan, and decide on which type of budget works for your nonprofit.

Budget, Financial Planning

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How your nonprofit can find a rockstar accountant

How your nonprofit can find a rockstar accountant

As we gear up for one of the most stressful times of the year for personal and business finance, one of the last things we want to worry about is whether the accounting professional that we’ve put our nonprofit’s faith into will be able to deliver on their promises.

Especially for smaller organizations who may be looking for an external partner to ensure compliance with IRS regulations as well as properly stewarding their donors in a new environment around charitable deductions, finding the right nonprofit accounting specialist is vital to long term growth.

Where can your organization start their search for an accounting professional who can help chart the path to growing your mission’s capacity? Let’s unpack a few strategies to help guide your organization through this common issue.

Accountant, Accounting, Donations, Nonprofit, Nonprofit Accounting

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Establishing Your Chart of Accounts

Setting up your chart of accounts from scratch can seem daunting. There’s a lot of planning and organization involved and figuring out the best way to set things up can feel overwhelming.

The good news is that constructing a chart of accounts isn’t all that difficult. However, the most crucial step is the initial setup because if set up correctly, your chart of accounts can be extremely effective.

So, to set up your chart of accounts the right way, we’ll dive into what a chart of accounts is, why your organization needs one, and how you can set one up that will be sure to benefit your business or nonprofit.

Assets, Chart of Accounts, Equity, Finances, Financial Planning

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4 Simple Steps to Maximize Your Nonprofit’s Fundraising Efforts

4 Simple Steps to Increase Your Nonprofit’s Fundraising

Fundraising through events comes with many challenges. For one, you never know if the turnout to an event will meet your expectations. For smaller nonprofits, you don’t have the time or resources to keep hosting events which means every event is crucial for bringing in enough funding.

That’s why we’ve put together a list of 4 steps you can take to ensure you get the most out of your fundraising efforts. With this step-by-step plan, you spend a little time understanding your donors and trying to find ways to retain them. You can increase your nonprofit’s funds while having enough time to stick to your cause and do what you do best within your community.

Donations, Financial Planning, Funding, Fundraising

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How Business Intelligence is Guiding Nonprofits

How Business Intelligence is Guiding Nonprofits

Data has become an extremely powerful tool in the information age. Every day you rely on the data you get from platforms like Facebook, Google Analytics, and CRMs to tell you all about your donors, potential supporters, volunteers—essentially everything you need to know. Without that information, you’d be disconnected from your base.

But because that data is gathered through individual programs, your scope of viewing the information is often limited. If you want to combine all that data, it can take a lot of effort and be outdated by the time it’s prepared.

That’s why many businesses have been turning to business intelligence, or BI. Business intelligence takes the data from all your platforms and combines it into one customizable dashboard that’s simplified and easy to read. With your data collected in one platform, you begin to see it build into a narrative that points out your nonprofit’s successes as well as its failures. That way you can begin to understand your organization’s needs and start to make improvements.

Here are three ways in which BI can help your nonprofit thrive.

Business Intelligence, Decision-Making, Funding, Insight

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3 Conferences Every Nonprofit Must Attend in 2019

There are over 1.5 million nonprofits in the U.S. alone. Yet, the success rate for a nonprofit is typically low. Like with any business, there are many factors at play working against you. Oftentimes, it’s due to a lack of vision, a lack of trust from donors, and not having enough well-established relationships with clients. All great nonprofits have had to overcome these adversities.

That’s why conferences are vital for growing nonprofits. They’re a place where you can get advice from other nonprofits who face similar issues. They give you a chance to network more with other causes. You can find nonprofits like your own to exchange ideas with and hopefully increase your passion to change the world.

However, attending every conference would be expensive and nearly impossible. You need to know which ones are the most important in guiding your nonprofit in the right direction. So, we compiled a list of the three conferences your organization can’t afford to miss in 2019. We also added some places you should visit to keep you entertained if you happen to catch a break.

So, let’s begin.

Bridge, Conferences, NIO Summit, Nonprofit, NTEN

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