This week's retro article goes back to November 1st, 2008. It was just three days before the 2008 presidential election. This article makes no mention of politics, however. It takes a look at how nonprofits were looking to save money by making changes to their offices. Keep in mind that the United States was enduring the worst parts of the Great Recession, so saving money was a huge priority. The article starts by showing how the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago saved some cash:
Stephen Cole saw a way for eight Chicago-based nonprofits to save $6 million in the first full year after a few changes. "It's just intuitive," he said. "I did it before as CEO of the Cash Station Inc."
Cole now serves as president and CEO of the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago. "The genesis of helping the eight agencies came from what I did for banks," he said. Instead of each bank putting out 6,000 ATMs, Cole linked them all together so everyone could use them. "I've saved the industry a lot of money," he said.
"We have $300 million in purchasing power," he said. The YMCA alone maintains an $80 million operating budget with around 3,000 employees that help an estimated 120,000 people a year. "The big challenge was convincing every other agency that hadn't done this (sharing services) before that there was a business issue," he said.
The eight organizations putting this concept in play include the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago, the YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago, Metropolitan Family Services, Casa Central, ChildServe, Chicago Commons, Kids Hope United, and Youth Guidance.
I thought this was an incredibly unique way to have an organization save money, especially considering the cost of making so many ATM machines. What ways have your nonprofits saved money now or in the past?
Please read the rest of this article over on our website.
Showing posts with label budget reductions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label budget reductions. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Nonprofits Gain Reprieve From Minnesota Debt Crisis
If you've been following the news lately, you might have heard about the Minnesota government shutdown. It all started when Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, attempted to close a $5-billion deficit by increasing taxes on residents making $1 million or more, as well as instituting some budget cuts. The Republican controlled state senate, however, wanted only spending cuts. Since no deal was made by midnight on June 30th, all non-essential government services were halted.
This created a scare for some nonprofits in the state, such as BLIND Inc, who feared that that shutdown would severely handicap them and the people that rely on their services. However, a district court eventually ruled that BLIND Inc and several other Minnesota nonprofits count as essential services, allowing them to operate as normally. Here is an excerpt from the just released story from The NonProfit Times:
On the first day of rulings, Gearin ruled that the services provided by BLIND Inc. and Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services were essential. She also included the state’s licensing agencies so licenses can be renewed, but she did not include the agency that issues nurse registration.
The ruling came as good news to Shawn Mayo, executive director of BLIND Inc. in Minneapolis, which offers training to the blind. She said her organization was able to continue without cutbacks in services because it could draw from general funds. It has 15 full-time staff and three summer temporary staff. It will be adding five more summer temps next week. The organization serves 40 to 45 people and will begin its children’s program the second week of July.
Mayo said the staff was discussing options even before the shutdown and was willing to take whatever steps necessary to keep running.
“We were quite concerned about how long we could continue to provide services and about further sustainability,” Mayo said. She added that even though her organization can operate, it is a referral agency, so she is concerned that counselors to whom clients would have been referred and who are out of work may face serious backlogs when they do return to work.
“Our students are thrilled (about the ruling),” Mayo said. “They didn’t have anywhere else to go. And they’re what it’s really about.”
You can read the full story at The NonProfit Times website.
This created a scare for some nonprofits in the state, such as BLIND Inc, who feared that that shutdown would severely handicap them and the people that rely on their services. However, a district court eventually ruled that BLIND Inc and several other Minnesota nonprofits count as essential services, allowing them to operate as normally. Here is an excerpt from the just released story from The NonProfit Times:
On the first day of rulings, Gearin ruled that the services provided by BLIND Inc. and Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services were essential. She also included the state’s licensing agencies so licenses can be renewed, but she did not include the agency that issues nurse registration.
The ruling came as good news to Shawn Mayo, executive director of BLIND Inc. in Minneapolis, which offers training to the blind. She said her organization was able to continue without cutbacks in services because it could draw from general funds. It has 15 full-time staff and three summer temporary staff. It will be adding five more summer temps next week. The organization serves 40 to 45 people and will begin its children’s program the second week of July.
Mayo said the staff was discussing options even before the shutdown and was willing to take whatever steps necessary to keep running.
“We were quite concerned about how long we could continue to provide services and about further sustainability,” Mayo said. She added that even though her organization can operate, it is a referral agency, so she is concerned that counselors to whom clients would have been referred and who are out of work may face serious backlogs when they do return to work.
“Our students are thrilled (about the ruling),” Mayo said. “They didn’t have anywhere else to go. And they’re what it’s really about.”
You can read the full story at The NonProfit Times website.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Reducing The Impact of Funding Cuts
While the jobs report that was released on Friday sparked optimism for the growth of the US economy, Federal and State governments are still struggling with budget crises. Some of the budget cuts proposed on both the local and national level have targeted government grants to nonprofit organizations. These cuts are going to be tough for nonprofits to deal with but, luckily, there are ways for them to survive. The NonProfit Times recently posted an article with some tips on how to adapt to the funding cuts:
Consider establishing a separate finance committee that has a charter to review financial forecasts and possible variations within it. Other possibilities to consider: a conflict of interest policy will safeguard against the possibility that employees and their families might benefit from organizational decisions; a compensation committee will help to establish appropriate pay scales; and an audit committee can help increase organizational stewardship and accountability.
*Don't just budget; continually plan. One in five chief financial officers will tell you that by the time a new year begins, their budgets are already outdated; by June 30, an alarming two-thirds of CFOs admit that their budgets are obsolete. This is because they are simply budgeting, not really planning.
By using a continuous planning model, budgets and business plans continually reviewed throughout the course of the year help determine how you're faring at that point in your budget cycle and what adjustments need to be made. An effective plan answers such questions as: Where are we going?; How do we get there?; What resources are required?; What assumptions do we have about key internal and external factors impacting our business?; and, What happens if things don't turn out as assumed or planned?
*Embrace nontraditional, low-cost means of communication and staffing. Don't hesitate to use the Internet to cut your costs: non-traditional and free means of communications, such as JUMO, Twitter, and Facebook, can significantly increase public awareness and understanding of your nonprofit's cause.
While waiting for an economic turnaround, nonprofits will continue to deal with decreased federal and state funding and finding solutions to help them remain operational. For some, an increased reliance on volunteers and corporate partnerships have become a stop-gap to the human capital and fiscal crises they face. The nation's high unemployment rate -- which in December 2010 hovered at 9.4 percent -- has also been an indirect boon to some nonprofit groups, which have seen an increase in unemployed professionals volunteering their time, lending their professional prowess and keeping skills sharp while filling the needs of a local charity. Likewise, non-traditional and free means of communications, including such social media networks as Facebook and Twitter, are being used for increased public awareness and understanding of their cause.
To read the rest of the tips, visit NPTimes.com.
Consider establishing a separate finance committee that has a charter to review financial forecasts and possible variations within it. Other possibilities to consider: a conflict of interest policy will safeguard against the possibility that employees and their families might benefit from organizational decisions; a compensation committee will help to establish appropriate pay scales; and an audit committee can help increase organizational stewardship and accountability.
*Don't just budget; continually plan. One in five chief financial officers will tell you that by the time a new year begins, their budgets are already outdated; by June 30, an alarming two-thirds of CFOs admit that their budgets are obsolete. This is because they are simply budgeting, not really planning.
By using a continuous planning model, budgets and business plans continually reviewed throughout the course of the year help determine how you're faring at that point in your budget cycle and what adjustments need to be made. An effective plan answers such questions as: Where are we going?; How do we get there?; What resources are required?; What assumptions do we have about key internal and external factors impacting our business?; and, What happens if things don't turn out as assumed or planned?
*Embrace nontraditional, low-cost means of communication and staffing. Don't hesitate to use the Internet to cut your costs: non-traditional and free means of communications, such as JUMO, Twitter, and Facebook, can significantly increase public awareness and understanding of your nonprofit's cause.
While waiting for an economic turnaround, nonprofits will continue to deal with decreased federal and state funding and finding solutions to help them remain operational. For some, an increased reliance on volunteers and corporate partnerships have become a stop-gap to the human capital and fiscal crises they face. The nation's high unemployment rate -- which in December 2010 hovered at 9.4 percent -- has also been an indirect boon to some nonprofit groups, which have seen an increase in unemployed professionals volunteering their time, lending their professional prowess and keeping skills sharp while filling the needs of a local charity. Likewise, non-traditional and free means of communications, including such social media networks as Facebook and Twitter, are being used for increased public awareness and understanding of their cause.
To read the rest of the tips, visit NPTimes.com.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
SETI Shuts Down Its Satellites
Note: This is a summary/reaction to the latest story from The NonProfit Times TV.
It looks like ET is going to have to wait a little bit longer if he wants to call home.
The Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute has announced that it has, for the time being, shut down its Allen Telescope Array in Northern California, temporarily bringing the organization's search for alien life to a halt. SETI CEO Tom Pearson announced the decision in a recent letter to the group’s donors, citing budget concerns as the primary reason for the shut down. Pearson said that until SETI could find new sources of funding, the satellites would have to be put into "hibernation."
According to Scientific American Magazine, these satellites, known as the Allen Telescope Array, are the only ones that are completely devoted to searching for signals from potential alien civilizations. So for the time being, it looks like the search for extraterrestrial life will have to be put on hold.
It looks like ET is going to have to wait a little bit longer if he wants to call home.
The Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute has announced that it has, for the time being, shut down its Allen Telescope Array in Northern California, temporarily bringing the organization's search for alien life to a halt. SETI CEO Tom Pearson announced the decision in a recent letter to the group’s donors, citing budget concerns as the primary reason for the shut down. Pearson said that until SETI could find new sources of funding, the satellites would have to be put into "hibernation."
According to Scientific American Magazine, these satellites, known as the Allen Telescope Array, are the only ones that are completely devoted to searching for signals from potential alien civilizations. So for the time being, it looks like the search for extraterrestrial life will have to be put on hold.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Guidestar Releases Study of Budget Reductions
Note: This is a summary of an older story from the Nonprofit Times TV. To view the whole story, click here.
Nnnprofits often have to run on reduced budgets during economic downturns like the one we are experiencing. But in a recent survey by GuideStar, we discoverwhat follows because of these reductions. In short, NPOs see downsizing of services and activities,salary freezes, and even hiring freezes..
Despite the fact that very few of the organizations in the study reported a decrease in demand for their services in the first five months of the year, half of the organizations that were surveyed said that they implemented a salary freeze. Other statistics from the survey included the following:
Nnnprofits often have to run on reduced budgets during economic downturns like the one we are experiencing. But in a recent survey by GuideStar, we discoverwhat follows because of these reductions. In short, NPOs see downsizing of services and activities,salary freezes, and even hiring freezes..
Despite the fact that very few of the organizations in the study reported a decrease in demand for their services in the first five months of the year, half of the organizations that were surveyed said that they implemented a salary freeze. Other statistics from the survey included the following:
- 38% had layoffs
- 30% implemented a hiring freeze
- 23% reduced employee benefits
- 21% reduced salaries
- 16% reduced operating hours
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