The Budget Building Book for Nonprofits

Well-prepared and sound budgets are essential for effective management of nonprofit organizations. This concept "came to life" for us over thirty years ago and is the foundation of The Budget-Building Book for Nonprofits. Our client was a community based nonprofit organization running a number of pre-school programs in a county in the Northeast. The programs were in complete chaos due to poor management and the community was angry and vocal about the problems in obtaining needed services. The director of the organization suggested that we prepare the budget for the coming program-year collaboratively. He wanted us to invite all of the interested parents in the community, staff of the programs, and others who might be affected by the programs to participate in the budgeting process. I thought the director had lost his mind! How could a bunch of people who were not accountants nor executives prepare a budget that would effectively guide the programs serving their children?.

I thought that this budgeting process might work if we could give the concept of "collaboration" a sound structure. Using the expense definitions required by the funding sources, I prepared a series of forms identifying each major cost category, but leaving the amounts blank. We then planned our budgeting session, renting a hotel meeting room large enough to hold several hundred people. We scheduled our budgeting meeting for a Saturday morning at 9AM. Throughout my preparations, I remained skeptical. I was concerned no one would show up. I figured that by noon I would be slaving away at the budget by myself, which was okay with me. After all, I was the "expert."

To make a very long story short so that you may get on with buying the book, this is what happened next: We wound up spending two entire Saturdays at the hotel with over one-hundred fifty parents from the community and program staff. Our inclusion in the budgeting process of the very people who would be using the programs resulted in their total re-design to better serve community needs. Many of the programs' operations were radically changed, from food preparation to pupil transportation to methods of scheduling activities. The redesign allowed for the creation of more than twenty new jobs in the community, without exceeding the mandated budget limits. The lessons I learned from the success of this "budget preparation meeting" have affected my work with clients throughout my career.

Now, thirty years later, nonprofit organizations are even more important in improving communities and the lives of people. Despite the challenges of obtaining funding and complying with regulatory requirements, the over one-million nonprofit organizations in this country continue to increase the scope and importance of their services. However, in order to meet escalating service demands with declining resources, nonprofits have had to become more efficient, productive, and future-oriented. Building sound budgets is integral to keeping nonprofit organizations vibrant.

The Budget-Building Book for Nonprofits was created to provide practical guidance on developing budgets for nonprofit organizations. It may be used as a budget-orientation manual by CPAs who work with nonprofits; nonprofit CEOs, CFOs, Program Managers, and finance staff; and members of Boards of Directors. Major colleges and universities are using The Budget-Building Book for Nonprofits as a textbook for courses on the financial management of nonprofits. In addition, The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants has issued a self-study course based on the book and will soon make available a group study course. Anyone who is or should be involved in the budgeting process of a nonprofit can use The Budget-Building Book for Nonprofits to learn about the importance of the budget in overall operations; the parts of the budget; how different sources of income and different categories of expenses are included in the budget; and the roles and responsibilities of those involved with developing the budget.

We hope The Budget-Building Book for Nonprofits will help your organization in the way that it has helped many others!