This Month's topic: Better Budgeting
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Helping the Victims of the Hurricanes
It's a long,
long, looooonnnngggg road for victims of the hurricanes. Keep at it,
offering help as you can. I'm involved with a group of people from the
Alliance for Nonprofit Management who are helping nonprofits on the
Gulf Coast get back on their feet. There are lots and lots of ways to
help.
Here are some organizations, websites and phone numbers you can post on your site.
Remember to note that if people give online, to target the gift for
hurricane relief. Also check with your local United Way, as well as
your mayor's office to see if any community relief efforts are being coordinated.
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Hear Me Online!
In October, I was interviewed on a management pod cast show called "The Cranky Middle Manager Show" The discussion was about the value of mission in nonprofits, and what for-profits can learn from nonprofits.
You can hear the show with most audio players. Click here to listen. Caution: I only endorse my part of the show. The ads, the other comments of the interviewer, etc. are not necessarily my cup of tea. Just so you know!
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| This Month's Topic: Better Budgeting |
Each month, this area provides with a
number of my favorite and most helpful sites regarding the topic of the month.
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Management
Tip of the Month
Each issue, I start with a discussion
of my management perspective on the month's topic, and give you a few hands-on
ideas to consider.
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Recommended Publications
Here, I provide you with my
recommendations on the materials available that can help you
become more mission-capable in the area of better budgeting.
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Technology
I provide you with some good ideas for
uses of tech to better your organization in the area of better budgeting.
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Marketing
Tip
So much to say, so little space to say
it.....
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Next
Issue
In January, we'll start the new year by looking at an issue that is time-based: Generation Change. How will this affect your organization? In more ways, and for longer than you can imagine.
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Websites of the
Month
Here are my recommendations for websites of interest
on this month's topic, Better Budgeting
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Management Tip of the Month
Better Budget Building
We all have to develop budgets, and many of us despise the process. It
lasts too long, requires saying "no" too far too many people and, in
general is a negative rather than a positive process. In most
organizations, the budget process is also the job of only top
management and the board.
I disagree with both the limitations and the negativity. There are some
ways to get more information out of your budgeting. Here are three key
ones
First, think of expenses as investments in mission.
This is where the negative turns positive. One of the key elements of improving the
mission-capability of your organization is to develop the technique of looking
at your expenditures as investments in mission. Usually, we think of
expenditures as bad things, merely to be minimized. But when you and your board
start to look at the utilization of any resource, cash, people, buildings, or
equipment as an investment, a lot starts to change.
To begin, you have to ask: "What are we getting for our
investment?" And, you should find the answer in two parts: First, you should
look at the return in mission; second, examine the financial return. What this
means in practice is that you may have services that lose money, but are so
mission-rich that the overall return on investment is appropriate. On the other
hand, something that is not mission rich (such as fund-raising) needs to
make money.
At first, this will be a stretch for your staff, board,
and perhaps even for you. But the more you look at expenses as investments, the
more you will try to wring as much mission out of every dime as possible.
Second, be inclusive.
The more people involved in budgeting
---the better. Really. This does not mean that you throw a bunch of
un-educated people in a room and hope something useful may come out
(sort of like the old problem of the infinite number of chimps with an
infinite number of typewriters coming up with the complete works of
Shakespeare). But running drafts of budgets, in an orderly manner, past
a LOT more people than you are used to can provide tremendous insights
and good ideas.
This is a huge change, and a bunch of work. For more on this--both how and why-- read Open Book Management by John Case. It's great.
Third, be transparent.
A crucial resource for most organizations is their
information-budgets, planning, personnel information, marketing materials. And,
some of this information is widely available-think about your organization, is
there a hierarchy of information-some people see everything, some see very
little? If the answer is yes, the question is why?
John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems (the people who
build the stuff that runs the internet) says this about his huge organization:
"No one of us is as smart as all of us." And this wisdom requires him to
share information about the company with all of his staff. For you, the benefit
comes from training all, yes all, your staff how to read financials, and then
how to read your financials, and then to see them regularly. This also means
including staff in reviewing your strategic plan, being involved in the
development of marketing materials, and, in general incorporating the resource
of your staffs' minds in the tasks at hand.
There are two ways at looking at information-they
are both true:
1. Knowledge is power; if I have all the
knowledge I have all the power.
2. Knowledge is power; if I share all the
knowledge, we all get powerful together.
Your choice, but which will build your organization
sooner and better. It is HARD to give up the information for many of us, but
our organization, and the people we serve, will benefit.
If
you found this hint helpful, there are lots more management, marketing, and
technology ideas for you in the "Ideas" section at
www.missionbased.com. Check them
out--they're free.
And, remember to take a look at the
Mission-Based Management
Blog.
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Print Resources
My recommendations for texts on Better Budgeting are shown below.
The Budget Building Book for Nonprofits, by Murray Dropkin and Bill LaTouche
Open Book Management, by John Case
The Cash Flow Management Book for Nonprofits, by Murray Dropkin
Saving Money in Nonprofit Organizations, by Gregory Dabel
If you don't find enough choices here, type
"Nonprofit Budgeting" at Amazon.com.
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Technology Tip
Can tech help your budgeting efforts?
Yes. And here are some ways: First use
good software, and put your budget on your internal network so that
everyone can view and comment. For a list of good financial software,
and some key things to look for, go here....
Second, consider some new online tools as you develop your budget.
Wiki's allow organizations with people in many places to contribute
ideas and comments to documents (including department and
organizational budgets. These are live, online tools, and for a great
(but large) example, think of Wikipedia.
I think that this kind of application is the document development (including budget) app of the future--available today.
For more on Wikis, see http://wiki.org/wiki.cgi?WhatIsWiki
For a great recent article on the use of wikis in the office from Business Week, go to: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_48/b3961120.htm
The article starts with a slam on the overwhelming amount of
email people are getting and ends with some great examples of wikis.
As always, tech can help, automate, ease, and simplify modifications,
but it can't create a thing. Informed, dedicated people have to do
that. Informed, dedicated and empowered people do it even better. So spread the info, and share the power.
If you found this hint helpful, there are lots more
management, marketing, and technology ideas for you in the "Ideas" section at
www.missionbased.com. Check them
out--they're free.
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Training Schedule for Peter Brinckerhoff
Below you'll see the date, location, and topics
of public training I'm scheduled to do in the next few months. For more
information on a particular speaking engagement, get in touch with the contact
person listed in the right hand column, or
email me.
For more information on my availability throughout
the next 12-18 months, available topics, sample agendas, and fees go to
www.missionbased.com/training.htm
Marketing Tip
Marketing and Better Budgeting
The link in marketing and budgeting is more significant than you might think. there are two key areas to keep in mind.
The people you serve: As regular readers know, nonprofit marketers give people things they need in ways that they want.
Remember in your budgeting to focus services on real needs, and to
allow enough funding to find out the way that people want them
delivered. If you don't, you are making a bad investment---you'll be
wasting resources on things people will not fully use.
The people you employ:
You have to sell your budget to your staff. It's easier to do that if
you are inclusive in our budget development (See the management tip).
the more you ask staff about what they need, the happier they will be
with the final budget result--even if they don't get everything they
requested. Ask, Ask, Ask, and listen. Accommodate to the extent you
can. Simple, direct marketing.
If you want to see more about this in detail, take
a look at more about my book
Mission-Based Marketing; Second
Edition
If you found this hint helpful, there are lots more
management, marketing, and technology ideas for you in the "Ideas" section at
www.missionbased.com. Check them
out--they're free.
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Top
Future Topics for the Mission-Based Management Newsletter....
| January |
Generation
Change |
| February |
Accountability |
| March |
Ethics and Management |
| April |
Staff Satisfaction |
| May |
Boards who cross the
Policy/Management line |
| June |
Employee Rewards |
| Send me
your topic suggestions at peter@missionbased.com |
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You asked, so here they are:
Past Single-Topic Issues of the Mission-Based Management Newsletter...
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