This is the time of the year when many nonprofit organizations are focused on preparing their budgets for the new fiscal year that will begin in July. As you complete your budget checklist, it’s important to look beyond just the next year’s finances, and think about the long-term sustainability of your organization. The financial sustainability…
Details
Are budget dollars being spent optimally to support the district’s mission? Can processes be designed more efficiently to free up resources? Is the administrative organization structured and staffed to lead the district?   NESC’s is a nonprofit management consulting firm that brings a business perspective to help schools utilize resources effectively. We understand the central…
Details
Developing leadership at all levels – and retaining high-performance employees in a competitive talent market – is one of the most important things a nonprofit organization can do to ensure its sustainability and success. This means building and cultivating a pipeline of high performers and leaders, and taking steps to plan for leadership transitions before…
Details
With diminishing charitable donations and public funding becoming a major issue for many nonprofit organizations, today’s nonprofit leaders are looking to social enterprise as a way to generate potentially significant sources of unrestricted cash that will reduce their nonprofit’s reliance on traditional funding to support its mission and achieve its goals. What is Social Enterprise?…
Details
In a world of diminishing resources and ever increasing demands for improved service delivery, the pressure on nonprofit organizations to do more with less grows each day. The nonprofits that will survive are the ones who can critically self-assess their organization and best communicate their value to funders. Foundations – like everyone who invests – want to…
Details
Many nonprofits are understandably worried about the additional financial pressures that may be created by the new Trump administration’s budget priorities. The preliminary budget proposal released in March raises concerns in two major ways: Sharp reductions in federal funding support for nonprofits, particularly in social services and in arts and culture, and A huge increase…
Details
“What keeps you awake at night?” To this, many nonprofit leaders respond that they wonder whether their organization is structured to maximize potential. For example: Do I have the right people in the right place doing the right things at the right time? Are there organizational weaknesses that could pose a risk to success and…
Details
Why Collaborate? True collaboration is a mutually beneficial and well-defined relationship, in which two or more organizations work together to realize shared goals. With 1.4 million charities in the U.S., and growing, there continues to be talk and pressure for collaboration. Why? Here are just a few reasons: Duplication of programs Competition for scarce resources…
Details
This case study describes how a strategic plan helped a nonprofit arts organization establish and accomplish its long-term goals. The organization came to NESC after a funder told them they needed a strategic plan to grow their organization. NESC started by interviewing the staff, board, and key stakeholders to understand what the organization did well, what…
Details
Hiring the right executive director is perhaps the most important decision that a nonprofit Board can make. The search process behind this decision can be long and unruly; or it can be thorough and productive. By breaking down the process into tasks and conducting them with integrity, search time can be spent wisely and good…
Details