Karen Eber Davis interviewed me in this podcast titled:
Is There a Doctor in the House?
How to Ensure Your Nonprofit’s Fiscal Health
How to Avoid Managing to Financials Numbers Ruining a Holiday
Extracted with a link to my article on Nonprofit Information
Month end, quarter end, and fiscal year end personal activities can be taken hostage in this teeter-totter process of getting just enough income (but not too much) in the current period. This phenomenon can be likened to Goldilocks tasting the three bears’ porridge! (Having been part of year-end deal-closing crunches, I can assure you that inordinate amounts of time, money, and focus are required to to get deals closed in the desired period. Often those crunch times occur during holidays or when special family events had already been scheduled, inconveniencing and annoying the employees involved.)
When they have gone too far in covering shortfalls to reach arbitrary numbers, companies often hold “fire sales” to ensure they get the last few sales needed for target revenues. This practice can backfire and result in customers quickly learning to hold off on purchases until the regular desperate overture is made at period end. All of these complications result from a focus on hitting the sacred numerical targets. This ends up reducing margins as well as creating a spiraling impact as the company continues to try to make upcoming period results.
But fear not good fellows! For good news is at hand: Santa’s got 3 stocking gift ideas to help you reduce emotional cost and financial fallout. These three actions can help bring back the spirit of good cheer, and happier spouses, families and significant others in the form of restored holiday time:
- Consider targeting a numerical range, not an exact amount. Why not set a number goal of, plus or minus 2 to 5 percent? Think of this concept sort of like a flex budget.
- To encourage employees or volunteers to emphasize consistently reaching longer-term goals and objectives, change or adapt incentive programs. A balanced scorecard approach fits very well with tailored incentive plans. Plans that can be measured produce
- Change the tone from the top to emphasize doing things right, instead of focusing on managing income. A number of experts suggest that an emphasis on doing things right does a better job of building long term equity or fund balance. This tone fits better with the mission and vision for most nonprofits, anyway.
My Boardsource presentation and Roadmap to Sustainable Mission is available at
http://www.boardsourceleadershipforum.org/session/boardroom-black-holes-and-taboos-2/
Sustainable Mission for Your Nonprofit
The need to attain a sustainable financial and fiscal level is crucial for all but the largest nonprofit organizations.
With my compliments, please download and use freely the strategic focused 20 issue checklist, so long as it is not altered and full attribution is provided to Gary Patterson, the FiscalDoctor®.
Roadmap to Sustainable Mission
This builds on my Guidestar article “How Many 800-Pound Issues Is Your Board Finessing?”. It discusses 20 topics fellow board of directors and CEOs of non-profits felt should be addressed in more detail so you find your million $ blindspot before it finds you. http://www.guidestar.org/rxa/news/articles/2015/how-many-800-pound-issues-is-your-board-finessing.aspx? Or http://tinyurl.com/l2rf7we
How to Ensure Your Nonprofit’s Fiscal Health Podcast
Karen Eber Davis interviewed me for this podcast on the financial health for your organization.
Few issues could be more important than your fiscal health. In this podcast, we talk to a resource you probably never knew was available, but during dark nights when you wonder if something is amiss in your nonprofit, you probably wish for a fiscal doctor. Gary W. Patterson, The FiscalDoctor®, has helped over 200 companies including nonprofit organizations that range in size from start-ups to Fortune 500 firms.
Do You Like to Listen and Learn? Click here to listen to this or one of Karen’s 13 other Mission Brilliant Podcasts.
http://www.kedconsult.com/wp-content/themes/kedconsult/newsletters/sept-2012.php
Non Profit Directors, Executive Directors and CEOs: ERM Alert
How Many 800-Pound Issues Is Your Board Finessing?
Washington, DC and Atlanta, Georgia – International enterprise risk management (ERM) expert and speaker Gary W. Patterson boardroom intelligence article “How Many 800-Pound Issues Is Your Board Finessing?” is published by GuideStar. http://www.guidestar.org/rxa/news/articles/2015/how-many-800-pound-issues-is-your-board-finessing.aspx?
His article lists 20 key areas to help look for the 800 pound gorilla, to position your board to better prioritize which issues to address in more detail and in what order
- There is a value in an outsider calling out taboos and blind spots rather than yourself. Which executive or board member should consider the points outlined above to help them come to grips with seemingly invisible, unforeseeable issues?
- Has your organization ever had a fiscal checkup? We’re not talking about some bean counting exercise but rather an operational and strategic assessment of how your organization reflects the true realities of the world you are living in.
Clients call him their FiscalDoctor® and just as every person needs a medical doctor; every organization needs a FiscalDoctor and periodic fiscal checkups. He also supports special projects for risk assessments, enterprise risk management (ERM), operational risk management (ORM), fiscal checkups, corporate governance, strategic planning updates, and strategic growth diagnostics.
About Guidestar
Guidestar’s Mission is to revolutionize philanthropy by providing information that advances transparency, enables users to make better decisions, and encourages charitable giving. If you care about nonprofits and the work they do, then you’re affected by what GuideStar does. http://www.guidestar.org
About Fiscal Doctor Inc.
FiscalDoctor Inc. enables growth through leverage you did not know you had and works with leaders to uncover million dollar holes to make the best business decisions and dramatically accelerate correct fiscal leadership decisions. This helps leaders gain control of their financial destinies and capitalize on hidden high return opportunities, while limiting their exposure to risk.
Patterson, a Big 4 CPA / Stanford MBA, speaks regularly on topics such as governance, risk management, strategic planning, achieving financial goals, and building long-term value.
His book Million Dollar Blind Spots: 20/20 Vision for Financial Growth provides cutting edge follow-up for blind spots: how to identify them, and exploit opportunities and mitigate risk related to million dollar blind spots. Visit his website at https://fiscaldoctor.com and “free” fiscal fitness test at https://fiscaldoctor.com/fiscal-quiz/ , or call 678-319-4739.
© 2015 Gary W. Patterson. All rights reserved.tel. #. ###