Don’t Ask if a Charity Has Low Overhead: Ask if it Has a Big Impact! Stephanie Titus, Vice President, Retirement Housing Foundation Kim Rhinehelder, President, Eskaton Foundation 2015 LeadingAge California Conference Monterey, CA Dan Pallotta’s TED talk Start the Conversation What are some things you do to educate your leadership about costs? Start the Conversation How do you demonstrate financial value on intangible results? For example – Outreach and PR Start the Conversation How do you demonstrate your impact to your donors and your leadership? Apples to Oranges …standardization is necessarily standard… • Funds allocation • Some allocate all of a program director's salary into program operations; others carve out the time the director spends in overall support of the agency. • Chart of accounts • Review of account set-up can lead to a better understanding of administrative expenses and how the are unique to a particular organization. • Financial management • Controlled vs. streamlined philosophy often sets the tone for fiscal responsibility in an organization. • Restricted vs. unrestricted donations Prove Worth Based on Impact • Impact considers the value created by the activity rather than just how much it costs to deliver. • Demonstrate ethical practice and share data about your performance. • Manage towards results and understand your true costs. • Help educate your leadership, board and funders on the real cost of results. Additional Resources • America’s Charities’ Snapshot 2014. • “Anatomy of the Nonprofit Starvation Cycle,” presented by Jesse D. Lecy and Elizabeth A.M. Searing, at the November 2012 ARNOVA Annual Conference. • Bridgespan Group’s publications and tools. • Donors Forum: Real Talk on Real Costs. • National Council on Nonprofits’ resources. • “The ‘Overhead’ Pledge,” by Sue Dorsey, PhilanTopic, August 21, 2014. • Charity Navigator CEO Ken Berger’s blog posts on effectiveness and results. “Financial Leadership for Nonprofit Executives,” by Jeanne Bell and Elizabeth Schaffer. • “Nonprofit Sustainability: Making Strategic Decisions for Financial Viability,” by Jeanne Bell, Jan Masaoka, Steve Zimmerman.