General Discussions

Hello Everyone!

With the The Not for Profit Pros Meetup and Demo happening tomorrow, I wanted to start a new thread for everything Not for Profit!

First: if you haven't already, make sure you RSVP to the event. There are 2 super special speakers (@Josh Weinberg and @Brendan Eger) who are also Forum members, and you don't want to miss out 👀!

Now, let's start off the conversation with this question 🤔: 

➡️ How are you approaching your process for budgeting and forecasting in nonprofit organizations?

Let's make this thread the go-to place for conversations on NFP! 

💬 Continue the conversation after the NFP Meetup event here on this thread, 

💬 reply to specific posts in the thread to continue those conversations, or 

💬 reply to this main post to start a new topic/conversation! 

Thanks all! 🌱

Simple question, not so simple answer(s). Especially for Not-For-Profit organizations.  In my opinion planning for NFP organizations is harder and more complicated than for profit organizations.  And it will depend on the type of organization, revenue sources, activities, etc.

Your strategic planning must be done first.  What are the strategic priorities?  If you don't know that, you won't be able to know how to complete smart planning.  Strategic planning will determine how you will allocate your (scarce) resources.  Priority activities and available or predicted funding should be the focus.  For many NFPs and charities, funding and the timing of funding can be unpredictable.  At WWF-Canada we use Vena rolling forecast capability to look forward and adapt as required during the year.  Planning is not once and done.

Hello Everyone!

With the The Not for Profit Pros Meetup and Demo happening tomorrow, I wanted to start a new thread for everything Not for Profit!

First: if you haven't already, make sure you RSVP to the event. There are 2 super special speakers (@Josh Weinberg and @Brendan Eger) who are also Forum members, and you don't want to miss out 👀!

Now, let's start off the conversation with this question 🤔: 

➡️ How are you approaching your process for budgeting and forecasting in nonprofit organizations?

Let's make this thread the go-to place for conversations on NFP! 

💬 Continue the conversation after the NFP Meetup event here on this thread, 

💬 reply to specific posts in the thread to continue those conversations, or 

💬 reply to this main post to start a new topic/conversation! 

Thanks all! 🌱

Thank you David for this very insightful response! It really highlights the importance of identifying the organization's strategy and being adaptable. Also, it's a great reminder that planning is a continuous exercise that the organization needs to revisit on a regular cadence. Do you have recurring meetings to review funding/planning status, schedule them as needed, or a mixture of both? 

It's fantastic to hear that Vena has helped you with the rolling forecasting capability! 🌱

Simple question, not so simple answer(s). Especially for Not-For-Profit organizations.  In my opinion planning for NFP organizations is harder and more complicated than for profit organizations.  And it will depend on the type of organization, revenue sources, activities, etc.

Your strategic planning must be done first.  What are the strategic priorities?  If you don't know that, you won't be able to know how to complete smart planning.  Strategic planning will determine how you will allocate your (scarce) resources.  Priority activities and available or predicted funding should be the focus.  For many NFPs and charities, funding and the timing of funding can be unpredictable.  At WWF-Canada we use Vena rolling forecast capability to look forward and adapt as required during the year.  Planning is not once and done.

Hello Everyone!

With the The Not for Profit Pros Meetup and Demo happening tomorrow, I wanted to start a new thread for everything Not for Profit!

First: if you haven't already, make sure you RSVP to the event. There are 2 super special speakers (@Josh Weinberg and @Brendan Eger) who are also Forum members, and you don't want to miss out 👀!

Now, let's start off the conversation with this question 🤔: 

➡️ How are you approaching your process for budgeting and forecasting in nonprofit organizations?

Let's make this thread the go-to place for conversations on NFP! 

💬 Continue the conversation after the NFP Meetup event here on this thread, 

💬 reply to specific posts in the thread to continue those conversations, or 

💬 reply to this main post to start a new topic/conversation! 

Thanks all! 🌱

Simple question, not so simple answer(s). Especially for Not-For-Profit organizations.  In my opinion planning for NFP organizations is harder and more complicated than for profit organizations.  And it will depend on the type of organization, revenue sources, activities, etc.

Your strategic planning must be done first.  What are the strategic priorities?  If you don't know that, you won't be able to know how to complete smart planning.  Strategic planning will determine how you will allocate your (scarce) resources.  Priority activities and available or predicted funding should be the focus.  For many NFPs and charities, funding and the timing of funding can be unpredictable.  At WWF-Canada we use Vena rolling forecast capability to look forward and adapt as required during the year.  Planning is not once and done.

Hello Everyone!

With the The Not for Profit Pros Meetup and Demo happening tomorrow, I wanted to start a new thread for everything Not for Profit!

First: if you haven't already, make sure you RSVP to the event. There are 2 super special speakers (@Josh Weinberg and @Brendan Eger) who are also Forum members, and you don't want to miss out 👀!

Now, let's start off the conversation with this question 🤔: 

➡️ How are you approaching your process for budgeting and forecasting in nonprofit organizations?

Let's make this thread the go-to place for conversations on NFP! 

💬 Continue the conversation after the NFP Meetup event here on this thread, 

💬 reply to specific posts in the thread to continue those conversations, or 

💬 reply to this main post to start a new topic/conversation! 

Thanks all! 🌱

Simple question, not so simple answer(s). Especially for Not-For-Profit organizations.  In my opinion planning for NFP organizations is harder and more complicated than for profit organizations.  And it will depend on the type of organization, revenue sources, activities, etc.

Your strategic planning must be done first.  What are the strategic priorities?  If you don't know that, you won't be able to know how to complete smart planning.  Strategic planning will determine how you will allocate your (scarce) resources.  Priority activities and available or predicted funding should be the focus.  For many NFPs and charities, funding and the timing of funding can be unpredictable.  At WWF-Canada we use Vena rolling forecast capability to look forward and adapt as required during the year.  Planning is not once and done.

Hello Everyone!

With the The Not for Profit Pros Meetup and Demo happening tomorrow, I wanted to start a new thread for everything Not for Profit!

First: if you haven't already, make sure you RSVP to the event. There are 2 super special speakers (@Josh Weinberg and @Brendan Eger) who are also Forum members, and you don't want to miss out 👀!

Now, let's start off the conversation with this question 🤔: 

➡️ How are you approaching your process for budgeting and forecasting in nonprofit organizations?

Let's make this thread the go-to place for conversations on NFP! 

💬 Continue the conversation after the NFP Meetup event here on this thread, 

💬 reply to specific posts in the thread to continue those conversations, or 

💬 reply to this main post to start a new topic/conversation! 

Thanks all! 🌱

Simple question, not so simple answer(s). Especially for Not-For-Profit organizations.  In my opinion planning for NFP organizations is harder and more complicated than for profit organizations.  And it will depend on the type of organization, revenue sources, activities, etc.

Your strategic planning must be done first.  What are the strategic priorities?  If you don't know that, you won't be able to know how to complete smart planning.  Strategic planning will determine how you will allocate your (scarce) resources.  Priority activities and available or predicted funding should be the focus.  For many NFPs and charities, funding and the timing of funding can be unpredictable.  At WWF-Canada we use Vena rolling forecast capability to look forward and adapt as required during the year.  Planning is not once and done.

Hello Everyone!

With the The Not for Profit Pros Meetup and Demo happening tomorrow, I wanted to start a new thread for everything Not for Profit!

First: if you haven't already, make sure you RSVP to the event. There are 2 super special speakers (@Josh Weinberg and @Brendan Eger) who are also Forum members, and you don't want to miss out 👀!

Now, let's start off the conversation with this question 🤔: 

➡️ How are you approaching your process for budgeting and forecasting in nonprofit organizations?

Let's make this thread the go-to place for conversations on NFP! 

💬 Continue the conversation after the NFP Meetup event here on this thread, 

💬 reply to specific posts in the thread to continue those conversations, or 

💬 reply to this main post to start a new topic/conversation! 

Thanks all! 🌱

Simple question, not so simple answer(s). Especially for Not-For-Profit organizations.  In my opinion planning for NFP organizations is harder and more complicated than for profit organizations.  And it will depend on the type of organization, revenue sources, activities, etc.

Your strategic planning must be done first.  What are the strategic priorities?  If you don't know that, you won't be able to know how to complete smart planning.  Strategic planning will determine how you will allocate your (scarce) resources.  Priority activities and available or predicted funding should be the focus.  For many NFPs and charities, funding and the timing of funding can be unpredictable.  At WWF-Canada we use Vena rolling forecast capability to look forward and adapt as required during the year.  Planning is not once and done.

Hello Everyone!

With the The Not for Profit Pros Meetup and Demo happening tomorrow, I wanted to start a new thread for everything Not for Profit!

First: if you haven't already, make sure you RSVP to the event. There are 2 super special speakers (@Josh Weinberg and @Brendan Eger) who are also Forum members, and you don't want to miss out 👀!

Now, let's start off the conversation with this question 🤔: 

➡️ How are you approaching your process for budgeting and forecasting in nonprofit organizations?

Let's make this thread the go-to place for conversations on NFP! 

💬 Continue the conversation after the NFP Meetup event here on this thread, 

💬 reply to specific posts in the thread to continue those conversations, or 

💬 reply to this main post to start a new topic/conversation! 

Thanks all! 🌱

Hi Josh - like you, I would like to hear from other non-for-profits about implementing rolling forecasts.  We currently have an annual budget which takes far too long to prepare, then we do updates on a monthly or quarterly basis through the current year-end only.  Like everyone else's organization, our work does not end on 12/31 and, like you (I suspect), we get donations throughout the year so our planning and budgeting is dynamic whereas our budget is not. 

Has anyone successfully implemented a true rolling forecast?  What are the advantages and disadvantages?  How did the Board respond?

Thanks.

Simple question, not so simple answer(s). Especially for Not-For-Profit organizations.  In my opinion planning for NFP organizations is harder and more complicated than for profit organizations.  And it will depend on the type of organization, revenue sources, activities, etc.

Your strategic planning must be done first.  What are the strategic priorities?  If you don't know that, you won't be able to know how to complete smart planning.  Strategic planning will determine how you will allocate your (scarce) resources.  Priority activities and available or predicted funding should be the focus.  For many NFPs and charities, funding and the timing of funding can be unpredictable.  At WWF-Canada we use Vena rolling forecast capability to look forward and adapt as required during the year.  Planning is not once and done.

Hello Everyone!

With the The Not for Profit Pros Meetup and Demo happening tomorrow, I wanted to start a new thread for everything Not for Profit!

First: if you haven't already, make sure you RSVP to the event. There are 2 super special speakers (@Josh Weinberg and @Brendan Eger) who are also Forum members, and you don't want to miss out 👀!

Now, let's start off the conversation with this question 🤔: 

➡️ How are you approaching your process for budgeting and forecasting in nonprofit organizations?

Let's make this thread the go-to place for conversations on NFP! 

💬 Continue the conversation after the NFP Meetup event here on this thread, 

💬 reply to specific posts in the thread to continue those conversations, or 

💬 reply to this main post to start a new topic/conversation! 

Thanks all! 🌱

Simple question, not so simple answer(s). Especially for Not-For-Profit organizations.  In my opinion planning for NFP organizations is harder and more complicated than for profit organizations.  And it will depend on the type of organization, revenue sources, activities, etc.

Your strategic planning must be done first.  What are the strategic priorities?  If you don't know that, you won't be able to know how to complete smart planning.  Strategic planning will determine how you will allocate your (scarce) resources.  Priority activities and available or predicted funding should be the focus.  For many NFPs and charities, funding and the timing of funding can be unpredictable.  At WWF-Canada we use Vena rolling forecast capability to look forward and adapt as required during the year.  Planning is not once and done.

Hello Everyone!

With the The Not for Profit Pros Meetup and Demo happening tomorrow, I wanted to start a new thread for everything Not for Profit!

First: if you haven't already, make sure you RSVP to the event. There are 2 super special speakers (@Josh Weinberg and @Brendan Eger) who are also Forum members, and you don't want to miss out 👀!

Now, let's start off the conversation with this question 🤔: 

➡️ How are you approaching your process for budgeting and forecasting in nonprofit organizations?

Let's make this thread the go-to place for conversations on NFP! 

💬 Continue the conversation after the NFP Meetup event here on this thread, 

💬 reply to specific posts in the thread to continue those conversations, or 

💬 reply to this main post to start a new topic/conversation! 

Thanks all! 🌱

At World Wildlife Fund Canada (WWF-Canada) we do monthly rolling forecasts.  This is a Scenario (RF 1+11, RF 2+10, RF 3+9...) and a monthly Process.  You can copy the Process [RF 6+6] to create the next Process [RF 7+5]. After each month end close we use Versioning to copy the actuals and the future months to the next scenario - for example after our January month end close we copy from scenario Actuals seven months actuals to RF 7+5 and copy 5 months rolling forecast from RF 6+6 to RF 7+5. With Scenario 7+5 we've added the next fiscal year to the templates, so this rolling forecast is for 17 months out.  We Hide the RF 6+6 process and hit Play for RF 7+5 to start the process for the new monthly rolling forecast.  We add dates to the process as reminders and to encourage deadlines.  It is usually a good idea for an administrator for the department to set up a half hour meeting with the head of the department to review and update.  If Finance attends this is an opportunity to ask questions about activities and outlook.  The other key element is designing the templates.  Use Excel formulas to automate #lockcolumn for actuals, colour format and so on to make clear what is actual and what is input fields.

Simple question, not so simple answer(s). Especially for Not-For-Profit organizations.  In my opinion planning for NFP organizations is harder and more complicated than for profit organizations.  And it will depend on the type of organization, revenue sources, activities, etc.

Your strategic planning must be done first.  What are the strategic priorities?  If you don't know that, you won't be able to know how to complete smart planning.  Strategic planning will determine how you will allocate your (scarce) resources.  Priority activities and available or predicted funding should be the focus.  For many NFPs and charities, funding and the timing of funding can be unpredictable.  At WWF-Canada we use Vena rolling forecast capability to look forward and adapt as required during the year.  Planning is not once and done.

Hello Everyone!

With the The Not for Profit Pros Meetup and Demo happening tomorrow, I wanted to start a new thread for everything Not for Profit!

First: if you haven't already, make sure you RSVP to the event. There are 2 super special speakers (@Josh Weinberg and @Brendan Eger) who are also Forum members, and you don't want to miss out 👀!

Now, let's start off the conversation with this question 🤔: 

➡️ How are you approaching your process for budgeting and forecasting in nonprofit organizations?

Let's make this thread the go-to place for conversations on NFP! 

💬 Continue the conversation after the NFP Meetup event here on this thread, 

💬 reply to specific posts in the thread to continue those conversations, or 

💬 reply to this main post to start a new topic/conversation! 

Thanks all! 🌱

This is super helpful @David Cornfield to understand your process as well as technically how you do this in Vena! I suspect others like myself might find monthly rolling forecasts to be an overwhelming concept, and it might be because the level of detail that we budget in is so great (I've posted about this in a different thread) that it feels overwhelming. I imagine if your budgets are fairly rolled-up, this process becomes MUCH easier. There's probably also something to be said for a smaller review each month being more manageable compared to doing a bigger review once a quarter or twice a year, which can then feel like a much larger task.

At World Wildlife Fund Canada (WWF-Canada) we do monthly rolling forecasts.  This is a Scenario (RF 1+11, RF 2+10, RF 3+9...) and a monthly Process.  You can copy the Process [RF 6+6] to create the next Process [RF 7+5]. After each month end close we use Versioning to copy the actuals and the future months to the next scenario - for example after our January month end close we copy from scenario Actuals seven months actuals to RF 7+5 and copy 5 months rolling forecast from RF 6+6 to RF 7+5. With Scenario 7+5 we've added the next fiscal year to the templates, so this rolling forecast is for 17 months out.  We Hide the RF 6+6 process and hit Play for RF 7+5 to start the process for the new monthly rolling forecast.  We add dates to the process as reminders and to encourage deadlines.  It is usually a good idea for an administrator for the department to set up a half hour meeting with the head of the department to review and update.  If Finance attends this is an opportunity to ask questions about activities and outlook.  The other key element is designing the templates.  Use Excel formulas to automate #lockcolumn for actuals, colour format and so on to make clear what is actual and what is input fields.

Simple question, not so simple answer(s). Especially for Not-For-Profit organizations.  In my opinion planning for NFP organizations is harder and more complicated than for profit organizations.  And it will depend on the type of organization, revenue sources, activities, etc.

Your strategic planning must be done first.  What are the strategic priorities?  If you don't know that, you won't be able to know how to complete smart planning.  Strategic planning will determine how you will allocate your (scarce) resources.  Priority activities and available or predicted funding should be the focus.  For many NFPs and charities, funding and the timing of funding can be unpredictable.  At WWF-Canada we use Vena rolling forecast capability to look forward and adapt as required during the year.  Planning is not once and done.

Hello Everyone!

With the The Not for Profit Pros Meetup and Demo happening tomorrow, I wanted to start a new thread for everything Not for Profit!

First: if you haven't already, make sure you RSVP to the event. There are 2 super special speakers (@Josh Weinberg and @Brendan Eger) who are also Forum members, and you don't want to miss out 👀!

Now, let's start off the conversation with this question 🤔: 

➡️ How are you approaching your process for budgeting and forecasting in nonprofit organizations?

Let's make this thread the go-to place for conversations on NFP! 

💬 Continue the conversation after the NFP Meetup event here on this thread, 

💬 reply to specific posts in the thread to continue those conversations, or 

💬 reply to this main post to start a new topic/conversation! 

Thanks all! 🌱

Hello Everyone!

With the The Not for Profit Pros Meetup and Demo happening tomorrow, I wanted to start a new thread for everything Not for Profit!

First: if you haven't already, make sure you RSVP to the event. There are 2 super special speakers (@Josh Weinberg and @Brendan Eger) who are also Forum members, and you don't want to miss out 👀!

Now, let's start off the conversation with this question 🤔: 

➡️ How are you approaching your process for budgeting and forecasting in nonprofit organizations?

Let's make this thread the go-to place for conversations on NFP! 

💬 Continue the conversation after the NFP Meetup event here on this thread, 

💬 reply to specific posts in the thread to continue those conversations, or 

💬 reply to this main post to start a new topic/conversation! 

Thanks all! 🌱

Hello Everyone!

With the The Not for Profit Pros Meetup and Demo happening tomorrow, I wanted to start a new thread for everything Not for Profit!

First: if you haven't already, make sure you RSVP to the event. There are 2 super special speakers (@Josh Weinberg and @Brendan Eger) who are also Forum members, and you don't want to miss out 👀!

Now, let's start off the conversation with this question 🤔: 

➡️ How are you approaching your process for budgeting and forecasting in nonprofit organizations?

Let's make this thread the go-to place for conversations on NFP! 

💬 Continue the conversation after the NFP Meetup event here on this thread, 

💬 reply to specific posts in the thread to continue those conversations, or 

💬 reply to this main post to start a new topic/conversation! 

Thanks all! 🌱

Hello Everyone!

With the The Not for Profit Pros Meetup and Demo happening tomorrow, I wanted to start a new thread for everything Not for Profit!

First: if you haven't already, make sure you RSVP to the event. There are 2 super special speakers (@Josh Weinberg and @Brendan Eger) who are also Forum members, and you don't want to miss out 👀!

Now, let's start off the conversation with this question 🤔: 

➡️ How are you approaching your process for budgeting and forecasting in nonprofit organizations?

Let's make this thread the go-to place for conversations on NFP! 

💬 Continue the conversation after the NFP Meetup event here on this thread, 

💬 reply to specific posts in the thread to continue those conversations, or 

💬 reply to this main post to start a new topic/conversation! 

Thanks all! 🌱