Two year ago, this female colleague applied for an Executive Director (ED) position at a particular charity knowing that the organization was facing a 500 thousand shekel (approximately $130 thousand) deficit. After about nine months on the job, the nonprofit was back on track and on the road to a surplus for the following year. What was this ED’s technique and how could other nonprofits benefit from her experience?
Last Monday, February 28th, 2011, I had the privilege and pleasure of presenting a Quickfire (10 minute presentation) at the FONSI (Future of Nonprofit Summit – Israel) Conference in Jaffa, Israel.
In my short session, I attempted to describe how money is changing from an object of secondary importance into a measuring stick and a marketing tool. Furthermore, financials and budgets are now being used proactively to make sure the right message is being conveyed about your nonprofit organization. While the specifics of the sessions are beyond the scope of this piece, I did want to provide those that were at the conference with a link and embed of the PowerPoint presentation that accompanied by speech. (The presentation has been upgraded to clarify some points and include links to the article and tools cited.)
What we in the nonprofit world need to realize is that the problems with the dollar are much larger than the USD/NIS rate of exchange. Changes in the dollar affect the world – Israel is just one of many. The Bank of Israel’s moves to buy dollars might be helping a little and the in the short term stemming the decline of the greenback, but Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer is similar to David trying to fight Goliath armed with only a rubber band. Many argue that the problems of the US dollar are larger in scope and strength than anything that Fischer can throw at it.