Curriculum Nonprofit Finance & Philanthropy
Nonprofit Finance & Philanthropy
How nonprofits actually fund their work, how to read their finances, and how to give more effectively.
- How Nonprofits Actually Make Money The main revenue sources nonprofits rely on, and why 'nonprofit' doesn't mean an organization avoids money entirely. 📄 Read-aloud
- Reading a Nonprofit's Financial Statements Where to actually find a nonprofit's financial information, and what the key numbers mean before deciding to donate. 📄 Read-aloud
- Overhead Ratios: A Flawed but Common Measure Why the percentage of a nonprofit's budget spent on overhead is widely used to judge charities - and why that measure is more misleading than it seems. 📄 Read-aloud
- Grants vs Donations vs Earned Revenue How three different nonprofit funding sources differ in reliability, flexibility and effort required to secure them. 📄 Read-aloud
- Nonprofit Finance & Philanthropy: Checkpoint 1 Covers nonprofit revenue sources, reading financial filings, overhead ratios, and how grants differ from donations and earned revenue. 5 questions
- Effective Altruism and Giving Strategically A framework for thinking about how to do the most good per dollar donated, and the genuine debates around applying it. 📄 Read-aloud
- Endowments: How Nonprofits Save for the Future How a nonprofit endowment works, why organizations build one, and the ongoing tension between spending now and saving for later. 📄 Read-aloud
- Choosing a Charity: What to Actually Look For Bringing together the module's lessons into a practical checklist for evaluating a nonprofit before donating. 📄 Read-aloud
- Nonprofit Finance & Philanthropy: Checkpoint 2 Covers effective altruism, nonprofit endowments, and a practical checklist for choosing where to give. 5 questions
- Nonprofit Governance: Boards and Fiduciary Duty Who actually oversees a nonprofit's money, and the legal duties that make a board member's role more than just an honorary title. 📄 Read-aloud
- 501(c)(3) Status: What Tax-Exemption Actually Means What it actually takes to become a tax-exempt nonprofit, and what that status does - and doesn't - guarantee about an organization. 📄 Read-aloud
- Donor-Advised Funds Explained A giving vehicle that lets donors get a tax deduction now and decide which charities receive the money later. 📄 Read-aloud
- Matching Gifts and Corporate Philanthropy How employer matching programs can double a donation for free, and why so few eligible donors ever claim it. 📄 Read-aloud
- Capital Campaigns: Raising Money for Big Projects How nonprofits fund a new building or major expansion through a structured, time-limited fundraising push rather than regular annual giving. 📄 Read-aloud
- Nonprofit Finance & Philanthropy: Checkpoint 3 Covers board governance, 501(c)(3) status, donor-advised funds, matching gifts, and capital campaigns. 5 questions
- Nonprofit Mergers and Why They're So Rare Why struggling nonprofits rarely combine forces the way struggling businesses often do, and what actually gets in the way. 📄 Read-aloud
- Impact Investing vs. Traditional Philanthropy How impact investing tries to do good and earn a financial return at the same time, and where it genuinely differs from a straightforward donation. 📄 Read-aloud
- The Hidden Economic Value of Volunteer Labor Why the millions of unpaid hours nonprofits rely on rarely show up as a number on their financial statements - and why that matters. 📄 Read-aloud
- International NGOs and Cross-Border Giving Challenges What changes financially when a nonprofit's work, or its donors, cross national borders. 📄 Read-aloud
- Nonprofit Finance & Philanthropy: Checkpoint 4 Covers why nonprofit mergers are rare, impact investing, the hidden value of volunteer labor, and international NGO challenges. 5 questions
- Restricted vs. Unrestricted Funds: How Nonprofits Budget Why not every dollar a nonprofit raises can be spent the same way, and how that shapes what organizations can actually do. 📄 Read-aloud
- Managing Cash Flow Between Grant Cycles Why the timing of when money arrives matters as much to a nonprofit as how much money arrives in total. 📄 Read-aloud
- Reading a Nonprofit's Form 990 How to read the public tax filing that reveals a nonprofit's revenue, spending, and executive pay in real detail. 📄 Read-aloud
- Social Enterprises: Blending Mission and Revenue How organizations that sit between a traditional nonprofit and a traditional business fund their missions through earned revenue. 📄 Read-aloud
- Program Costs vs Supporting Services: How Nonprofits Allocate Spending How nonprofit accounting divides every expense into program, management, or fundraising categories, and why that division is genuinely harder than it sounds. 📄 Read-aloud
- Peer-to-Peer Fundraising and Crowdfunding for Causes How nonprofits turn individual supporters into their own fundraisers, and what makes this approach powerful and risky at once. 📄 Read-aloud
- Measuring Impact: Theory of Change How nonprofits map how their work leads to results, why measuring outcomes differs from counting activities, and how funders use impact evidence. 📄 Read-aloud
- Corporate Social Responsibility Spending in India How India became the first country to require large companies to spend on social causes, how the rule works and what it has funded. 📄 Read-aloud
- Foreign Funding Rules for Nonprofits in India How India's Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act governs donations from abroad to Indian nonprofits, and how recent changes affected the sector. 📄 Read-aloud
- How Much Should a Nonprofit Keep in Reserve? Why charities need financial reserves, common guidelines for how much to hold, and the rules in India that require most income to be spent within the year. 📄 Read-aloud