Evolving for Impact: The New Strategic Nonprofit Finance Series
Nonprofit Montgomery has operated for almost 15 years, first as a program of the Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington (2012-2015) and then as an independent organization. For six of those years (2015-2018 and 2023-present), and through various organizational stages, I have been privileged to be Executive Director and to have launched new capacity-building programs and initiatives, working alongside the small but mighty Nonprofit Montgomery team as well as with our Board, representing nonprofits large and small across the county.
Nonprofit Montgomery’s core capacity-building focuses on empowering nonprofit leaders with vital knowledge around operational excellence. These include activities that are considered “back office” or are reflected in “indirect costs.”
How have we accomplished this?
For nearly 15 years, we have offered our award-winning FIRM program for financial management, developed and presented by Justin Pollock from OrgForward.
Ten years ago, we added our award-winning MORE program to educate nonprofit leaders and staff about evaluation, metrics, and outcomes, developed and presented by Jana Sharp from Sharp Insight.
Two years ago, we held our first Tools to Thrive expo and conference (Save the date for our third Tools to Thrive on March 24, 2027).
Last year, we launched our first Tech Cafe to bring nonprofit staff together to learn best practices and access practical tools related to today’s technology issues.
And all along, we have worked with industry experts to provide ongoing learning opportunities around fundraising, human resources, technology, compliance, and more.
As part of our commitment to serve our nonprofit community in the best way possible, we are refreshing our Financial Management Institute (FIRM) program to better meet the evolving needs of nonprofit leaders. Our new Strategic Nonprofit Finance Series, led by Justin Pollock of OrgForward builds on the foundation of FIRM while offering a deeper focus on financial leadership, strategy, and long-term sustainability.
Why a refresh?
While FIRM content has always been regularly updated, today’s financial management questions are existential and urgently challenged by external pressures. Revisiting essential priorities related to budgeting, mission alignment, and reporting is needed now more than ever.
We heard from our members that the multiple-day time commitment for the traditional FIRM program was a barrier to participation, so this new a-la-carte menu of programs can be accessed as a series or individually.
We also want our members to be confident who on your team will benefit most from these valuable learning opportunities. This way, you can build them into your professional development planning for your staff and leadership for the year. Moving forward, each of our programs will include an audience description.
At all of our in-person programs, we are intentionally creating opportunities for informal connection among nonprofit leaders.
What can you look forward to learning about financial management and mission alignment this year?
The first installment in our refreshed series is on October 27: The Integrity Profile: Getting Everyone On the Same Page.
What does it take to ensure organizational strategy and decision-making are aligned with your values and mission? Participants will be introduced to The Integrity Profile, a practical tool designed to help teams define shared criteria for decision-making and strategy. You will learn how to capture these ideas in a clear, accessible resource that everyone can use, blending outcomes, strategy, and culture into one cohesive guide.
Audience: Executive and board leadership
Date/Time: Tuesday, October 27
9 am - 12 noon (breakfast provided)
Next up on November 12, we will present Budgeting for Impact.
In this session, we look at how to use our budgets and the budgeting process to build the connection between organizational finances and strategy in a way that everyone can understand and engage in. Specifically, what does a budget need to accomplish, how do we organize line items and account codes so that they make sense to both board and staff, and how do we ensure a common understanding of what it really takes to advance our mission goals. Audience: Executive leadership, program management, financial administrators, grants managers. Ideal for team participation.
Date/Time: Thursday, November 12
9 am - 12 noon (breakfast provided)
Additional sessions will be offered in Winter/Spring 2027. Look for more information by the end of 2026.
There is a True Cost: Allocating ‘overhead/indirect’ costs to programs
This session looks at how to approach allocating overhead/indirect costs and assessing the impact of different revenue restrictions.
Audience: Executive leadership, program management, financial administrators, grants managers, and fundraisers Length: 2 hrs
Financial Activities and Positions: Making financial reports accessible and effective.
In this session, we look at how financial statements can support staff and board members (their intended purpose) and what it takes to rethink the presentations and discussions we’ve become accustomed to having when it comes to finances. Audience: Executive and board leadership, treasurers, financial management/bookkeepers, program management
Length: 2 hrs
A Fiduciary and an Asset: Aligning board expectations and operations
What does it mean to be a fiduciary and act on behalf of an organization’s best interest? (it’s about more than money!); and what does it mean to be an asset and provide added benefit to an organization? (it’s more than money!).
Audience: Board members, executive leadership
Length: ~1 hr
