Some firms budget better than others and while there are
a lot of good things we can say about budgets, budgets are never fun.
While I’ve made a transition from the for-profit side of
organizations to the non-profit side, I haven’t been able to escape some
responsibility for the budget process.
Budgeting at the large multinational corporation I was
employed with was a very exacting process. The controller’s office was
constantly aware of both revenues and expenses and about every way performance
could be measured; it was measured and measured frequently.
At the same time, the actual time spent by non-finance
people working on budgets was minimal. As a manager I was responsible to review
and submit my budget for approval; however, the size of my budget was rarely a
consideration. We grew our budgets when revenues and the business plan dictated
that we had sufficient opportunity to use the resources productively.
This is typically not true in our non-profit
organizations. I’ve found the process to be completely different. For years
I’ve struggled trying to determine why budgets in non-profits and our churches
can be so frustrating and then I finally stumbled on the reason: It has nothing
to do with competency as we have some fine financial types and plenty of bean-counters
in the nonprofits. The difference is related to the nature of the non-profit
and how fundamentally different it is from the for-profit.
I’m not talking about taxes or whether there is stock
given to owners. No, the difference between a non-profit and a for-profit is
all about revenues and expenditures.
Let’s take a for-profit organization first. Let’s assume
we are talking about a pizza shop. In a pizza shop, like all other for-profit
companies, there is a direct correlation between the sources of revenue and the
expenditure of funds. The pizza shop buys dough, tomato paste, fresh
ingredients; hires cooks and delivery employees; invests in ovens, menus,
advertising and assorted other things; and rents a building to sell pizzas. All
of the revenue that comes into the shop is a result of the sale of their
pizzas. Easy!
This is not true for the non-profit. In most non-profits,
revenue comes from contributions. In a church, that would be tithes and
offerings, and in other non-profits it’s donations. The non-profit, however,
needs to determine where to allocate the funds that are received. Often this is
a completely subjective process despite being carefully considered. This
process is often continually on the agenda through the year and there is a strong
and often healthy competition for the limited resources that are provided.
Since the needs and the mission of the organization are broad and typically
never ending, there is a never-ending desire for additional revenue to meet
organizational needs and mission desires.
The vast majority of the non-profit organizations are
very careful with expenses, often getting great mileage out of every dollar
spent. However, because there are few linkages between successful fund raising
and the resourcing of projects and activities, much more effort and
thoughtfulness is required on the allocation of the money through the annual
budget process.
Reprint from ChurchExecutive Magazine October 2012
