Strategic Finance for Nonprofit Leaders
- Free to audit
- Paid certificate
- Course certificate
- Beginner
- 6 weeks
Strategic Finance for Nonprofit Leaders, taught by James Honan and adapted from his Harvard Kennedy School classroom, is for professionals without a finance background who need to understand how money shapes decisions in their organisation. It introduces a four-step framework (Ask, Locate, Decide, Assess) for interpreting financial information and connecting financial choices to mission and sustainability, and builds skills in reading nonprofit financial statements, budgeting, resource allocation, cost containment and planning. Case studies from City Year and Steppenwolf Theatre Company illustrate the tools, alongside stakeholder mapping, logic models and the strategic triangle.
You finish with a strategic finance action plan for your own organisation and practice communicating financial insights to boards, funders and donors. It is self-paced, six weeks long at 2 to 3 hours per week, and rated introductory. Harvard lists it as free to audit on edX, with a verified certificate for $199.
What you’ll learn
- Frame the key financial questions facing a nonprofit
- Read nonprofit financial statements to assess health and sustainability
- Apply strategic finance tools to budgeting and resource allocation
- Develop evidence-based financial recommendations
- Communicate financial decisions to boards, funders and donors
Who it’s for
Nonprofit managers, board members and programme staff who must read budgets and financial statements without an accounting background.
Source: Harvard Online (opens in a new tab) · Verified · Report a change
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