DBD Team

By the DBD Financial Management Team

By Jan Brogdon and Robyn Furness-Fallin

What a year! We gathered the team to wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday season and VERY Happy New Year!

Earlier this week, MacKenzie Scott announced that she had given more than $4 billion to 384 organizations around the country. Some of our clients were fortunate enough to receive one of those gifts. As we read Ms. Scott’s Medium post and learned more about the organizations chosen by her and her team, we realized there are many lessons to be learned from this generous act.

In the latest episode of the DBD Podcast, Jon Simons talks to DBD teammates Brian Keel and Jim Mellor about managing nonprofit finances in the coming year. From budget forecasting to working with your bank, their forthright advice will help you make better decisions now and in the future.

In this week's episode of the DBD Podcast, Bruce Berglund and Jon Simons discuss two more leadership axioms that guide our work. If you've worked with us in the past these probably will sound familiar. Consider who else on your staff or volunteer team could benefit from learning these important concepts. 

In the latest episode of the DBD Podcast, Bruce Berglund and Jon Simons discuss several leadership axioms that guide our work. If you've worked with us in the past, or attended one of our trainings, one or more of these might sound familiar. 

"As he stepped off the map into uncharted territory, Meriwether Lewis discovered that what was in front of him was nothing like what was behind him and that what had brought him to this point in the journey would take him no farther. ... [Lewis was] looking for a water route, and they had run out of water. How do you canoe over mountains?"

For the past two months nonprofits have been in "emergency" fundraising mode. It has been a scramble to serve communities in new ways, make difficult staffing decisions and try to forecast an entirely new budget. 

Many are probably thinking "I can't wait to get back to normal."

But what if "normal" isn't the best idea for the rest of 2020? In a world still filled with uncertainty, what can we do to maximize our impact and prepare ourselves to be ready for whatever may come?

Our current crisis has revealed the financial strengths and weaknesses in our companies, in our families, and in nonprofits. While no one could have anticipated this particular set of circumstances, history tells us that challenges will always come.