Five Finance Moves Nonprofits Can't Ignore: Finishing the Year Strong!

Finishing the year “strong” is not just a slogan for nonprofit leaders; it’s a finance and operations project. Regional Director Ellie Hume from Your Part-Time Controller walks through five concrete steps to wrap up the year with fewer surprises and more control.

She starts with yearend giving appeals. Too many organizations accidentally lock donations into narrow buckets by saying things like “your gift will buy two backpacks.” Donors then reasonably assume their dollars can only be used for that purpose. Ellie urges development and finance to work together on language so appeals connect to mission without boxing funds into restrictions the organization never intended.

Next, she turns to scenario planning and timing. December is often halfway through the fiscal year for June 30 year end organizations and just after the budget has been approved for calendar year nonprofits. That makes it a perfect time to revisit assumptions, test “what if” scenarios, and adjust to shifting funding realities instead of waiting for a crisis.

Ellie then pairs this with strategic planning, reminding viewers that a three or five year plan can’t sit on a shelf. Boards and executives need to treat it as a shared roadmap, check progress regularly, and bring staff into the conversation. As she puts it, “If your staff is not bought into your strategic plan, it's going nowhere.”

Finally, she gets very practical: start 1099 and audit preparation now. Confirm W 9s, addresses, tax IDs, and vendor coding before January chaos sets in. Pull last year’s audit checklist, gather board minutes, grant agreements, policies, and make sure reconciliations are current. That preparation reduces stress for finance, the executive director, and external partners, and it frees up capacity when the sector is under increased scrutiny.

Throughout, Ellie frames finance as a strategic partner, not just report producers. The goal is a nonprofit that is calm, compliant, and ready for whatever the new year brings.

 00:00:00 Welcome and Ellie Hume introduction
 00:02:30 YPTC growth and new Chicago and Seattle offices
 00:05:30 Why relationships matter in nonprofit finance
 00:07:20 Year end appeals and unintentionally restricted gifts
 00:11:45 Scenario planning at calendar and fiscal year midpoints
 00:14:20 Keeping multi year strategic plans active and shared
 00:18:30 Getting staff genuinely engaged in the strategy
 00:19:50 Early 1099 preparation and W 9 best practices
 00:22:10 December audit prep using last year checklists
 00:24:45 Reducing stress and freeing finance to be strategic 

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