Analysis of Financial Management Issue

Assignment Description and Purpose Students will select a nonprofit organization or association and identify a significant financial management issue facing that organization. The purpose of this assignment is for students to demonstrate that they can apply the principles discussed in the reading to date in assessing a financial challenge that impacts the ability of a specific NPO or association to meet its mission objectives. Students can choose an organization in one of two ways: • Select an organization with which you are personally familiar. Some students will select an organization with which they have a professional connection. Others may choose to select an organization with which they have a personal connection (e.g., a religious organization, a social organization, etc.). • Select an organization that you identify through research. You may search the UMUC library databases to identify an article about an organization in an academic journal and then identify a financial issue with respect to that organization. Sample Issues While you must include consideration of the concepts discussed in the Weikart text, the issue you focus on can address fundraising challenges, funds management, program execution, or organization management. Here are a few ideas to get you started: • Obtaining sufficient funding to run programs is a challenge. Donations can vary from year to year, which is a challenge for the selected NPO or association because it relies on donations to run its programs. • Managing the organization’s programs is a challenge. It can be difficult for this NPO or association to find funds to update its technology capabilities, which has become important to program execution and fundraising success. • Balancing the amount of funding that goes to programs is a challenge. This NPO or association has high administrative costs, which impacts its ability to support the cost of its programs. • Paying for expert workers is a challenge. This NPO or association relies on volunteers for program delivery because it does not have the funding to pay for expert workers, which impacts its ability to deliver high quality services. Note: these are just some examples. It is by no means a list of all possible topics, and students are encouraged to develop other topics for the assignment. Essay Content Make sure that your essay includes the following: • An introduction to the organization and its mission • Information on the specific financial issue facing the organization • A discussion of why this issue is important to the financial health of the organization • Information on if and how the organization is addressing this issue Assignment Criteria The assignment should be presented in a professional style. It should be 500 - 600 words long and should be double spaced. It should follow APA Format. It should properly cite all sources, both in the text and in a reference page at the end. It must include a minimum of two citations to the Weikart text that demonstrate your ability to apply the information in the text to the issues discussed. As always, your essay should include a title page with your name, the name of the class, the professor’s name, the date, the assignment number.