Infographic: 2015-2016 Nonprofit Accounting Insights and Analysis
Recently we surveyed nearly 300 of you—our NonProfit PRO readers—to benchmark the methods used for nonprofit financial management. Needham, Massachusetts-based AccuFund Inc., a provider of nonprofit accounting and fundraising solutions, commissioned the survey and has shared the results via an infographic.
The 2015-2016 Nonprofit Accounting Insights & Analysis Survey sought information central to nonprofit financial management, including the amount of time spent inside and outside an organization’s financial system pulling and manipulating data, as well as specific software features used to manage nonprofits.
Key findings include:
- More than half of all respondents struggle with reporting non-financial performance data.
- The overall majority of respondents don’t enjoy the automation of reporting, with 73 percent spending up to five hours a week manipulating data outside their financial systems, and 27 percent spending more than six hours per week.
- 95 percent of respondents report having less than five accounting staff members; the reporting bottleneck can’t be solved by manual intervention.
Nonprofits are not leveraging technology in a cost-effective way.
Capturing the right data that enables organizations to make important decisions is an ongoing challenge. At 60 percent, the majority of respondents indicated their current financial software does not store and support reporting of non-financial performance data. “It’s impossible for program managers to manage their programs with optimal efficiency when they are waiting on reports,” said Peter Stam, president of AccuFund Inc. “It’s more than an inconvenience, it’s thwarting the mission.”
Additionally, 55 percent indicated their current financial software dashboards cannot be customized for individual users. “In today’s world, having data and accurate reporting at your fingertips is not only convenient, but crucial,” explained Stam. “Nonprofit managers need to make decisions with confidence, knowing the information they are relying on is accurate. Staff, managers, volunteers and board members thrive on using data to better understand trends and next steps.”
Well-meaning people may hesitate to push forward with technological tools that they need, but as staff spends more and more time inside and outside the system manipulating data, it’s costing the organization in its lack of agility.
Other data and key findings include:
- 81 percent of respondents spend up to five hours each week pulling data/reports within their financial systems, and 19 percent spend more than six hours each week.
- 55 percent of respondents cannot customize their dashboards for individual users, and 51 percent cannot view a dashboard with graphical analytics.
View the full infographic here.
