Bridgespan Group Resources
Articles
Nonprofit Cost Analysis Toolkit: Downloadable PDF version
Download the complete Toolkit, including sample documents, for reading offline.
Costs are Cool: The Strategic Value of Economic Clarity
To make resource-related decisions intelligently, nonprofit leaders need to have a clear picture of the full costs of operating their programs and services.
Don't Compromise Good Overhead
In tough times like today's, donors are scrutinizing overhead costs more than ever. But both funders and nonprofits have a stake in protecting the "good overhead" that forms the backbone to impact.
Managing in Tough Times
Tough times require trade-offs. Making good trade-offs requires clarity about the results an organization intends to deliver and about the resources it will need to succeed.
Tools
Managing in Tough Times Resource Center
This center features articles and research that help both nonprofits and funders make critical decisions during today's turbulent economy.
Case studies
Harlem Children’s Zone: Learning to Grow with Purpose
To help HCZ refine its intended impact and chart a clear growth plan, Bridgespan used true-cost analysis to bring economic clarity to each of HCZ’s 16 programs in order to zero in on the core of HCZ.
The Association for the Advancement of Mexican Americans: Focusing for Impact
True-cost analysis played a role in helping AAMA clarify the net financial contribution of each of its programs to inform program prioritization and fundraising target-setting.
Expeditionary Learning Schools/Outward Bound: Staying True to Mission
ELS utilized true-cost analysis as part of an effort to compare financial health and mission advancement across their 126 schools to decide what to prioritize.
More Bang for the Buck
Can nonprofit organizations become more efficient without sacrificing quality? Experiences from Teach for America, Jumpstart, and Year Up show the value of truly understanding a program’s “cost per outcome.”
Our Piece of the Pie: From Data to Decision-Making
OPP utilized true-cost analysis to identify variation in economic efficiency across two sites. With this information, OPP relocated resources to the more cost-efficient of the two, allowing OPP to serve more youth with the same budget.
VolunteerMatch: Balancing Mission and Margin
VolunteerMatch had developed two revenue-generating business units, and the management team believed there were other possibilities worth pursuing. But neither of the existing operations was profitable, and many on the VolunteerMatch staff feared that some of the new options might make the organization too commercial. Were there ways to improve the performance of existing ventures? And which of the potential new activities, if any, could contribute to the organization's margin without compromising its mission?
External Resources
20 Cost-cutting Ideas for Nonprofits (Fieldstone Alliance)
185 Cutback Strategies (Fieldstone Alliance)
Cost Cutting Ideas (The Philanthropy Center)
25 Ways to Cut Costs (PDF) (The Nonprofit World)
Guide to Navigating the Finance Crisis (Nonprofit Finance Fund)
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