Public Affairs 4050: Counting Dollars and Making Change for Nonprofits

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This is a sample syllabus to provide general information about the course and it's requirements. Course requirements are subject to change. This syllabus does not contain all assignment or course detail and currently enrolled students should reference the syllabus provided by their instructor. For a specific syllabus, please email us a request.

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Course Overview

3 Credit Hours
Modalities Available: In-Person


The nonprofit sector consists of a diverse array of organizations, each with a mission that presents an opportunity to advance society. A central component of moving from mission aspirations to mission successes for nonprofit organizations is managing and leveraging financial resources. Despite the importance of financial management, many nonprofit professionals have an aversion to accounting. The goal of this course is to provide tools for future nonprofit leaders and board members to better understand and use financial information to improve decision- making, evaluation, and regulatory compliance. The course is not intended to make students producers of financial information but rather consumers of it. Through a combination of lectures, readings, case discussions, and guest speakers, students will gain an appreciation of the nuances of nonprofit finances and will be better equipped to use nonprofit financial information in furtherance of meeting mission goals.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students should successfully be able to:

  • Understand the roles of financial information, both in compliance and effective nonprofit management
  • Read and interpret financial reports of nonprofit organizations and find relevant financial information to assess an organization’s financial health and spending priorities
  • Conduct assessments of nonprofit organizations’ finances and comparisons to peer organizations
  • Integrate financial information into an organization’s strategic and operational decision-making processes

Requirements and Expectations

A textbook may required for this course. Consult your instructor's syllabus for details.

  • Group case discussion participation: 10%
  • 990 Scavenger Hunt Submission: 10%
  • 990 Numbers Investigator: 15%
  • Buckeye Food Bank Budgeting Exercise Submission: 15%
  • Module quizzes: 24%
  • Guest speaker series questions: 6%
  • Group nonprofit financial statement review presentation: 20%

Consult your instructor's syllabus.

Modules

  1. Introduction and overview
  2. Assessing financial health
  3. Assessing resource flows
  4. Assessing spending priorities
  5. Budgeting, benchmarking and affiliations
  6. Compliance, audits and internal controls