Part 3: Expenses and revenue History
It is wise to stay current on the financials of the charity you are supporting or are considering supporting through your personal time and money. The same is true for following most any personal investment whether your investing time or money to an organization like a professional sports franchise such as the Oakland Raiders or with a company such as Apple. If your committing time and energy to any organization, uncovering their financial health and scrutinizing the numbers can tell you quite a bit.
A charity’s financial track record is illuminating and can provide significant information about where they have been and how they are progressing. This is a simple exercise. All you need to do as a basic overview is compare current Revenues with past years Revenues. The same goes for reviewing the charity’s Total Expenses year over year. The take-away is you want to see growth. It does not have to necessarily show big growth numbers but the key is that the charity is demonstrating they are growing. The benchmark number to begin with is that the charity is showing a growth at least equal to or greater than the rate of inflation. If this is not the case it may very likely mean the charity is going in the wrong direction and there's a good chance important programs are being cut that you wish to support. These are important factors when you set out to ascertain the big picture success of the targeted organization. Keep n mind there may be other activities influencing the growth of the charity such as a depressed economy where donations may be falling but the key is to be aware of your charity’s financial health and that it is generally experiencing noticable growing each year.
A charity’s financial track record is illuminating and can provide significant information about where they have been and how they are progressing. This is a simple exercise. All you need to do as a basic overview is compare current Revenues with past years Revenues. The same goes for reviewing the charity’s Total Expenses year over year. The take-away is you want to see growth. It does not have to necessarily show big growth numbers but the key is that the charity is demonstrating they are growing. The benchmark number to begin with is that the charity is showing a growth at least equal to or greater than the rate of inflation. If this is not the case it may very likely mean the charity is going in the wrong direction and there's a good chance important programs are being cut that you wish to support. These are important factors when you set out to ascertain the big picture success of the targeted organization. Keep n mind there may be other activities influencing the growth of the charity such as a depressed economy where donations may be falling but the key is to be aware of your charity’s financial health and that it is generally experiencing noticable growing each year.