IST2087-1-FA14 - Financial Management

Instructor: David Carlson, Ph.D. (Mathematics, 1971; Religious and Theological Studies, 2013)
E-mail: dcarlson@iliff.edu
Office Hours: 5-6pm, Tuesdays, in Schlessman Lounge; otherwise, by appointment

Course Description: This class is a brief examination of various financial management concepts relevant to church leaders, non-profit and for-profit managers, and various social and community activist positions.  The class will explore important debt, equity, and fundraising issues critical to success in these fields and introduce basic financial terms such as forecasting, budgeting, and cash flow.

Course Objectives:

Books for the Course

Wolf, Thomas. Managing a Nonprofit Organization, Updated Twenty-First-Century Edition . New York: Free Press, 2012. ISBN 978-1-4516-0846-5 (paperback); ISBN 978-1-4391-3489-4 (ebook).

This course will focus on Chapters 1, 6, 7, and 8 of Wolf's book. Other required learning materials will be available on Canvas or distributed in hardcopy form as needed.

On Reserve, NOT required to buy

Connors, Tracy D. and Christopher T. Callaghan, eds. Financial Management for Nonprofit Organizations . New York: American Management Associations, 1982.

See Taylor Library's list of online book sellers for purchasing options.

Each student will identify by the second week a congregation or another nonprofit organization suitable for engagement throughout the quarter in order to help the student ground key concepts, principles, and issues of financial management. To this end, each student will obtain and analyze relevant documents and interview key persons involved in the financial management of the congregation or nonprofit organization selected in light of the concepts, principles, and issues from course readings, instructor presentations, and class discussion. During weeks 9 and 10, students will make brief oral presentations to the class. A final paper based upon the student’s analysis is due on Friday, November 14th, 11:59pm.

Thus, the final project involves two distinct, but closely related, “deliverables,” so to speak. The first deliverable is a brief oral presentation (10-12 minutes) of a financial management profile of the project congregation/NPO selected by the student. Essentially, the profile is a description of the financial management structure and dynamics of the congregation/NPO. The profile is based upon the documents and field interview(s) conducted by the student, in light of the concepts, principles, and issues discussed in class and course readings.  The elements of the profile (such as roles and responsibilities, procedures, documents, etc.) will be clarified through class readings and discussion over the first few weeks of the course.

The second deliverable is a final paper consisting of two parts: The first part of the paper (approximately 10-12 pages, double-spaced) is the more detailed financial management profile from which the oral presentation is a summary. The structure and formatting of the paper will be clarified after the elements of the profile are identified (no later than Week 5). The second part of the paper shall consist of brief responses (150-250 words each) to two reflective questions to be given at the end of class during Week 9.

NOTE: If the student’s project congregation/NPO does not currently have a basic set of financial documents to work with but intends to develop these soon, the instructor will work with the student to modify the details of the oral presentation in a satisfactory manner. It is up to the student to take the initiative by proposing as soon as possible an alternative to the requirements described above.

ADDED 10/30/2014

 Essay questions in final paper are dropped. I have decided not to include any essay questions for your response in the final paper.  In this way, you can concentrate on describing—and reflecting upon—the financial management structure and dynamics of your project congregation or other NPO.  

 Flexible structure but cover the key points. Your brief oral presentation of approximately 10 minutes and your final paper should be based upon your modified financial management profile outline (or “table of contents,” if you prefer). (As already mentioned in class and elsewhere, this modified profile outline needs to be posted by Saturday evening, November 1.) However, the structure (or format) of your oral presentation and the first part of your paper does not have to strictly follow the structure of your modified outline (or the structure of the outline that I provided). In other words, you have flexibility in how the key elements of the financial management structure and dynamics of your project’s congregation or other NPO are actually presented orally and in your final paper.

 Describe and notice. As said in class, in addition to describing, in general, important elements of the financial management structure and dynamics of your project congregation or other NPO, include some specific aspects that you noticed. That is, include some examples or instances that vividly illustrate a key concept, principle, or issue of this course. (As an example, discerning cash flow problems from the balance sheet of the Center for African-American Health.) In other words, share some ways in which your engagement with the documents and people of your project congregation or other NPO has helped you to ground the concepts, principles, and issues discussed in this course. In your paper, you may also mention briefly some of the guest speakers—but the focus of your paper needs to be on your project organization. Strive for a balance between describing and noticing in your oral presentation and paper.

 Some oral presentation details. You are welcome to use PowerPoint if you wish, but simply speaking directly to the class (as, for example, Rev. Chapman, Rev. Barlow, Mr. Grant, and Rev. Kottke did) is perfectly acceptable. Obviously, you will need to condense your description of the financial management structure and dynamics of your projection organization in order to have time to tell us 2-3 things that you actually learned from the experience. I suggest preparing a single sheet handout (i.e., 1-2 page) handout of key points, which may (or may not) follow your modified project profile outline.

 

25% Class attendance/participation (50 points, 5 points per week)

25% Individual postings (5 postings @ 10 points each)

50% Final project (oral presentation, 40 points; final paper, 60 points)

Total: 200 points

 

Policies and Services

Incompletes: Incomplete grades will not be issued for this course.

Pass/Fail:  Masters students wishing to take the class pass/fail should discuss this with the instructor by the second class session.

Academic Integrity and Community Covenant:  All students are expected to abide by Iliff’s statement on Academic Integrity, as published in the Masters Student Handbook, or the Joint PhD Statement on Academic Honesty, as published in the Joint PhD Student Handbook, as appropriate.  All participants in this class are expected to be familiar with Iliff’s Community Covenant.

Accommodations:  Iliff engages in a collaborative effort with students with disabilities to reasonably accommodate student needs.   Students are encouraged to contact their assigned advisor to initiate the process of requesting accommodations.  The advising center can be contacted at advising@iliff.edu or by phone at 303-765-1146. 

Writing Lab:  Grammar and organization are important for all written assignments.  Additional help is available from the Iliff Writing Lab, which is available for students of any level who need help beginning an assignment, organizing thoughts, or reviewing a final draft. 

Inclusive Language:  It is expected that all course participants will use inclusive language in speaking and writing, and will use terms that do not create barriers to classroom community. 

Degree Learning Goals

To be added later.

DateDayDetails
Sep 11, 2014ThuWeek 1 - Course Overview due by 12:00AM
Sep 16, 2014TuePost Personal Statement and Preferred Final Project Congregation/NPOdue by 05:59AM
Sep 18, 2014ThuWeek 2 - Financial Management Elements and Dynamics; Confirming Project NPOsdue by 12:00AM
Sep 25, 2014ThuWeek 3 -- Financial Statementsdue by 12:00AM
Sep 30, 2014TuePost Progress Update on Contact and Documents from Your Project Congregation/NPOdue by 05:59AM
Oct 02, 2014ThuWeek 4 -- Budgeting Overviewdue by 12:00AM
Oct 07, 2014TuePost Two Resources on Financial Management Relevant to Class Objectives due by 05:59AM
Oct 09, 2014ThuWeek 5 -- Budgeting Processdue by 12:00AM
Oct 14, 2014TuePost Preliminary Set of Interview Questionsdue by 05:59AM
Oct 16, 2014ThuWeek 6 -- Fiscal Proceduresdue by 12:00AM