Nonprofits are late in building the internal financial disciplines that allow them to manage by numbers and have a thorough understanding of the unit economics of impact.

They operate constrained budgets; they don’t know how to hire and supervise accountants and often prioritize program spending over long-term investments in systems. They also sometimes lack financial sophistication on Boards that do not require adequate controls as the organization grows.

This lack of investment in their financial capabilities (both people and systems) limits the impact of these organizations in three important ways:

1. Inadequate internal controls mean money is not spent well.
2. Lack of financial management means organizations don’t have the right data, don’t do the right analysis, and aren’t able to make numbers-based decisions to improve their business. At a basic level, many of these organizations do not knowhow much it costs them to serve each beneficiary.
3. Lack of good financial management means these organizations are missing out on opportunities to improve the cost effectiveness of their impact.
4. Poor fundraising means the organization doesn’t get the money they need to grow, in a timely and predictable fashion.

In any given year, we see a cash crunch, and a large amount disappears from the books. Most importantly, management misses the opportunity to demonstrate to key stakeholders – donors, implementing partners and government – what is the cost to achieve real impact.

At Vanreusel Ventures, we have developed a due diligence process that helps us understand how well an organization is doing, how investable it is, and at the same time inform CEOs of our operational concerns. We have increasingly seen a correlation between dysfunctional governance and bad financial Performance.

Our goal is to create a service that can persuade young organizations to invest early in the systems that will help them scale and compile evidence of the cost effectiveness of their interventions. 

Scale by Numbers – 3-month accelerator for non-profits.

Over 3 months, our team will work directly with you to create, structure, and automate the financial frameworks necessary to continue your growth plan.   

STEP 1: Baseline assessment using a bespoke scorecard
STEP 2: Create a prioritized action plan on the financials from the baseline assessment
STEP 3: Choose the top 2-3 projects to accomplish within the 3 months. Past examples include:

• Establishing and strengthening internal controls
• Completing finance manual and sub-manuals
• Key recruiting of finance and accounting staff
• Financial reporting to management and finance committee
• Streamlining data collection

STEP 4: Work with CFO and financial analyst to accomplish action plan within time frame

STEP 5: Endline assessment

Is this solution right for you?

You’re going to need the Scale by Numbers Accelerator if…

• You’ve recently graduated from a start-up accelerator like Fast Forward 
• You’ve recently started a business (for profit or non-profit), with ambitions that need to be accelerated 
• You find finance daunting, but you’re ready to take control of the numbers
• You want to understand the key figures and how they affect your business
• You want a financial system that protects your cash and lets you get paid faster
• You want to create internal controls that support your growth
• You want attract investors
• You want to have full financial control