How-To Guides
Practical guides for development directors choosing nonprofit software, managing grant compliance, and running a tighter operation.
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Decision path
Use guides when the workflow needs shape before a tool decision.
Start here for grant compliance, restricted funds, CRM replacement, and reporting workflows that need a clearer operating model before pricing or migration comes up.
Grant Software Types: CRM, Accounting, and Discovery Compared
How grant management software, donor CRMs, accounting tools, and grant discovery platforms differ, including where each category breaks down.
How to Calculate Donor Retention Rate (With Formula and Example)
The exact donor retention rate formula, a worked example using real numbers, industry benchmarks, and what to do with the result once you have it.
How to Choose a Nonprofit CRM: A Decision Framework for Development Directors
A step-by-step guide for mid-sized nonprofits evaluating CRM software, covering requirements, total cost, grant management needs, and implementation risk.
How to Migrate from Salesforce NPSP: What the Nonprofit Cloud Transition Actually Costs
Salesforce is sunsetting NPSP in favor of Nonprofit Cloud. For mid-sized nonprofits, the migration cost ($15K-$50K+) is an opportunity to evaluate whether
Indirect Cost Rate for Nonprofits: De Minimis, NICRA, and How to Calculate
What nonprofit indirect cost rates are, how the 15% de minimis rate works, when to negotiate a NICRA, and how to track recovery.
Grant Match Requirements: Tracking Cash vs In-Kind Contributions
A practical guide to grant matching requirements, including cash match, in-kind contributions, valuation, documentation, timing rules, and audit support.
Migrating from Spreadsheets to Grant Management Software
How to know when spreadsheets have stopped working for grant compliance, what to inventory before migrating, how to clean your data, how long migration takes
Net Asset Release: When and How Nonprofits Release Restricted Funds
A step-by-step guide to nonprofit net asset releases - what triggers a release, the journal entry, how it flows through the Statement of Activities, common
The Net Grant Problem: Why a $50K Grant Is Really Worth $40K
Grant compliance consumes far more resources than funders reimburse. Here's what the real compliance cost data shows - and why the gap between actual overhead
Nonprofit Audit Evidence Binder: What to Include and How to Organize
How to build a nonprofit audit evidence binder (PBC binder) - the standard sections auditors expect, what to prepare before fieldwork begins, how to organize
Nonprofit Audit Readiness: What to Prepare, When to Start, and What Auditors Actually Request
Nonprofit audits come in two forms: financial statement audits and federal Single Audits under Uniform Guidance. This guide covers what triggers each, what
Nonprofit Board Grant Reporting Dashboard: What to Show and What to Skip
How to build a nonprofit board grant reporting dashboard that shows restricted balances, grant pacing, reporting risk, and the operating signals board members
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Test donor, grant, restricted-fund, and compliance work together before you commit to a new process.