Financial Management

underwater concept
  • Endowment
  • | Legal

Managing Underwater Endowments Amid Market Volatility

A well-crafted policy will help meet both donors’ and the school’s long-term needs.
6 min read
Friends Select School table

Feature  

  • Budget
  • | Enrollment
  • | Tuition

Public Funding, Private Choices: School Choice Funding This item is protected.

More states than ever are offering school choice funding, but are the strings attached worth it?
11 min read
dollar in god we trust

Business Intelligence  

  • Budget
  • | Salary
  • | Tuition

Faith and School Finances This item is protected.

Independent schools with a religious affiliation are more reliant on annual giving than all other types of independent schools.
4 min read
Stock image of schoolgirl sitting on stack of books, shadow of university student on wall
  • Budget
  • | Leadership
  • | Planning

Lessons from a Start-Up School This item is protected.

Jewish Leadership Academy’s business leader shared what he learned about perpetual project management in the three years leading up to the school’s opening.
4 min read
spending investment concept
  • Endowment
  • | Investments

How You Spend vs. What You Spend

If your school’s endowment policy uses the Moving Average methodology, you may want to consider the Constant Growth methodology instead.
6 min read
stock illustration of a man painting over another person's speech bubble
  • Accounting
  • | Culture
  • | Risk Management

Can You Say Anything? Free Speech in Independent Schools

How laws and regulations on free speech apply to nonprofit independent schools as well as policy and cultural considerations.
6 min read

CEO Notebook  

  • Endowment
  • | Planning
  • | Research

Your Peers Are Entering Their School’s Data. Have You?

More than 1,000 member schools have started data entry so they can reap the benefits of robust analysis and benchmarking in the new year.
4 min read
future looking concept art (1)
  • Change Management
  • | Planning

Using Future Studies To Cope with Top Challenges

School leaders need to envision multiple possible outcomes when facing risks and opportunities.
5 min read
Rocket Launch with Rising Graph on Blue Background
  • Endowment
  • | Investments

Strategies for Boosting Unrestricted Endowment

Schools with smaller and larger endowment may benefit from different approaches.
6 min read
Hand holds danger warning sign with exclamation mark on red background.

Risk & Compliance  

  • Debt
  • | Enrollment
  • | Planning

10 Warning Signs of Financial Distress at Your School

Board members and top administrators should know these rules of thumb before problems become too dire to correct.
6 min read

Projections  

  • Planning
  • | Procedures
  • | Technology

The Inevitability of AI

As AI capabilities grow rapidly, so does their potential to enhance efficiency and strategic thinking in the business office.
6 min read
Top view of a green landscape with half in drought (stock photo)
  • Budget
  • | Planning
  • | Research

Financial Differences Between Surplus and Deficit Schools

In FY23, 66% of schools realized a surplus and 34% had a deficit. How did NTR, annual giving, reserves, staffing ratio and additional levers differ between the surplus and deficit schools?
3 min read
Iveth Bosmediano
  • Budget
  • | Legal
  • | Membership

Unsung Hero: Iveth Bosmediano, The Sacred Heart School of Montreal

This finance director has excelled in regulatory compliance and advanced her school’s policies and handbooks.
2 min read
Stock image of private school student with her head resting on her papers.

Business Intelligence  

  • Budget
  • | Enrollment
  • | Research

Boarding School Enrollment Risk This item is protected.

Day-boarding schools are particularly concerned about lagging boarding enrollment.
4 min read
outsourcing concept
  • Accounting
  • | Budget
  • | Change Management

Efficient Expansion: Outsourcing School Business Tasks

Outsourcing can help independent schools address higher-level priorities, enhance operational capabilities and ensure compliance.
7 min read
ai concept
  • Leadership
  • | Planning
  • | Technology

Predictive Financial Modeling with AI: Insights from the 2023-24 NBOA Leadership Academy

AI offers the independent school business office immediate benefits, and promises a more automated and efficient future.
5 min read
goldfischer group photo final

Voices from the Field  

  • Audit
  • | Facilities
  • | Leadership

Coming Around Again

2024 Ken White Distinguished Business Officer on construction queries, long-term teaching and business officer generosity.
9 min read
GROWTH CONCEPT

Strategies  

  • Cash Management
  • | Endowment
  • | Financing

Growing Your School’s Cash Reserves — and Using Them Wisely This item is protected.

Every school should have a clear board policy about operating cash and PPRRSM reserves, as well as a plan for using the idle cash.
6 min read
Brewster Academy food provider cooks over a gas range stove
  • Budget
  • | Cash Management
  • | Food Service

Inflation on the Menu This item is protected.

Independent school dining programs leverage financially sustainable strategies to nourish their communities.
13 min read
stock photo of wood-carved piggy bank against green background

Risk & Compliance  

  • Accounting
  • | Environmental Sustainability
  • | Tax

Claiming Green Tax Credits from the Inflation Reduction Act This item is protected.

Nonprofit independent schools can receive direct cash payments when investing in renewable energy technology.
3 min read