“Visitor traffic can be a treasure trove of information about the usage patterns of a Web site,” says Internet strategist Michael Stein. The trick is in how to tease enough meaning from this mountain of raw data to make the most from your Internet presence.

Budget shortfalls are imposing new burdens (and casualties) on nonprofits already hard-pressed to find ways of doing more with less…and even less. Does the charitable mission of nonprofits also carry an implicit obligation to bring a deeper sense of compassion to decisions about staff layoffs?

Who speaks for democracy today? Scott Harshbarger, former attorney general of Massachusetts, maintains that the nonprofit sector has a unique and vital role to play in preserving democratic institutions.

Could a $1 million challenge grant be a bad idea? If your organization isn’t staffed to raise the match, or if the grant comes with too many restrictions, it could do more harm than good. Understanding your capital structure is key to making wise decisions about any major change to your balance sheet. Clara Miller explains the elements of capital structure and why this often-overlooked element of financial planning deserves greater attention.

Legendary humorist Rube Goldberg rates an individual entry in Webster’s New World Collegiate Dictionary (4th Edition): “U.S. cartoonist of comically involved contrivances; designating any very complicated invention, machine, scheme, etc., laboriously contrived to perform a seemingly simple operation.” One of our favorite Goldberg “inventions,” a Modest Mosquito-bite Scratcher, is a device employing springs, levers, an

In a frank and clearheaded introduction to this issue, the authors explore the economic challenges that lie ahead and offer guidance for negotiating the various conundrums of nonprofit financial structures.

The complexities of our financial systems derive from the distinctive nature of the nonprofit market–its cost and revenue structures, its limited access to capital, and the fact that nonprofits often serve dual buyers (funders and constituents). Sound financial management must take this unique market into account.

Author Mark A. Hager presents a detailed examination of how U.S. nonprofits are reporting–and often underreporting–grant proposal writing expenses, arguing that a more accurate accounting would benefit both individual organizations and the sector as a whole.

Large multi-year grants may take years of consistent effort to secure, but if a grant arrives in a lump sum, it will have to be reported as revenue that year, causing fundraising costs to appear much higher as a percentage of revenue in non-receipt years. Be sure to explain this fluctuation to your funders.

Some variations in how organizations report management and general expenses on their IRS Form 990s defy plausibility. Based on the largest study to date of overhead costs in the nonprofit sector, this article explores the consequences of these inconsistencies.

Many nonprofit rating agencies use financial ratios as a means to evaluate organizations, posting their findings online for all to see. Learning the lay of the ratings agency land will help you make the best of this information–and make sure your story is told a completely as possible.