What do nonprofit CFOs do?
CFO roles vary across organizations, depending on the size and complexity of the organization. Organizations with budgets below $1.5 million often cannot afford and/or don’t need the specialized skills of a CFO. CFOs of organizations with budgets between $1.5 million and $10 million (which we’ll call “small” here) tend to have responsibility for multiple areas, including accounting, real estate, technology, legal, and administration. In contrast, CFOs of organizations with budgets over $40 million (“large”) more often focus tightly on accounting and finance issues, including oversight of the organization’s investment strategy and endowment. For organizations in the $10 million to $40 million budget range (“medium”), CFO positions can be similar to those at either large or small organizations, depending on the complexity of the organization’s programs and revenue sources. If a mid-sized organization offers highly diverse programs (such as multiple income-generating businesses or program
