Essentially all nonprofit managers and leaders understand the importance of financial resources to the success of their organization. And yet, all too often, the way nonprofit leaders and managers view the financial aspects of the nonprofit enterprise are too narrow and constricted. The chapters of Part Four collectively address the multiple facets of the process of securing, allocating, using, and accounting for financial resources, all with the orientation of maximizing the potential for mission impact and results. Jeanne Bell and Shannon Ellis set the tone for Part Four with their discussion in Chapter Seventeen of strategic financial leadership—a critical yet generally overlooked dimension of successful nonprofit financial performance. Bell and Ellis explain how the strategic orientation of effective financial leadership has the potential to open the door to new possibilities for nonprofit development, and they discuss how this work serves as the foundation for the operational work of financial management.

Of course, raising money through philanthropic channels is a time-honored approach to securing funds for nonprofits, and fundraising has become more competitive and sophisticated. Many consider philanthropic fundraising to be the heart of nonprofit finance and, in Chapter Eighteen, Sarah K. Nathan and Eugene R. Tempel outline the key elements of an effective fundraising program for a typical nonprofit and explain some of the key options that exist for nonprofits that seek gifts and donations, with an emphasis on the need to engage in the fundraising process in a way that aligns well with the mission and culture of the organization. In Chapter Nineteen, Dennis R. Young and Jung-In Soh approach the financial resource question from a broader and more strategic perspective, with a framework they recommend be used by nonprofit financial leaders to assess their revenue options. This chapter offers a relatively comprehensive discussion of the range of options for securing financial resources and explains how nonprofit leaders can use the framework to make decisions about the critical question of revenue mix. Of course, one of the most common revenue sources for many nonprofits is governmental funding, which often involves contracting with government. In Chapter Twenty, Steven Rathgeb Smith examines the nature and implications of nonprofit-government contracting and how this has evolved in the United States, discusses the key benefits, challenges, and dynamics associated with it, and offers advice for ways that nonprofits might maintain an appropriate level of engagement and autonomy when engaged in this common yet potentially problematic nonprofit revenue relationship.

Nonprofit organizations, of course, do not exist to raise money. They exist to pursue their missions and causes. Central to mission accomplishment, however, is effective and responsible financial management, a process that enables the thoughtful and responsible stewardship and utilization of the financial resources of the organization. This is the focus of Woods Bowman's Chapter Twenty-One. Bowman explains in pragmatic terms the fundamental tools and techniques that are integral to effective nonprofit financial management. In his discussion about the challenges of financial sustainability and the need for mission-based decision making, Bowman provides practical financial management advice that is relevant to and usable by both financial and general managers of nonprofit organizations of any size, as they work to ensure that they are good stewards who are using the financial resources of the organization to achieve the greatest benefit and impact.