Financial Structures and Strategy (Spring 2025) - Online Course

Course Description

Intended for those with little to moderate familiarity with financial concepts, this four-week course helps students better understand institutional finance and accountability. Staff, board members, and volunteers will find this course applicable to their work within nonprofit organizations, agencies, and other structures.

“Financial Structures and Strategy” introduces the “big ideas” of organizational financial management: functional accounting, transparency, the annual reporting process, and the relationship between finance and mission. Not only will students learn the basic structures and functions of financial oversight, they will also understand how to activate finance as a strategic tool to benefit organizational planning and evaluation.

Over the four weeks, students participate in dynamic discussions, review relevant and timely readings, and ultimately learn how to prepare and analyze financial systems.   

The course is divided into four weekly segments, each accompanied by an online lesson, forum, chat, and assignment:

• Week 1: Course overview and introduction to financial systems
• Week 2: Overview of the annual audit process and preparation of financial statements
• Week 3: Introduction to the IRS Form 990, UBIT, and other tax considerations
• Week 4: Strategies and recommendations for long-term institutional financial health

Note: The Introduction to Financial Management course presented by AASLH is not required as a prerequisite for this course, though may prove useful in preparation.

Details

SESSION DATES: March 24 -April 27, 2025

COST: Early bird before January 1: $175 AASLH Members / $275 Nonmembers 
After January 1: $199 AASLH Members / $299 Nonmembers 

10% discount for STEPS participants with promo code found in the online STEPS Community or by emailing learn@aaslh.org

OPEN REGISTRATION: Until March 17, 2025; 20 participant limit. Courses typically fill up before the registration deadline, so register early.

Course Logistics

FORMAT: Online, Instructor-led, Weekly-paced course

LENGTH: 4 weeks

PARTICIPATION: Students should expect to spend approximately 5-7 hours per week on readings, text-based forum discussions, and assignments

LIVE ZOOM OFFICE HOURS: We recommend downloading the Zoom mobile or desktop app for this course. 

• A one-hour live Zoom office hour will be held weekly
• Final dates/times will be determined by the instructor at the start of the course
• Office hours are not recorded and are optional to attend

MATERIALS:

• Required Textbook: Financial Fundamentals for Historic House Museums, by Rebekah Beaulieu, 2017.
• Texts are NOT INCLUDED with registration. Participants must order the book separately from the book seller of their choice. A discount code is provided in the registration confirmation email.
• Students should bring real-life financial information to the course to be used in course assignments to create a budget. 
• Students should also have access to and basic knowledge of Microsoft Excel or a similar spreadsheet program as it will be used extensively to complete assignments. 
• Note: all institutional financial information will be kept confidential and shared only with the instructor.

TECHNOLOGY: Participants will need access to internet and a desktop computer, laptop, or tablet to participate in this course. For the live Zoom office hours, we recommend having access to a camera and a headset, earpods, or other audio and microphone device. Automatic captioning is available in the Zoom discussions. 

Participant Outcomes

Participation in this course will help you:   

• Understand basic nonprofit functional accounting systems and the role of financial transparency
• Structure and execute the annual financial reporting process
• Analyze financial data according to mission relevance
• Establish financial procedures to ensure financial sustainability.

Who Should Take This Course

Whether you have financial responsibilities at your organization, wish to build a skill set for a leadership position in the future, or simply want to better comprehend and contribute to financial decision-making, this course is for you.  

How to Register

Click here for instructions on how to register yourself or another user for this event.