Café PANO (April 2025) - Making the Numbers Make Sense: Understanding Nonprofit Finances

Café PANO - Making the Numbers Make Sense: Understanding Nonprofit Finances
Tuesday, April 29 | 10:00 AM – 10:45 AM | Virtual Gathering (PANO Members)

Hosted by: Stephanie Chapuis, PANO's Membership & Consultant Collaborative Manager

Guest Speaker: Stephanie Cory

About our April 2025 Café PANO Topic - Making the Numbers Make Sense: Understanding Nonprofit Finance 
Do your eyes glaze over when you look at your nonprofit’s financial statements? Does it seem like everyone else in the room understands them better than you? Gain the confidence you need to read and understand these important documents. This session will provide an overview of basic accounting concepts as they apply to nonprofit organizations. You will learn how decipher a statement of financial position (balance sheet) and statement of activities (income statement).

About Café PANO

In 2014, PANO hosted a listening tour with 20 stops engaging 320 individuals in conversations about nonprofit successes and unique challenges in various regions of the state - and how PANO might help. 10 years later (and counting), we’re still listening! And one thing we’ve heard a lot lately is the desire for more and deeper connection.

To that end, we introduced Café PANO in April 2024: a supportive space for PANO Members to come together, share experiences, and find inspiration - building a sense of community, one conversation at a time.

Based on what we've learned from our first few gatherings of Café PANO in 2024, we are trying something a little different in 2025 - roughly every other month, we'll offer informal, unprogrammed time with your peers as we did in 2024 (30 minutes), and in the opposite months, we'll extend our time together to 45 minutes for a deeper discussion on a particular topic, to be identified and shared in advance. We hope this will allow folks to address those in-the-moment needs that we don't always have time to plan for as well as the need for more focused discussion around relevant themes that are popping up for folks around the state.

This month, we've invited Stephanie Cory, Principal, Stephanie Cory Consulting, member of PANO's Consultant Collaborative, to lead a discussion all about Making the Numbers Make Sense: Understanding Nonprofit Finance. Here's a little more about what she'll cover:

Do your eyes glaze over when you look at your nonprofit’s financial statements? Does it seem like everyone else in the room understands them better than you? Gain the confidence you need to read and understand these important documents. This session will provide an overview of basic accounting concepts as they apply to nonprofit organizations. You will learn how decipher a statement of financial position (balance sheet) and statement of activities (income statement).

Got a topic in mind for a future gathering? You can share those here, along with any recommendations for time of year for the discussion and suggested facilitators.

Café PANO will meet on the following dates in 2025:

• Tuesday, January 28, 10:00-10:30 AM
• Wednesday, February 26, 10:00-10:45 AM - Topic: Legislative Updates & PANO's 2025 Advocacy Priorities with PANO Executive Director Anne Gingerich
• Thursday, March 27, 9:00-9:30 AM
• Tuesday, April 29, 10:00-10:45 AM - Topic: Making the Numbers Make Sense: Understanding Nonprofit Finances with Stephanie Cory
• Wednesday, May 28, 9:30-10:00 AM
• Thursday, June 26, 10:00-10:45 AM - Topic TBD (suggest one here!)
• Tuesday, July 29, 10:00-10:30 AM
• Wednesday, August 27, 10:00-10:45 AM - Topic TBD (suggest one here!)
• Tuesday, September 16, 10:00-10:30 AM
• Tuesday, October 28, 9:00-9:45 AM - Topic TBD (suggest one here!)
• Tuesday, November 18, 10:00-10:30 AM
• Wednesday, December 17, 10:00-10:30 AM

So, if you're feeling discouraged, seeking guidance, in need of a sounding board, or simply craving connection with like-minded individuals, Café PANO is the spot for you. Join us to see how we can help each other through the ups and downs of the nonprofit journey. From fundraising challenges to communications questions, from volunteer management practices to exciting new program ideas, no topic is off-limits.

What keeps you up at night? What innovative experiment is working really well at your organization that might be worth sharing with others? What would you love to try at your nonprofit and want to see if others have had success?

The beauty of being part of this network is that none of us needs to have all the answers on our own - we are stronger together. We hope that you'll join and learn with us as we explore the art of gathering, designed with a purpose for a specific group of people (that group, of course, being PANO members!). 

So, PANO Members, brew up your favorite morning beverage and then let's brew up some community together!

Single Login Cost:
FREE for PANO Members | Not-Yet Members, look out for other opportunities to join us throughout the year. For now, we appreciate your grace and understanding while we experiment with something new.

Terms of Participation
Your registration entitles you to a single login. Please do not share the login information with others, as it may interfere with your ability to join. If multiple individuals from your organization would like to participate, please register each person separately.

Materials & Login Instructions:
Materials (PowerPoint and other handouts), along with instructions on how to login, will be emailed to attendees a day or two prior to the program date. PANO uses Zoom as our virtual gathering platform; you can familiarize yourself with Zoom and/or join a test meeting prior to these sessions.

This program will be recorded for internal purposes only. If you’d like to attend but can’t make the date, look out for future gatherings at Café PANO!

About the Member Benefit:

PANO is the statewide membership organization supporting the thousands of nonprofits that serve millions of people in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. While other associations cater to specific nonprofit trades, PANO is the only one that supports PA’s nonprofit sector as a collective whole. And THAT is the number one benefit of joining PANO – connection to other nonprofit professionals! Yes, the discounts on trainings, free Standards for Excellence resources, discounted products and services, and other benefits are great, too, but the true value of a network like this is that you are not alone. Together, we are 25,000 voices strong.

Learn more about PANO membership here and, if you're not already a member, join today!