Don’t Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth….
Nonprofits dream of receiving large donations, much like people dream of winning the lottery. But when Advancing Students Forward was gifted two buildings and an endowment fund, Founder & Director Monica Santos knew she needed financial guidance to make sure the resources supported ASF’s mission, rather than becoming a high-maintenance distraction. ASF’s mission is to provide under-served students access to education and support for academic success so that they can create a promising future for themselves and for the community in which they live. ASF is a bi-national nonprofit, supporting students in Tijuana, Mexico and promoting cross cultural and educational exchanges between students on both sides of the border.
Monica reached out to Jericho Road Pasadena for a finance volunteer. JRP matched ASF with volunteer Chris Pelch who could help them with budgeting support in order to maintain the current programs and to responsibly undertake the new assets and responsibilities.
JRP volunteer Chris Pelch was happy to lend his financial skills to the project:
“I really enjoyed working with Monica. It was nice to see that something which was relatively straight forward for me made a huge impact on her ability to guide the organization forward and gave her confidence in the information she had to make decisions along with her board.”
The financial analysis Chris provided allowed Monica and the board to move forward with renting out one of the new buildings in order to generate more resources and assist more students.