Choose three not-for-profit organizations of interest to you, and locate their annual report or financial statements. Annual reports can usually be found on the organization’s website. Once you have ascertained that an annual report is available for these charities, go to the discussion board posting and “claim” the three organizations you will use for the assignment. (Having at least one or two backup choices is critical since there will be a few well-known organizations that will be selected early on.)
Note: If you have difficulty finding some organizations or the annual reports or financials, contact your instructor for assistance.
Once you have been approved by the instructor to proceed with your organizations, find the line item totals for the following in the financial statements/annual report:
Total revenue,
Program service expenses, and
Total expenses.
Calculate the ratio of the program service expenses to the total expenses. Keep track of the results in a chart that includes the name of the organization, the website where the financial information was found, the three items in step 2, and the calculated program expense ratio.
Post your findings on the discussion board along with your comments on the results of your work. For example, you may find an organization with a 70% ratio, and one with a 90% ratio. Is there anything you noticed in the annual report or know about the company that may have contributed to one organization having a lower ratio than the other? What about the ratio of total expenses to total revenue? Conclude your comments with the organization you would most want to contribute to if you were an interested donor.
