The Benefactor: Assessing the Financial Performance of Charitable Organizations

Abstract

This project provides students with a simulation of the process used by many private foundations in distributing grants to charities. In particular, the project is based on a fictitious benefactor of a large private foundation who has decided to appoint accounting students to grant-making committees. The committees are responsible for using not-for-profit specific financial performance measures to evaluate local charities and determine which charities should be awarded grants. The charities determined to have the strongest financial performance are awarded operating grants from the private foundation. The project complements traditional lecturing methods by providing a realistic context for introducing students to the importance of the not-for-profit sector and the accounting and financial performance issues faced by charitable organizations.