Master Your Nonprofit Numbers 201 - Strategy Track
East Side Edition
August 7, 2026
About the 201 Strategy Track
For nonprofit staff and Board members who have established the basics and are ready to move from financial competence to strategic confidence. Learn to use your numbers as a genuine leadership tool with practical financial education built specifically for the way nonprofits work.
The Master Your Nonprofit Numbers series is here to change the way you lead with numbers. You’ll get:
- Five immersive, in-person workshops designed for nonprofit leaders at every stage, covering everything from financial systems and budgeting to board governance and fundraising strategy
- Expert instruction from experienced nonprofit leaders
- Practical tools and worksheets you can use immediately with your real financial data, not hypothetical exercises
- A dedicated board session where your board members join you to align on financial oversight, fiduciary responsibilities, and shared leadership
- A cohort community of peers who are doing the same work, facing the same challenges, and growing alongside you
- Lifetime access to the Master Your Nonprofit Numbers online course
All free of cost to your organization
Apply Now
Who the 201 Track is For:
The Strategy Track is designed for executive directors, staff, and Board members from organizations located on or serving Buffalo’s East Side who already have a solid financial foundation and are ready to use financial information more strategically. This track is for leaders who want to strengthen the connection between their numbers, their decision-making, and their long-term goals—using financial information as a tool for planning, communicating, and guiding their organization’s future.
You may already feel comfortable reading financial reports, working within a budget, and managing the day-to-day financial responsibilities of your role. What you’re looking for now is a deeper understanding of how to use financial information to plan ahead, evaluate options, communicate clearly with boards and funders, and make decisions that support your organization’s long-term sustainability and growth.As part of Oishei’s Organizational Power work, Master Your Nonprofit Numbers supports East Side organizations in building the infrastructure needed to sustain their work and continue showing up for their community over time.
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I feel like a lot of times people get nervous talking about finances, but the only way to make sure you're actually doing things right is to get together and ask the questions. This gives you the community for that support. These are the types of capacity building experiences that we as leaders need to make sure we can build our organizations to be sustainable and fulfill our missions long term.
Apryle Schneeberger /Collaborative Center for Social Innovation
MYNN 201 Program Overview
September 24 Build a Strong Financial Foundation
This session is for leaders who already have financial systems in place and are ready to evaluate whether those systems are actually serving them. We will spend the day auditing what exists, identifying what is quietly creating risk, and making real improvements in the room. Participants will log in to QuickBooks Online and work directly in their chart of accounts, review their finance team structure for scalability, and assess whether their internal controls are functioning as intended or just existing on paper.
October 28 Financial Planning
This session moves beyond building a budget into using financial modeling as a strategic decision- making tool. Participants will work with their own real data throughout the day to build multi-year projections, run cash flow scenarios across best case, worst case, and most likely outcomes, and stress-test what happens when a major funder disappears. We will also dig into revenue concentration risk and how to structure budgets to negotiate stronger indirect cost recovery.
November 11 Financials in Action
This session moves beyond building a budget into using financial modeling as a strategic decision- making tool. Participants will work with their own real data throughout the day to build multi-year projections, run cash flow scenarios across best case, worst case, and most likely outcomes, and stress-test what happens when a major funder disappears. We will also dig into revenue concentration risk and how to structure budgets to negotiate stronger indirect cost recovery.
December 2 Lead with Confidence (Board Session)
This session is designed for you and your board members together. Board members attend the full day. We will cover what fiduciary responsibility actually looks like in practice, how board members should read and respond to financial reports, what your Form 990 communicates to the public, and how to prepare for an audit without the annual scramble. A guest speaker joins for a focused segment on board financial leadership. By the end of the day, your ED and board members will leave aligned around your organization's financial picture and each other's roles in protecting it.
December 9 Fundraising & Financial Strategy
The final session brings in expert guest speakers on the topics that connect financial health to fundraising success. This is an open session based on participant interest. Past topics have included major gifts strategy, grant writing and funder relationships, board fundraising roles, and earned income. The specific speakers and topics vary by cohort. This session is designed to send you out with both the financial foundation you built over the program and a clear sense of how to grow the resources that sustain it.
201 Session Time & Location:
All sessions will run from 8:00 AM - 2:00 PM.
All sessions are held in person at:
Roswell Park Community Outreach and Engagement Center
907 Michigan Ave
Buffalo, NY 14204
Applications due August 24th. We will review all applications and notify attendees by August 28th.