Transcript NFTE Finances

The National Foundation for
Teaching Entrepreneurship
Then and Now
NFTE Overview
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Educational non-profit
501(c) 3 status
Dedicated to serving
underprivileged youth
Started by Steve Mariotti in the
early 90s
Highly successful in reaching its
target market
Experienced serious trouble with
cash flow and organizational
structure in its early years
NFTE’s Structure
Then
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Steve held the headquarters at
his apartment
National staff was there to
oversee all operations
Now
7 regional offices
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Regions are autonomous with
accountability
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structure of New England regional
offices
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set positions versus the positions
that they have
Score card maintains
accountability
National office oversees the
New York area keeps the
organization is sync with the
mission
Regional Office
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3 pre-determined positions
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Director
Decide and carry out their own
programs
National Office
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Program Directors
Communication in NFTE
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New England Regional
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Biweekly meeting with everyone in
the office
Nationals
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Monthly meeting with all the
regional and with the National
Office
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Good, bad, barriers, breakthroughs
Solicited review
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Regions submit ideas for approval
Business Process
The Score Card
Purpose
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Encourage the sharing of ideas
across regions
Self assessment and goalsetting
Implementation
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Representatives of each region
meet once a year
Each regions sets it own goals
for the year and presents them
to the other regions and the
national office
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The national office provides
directions and approve the goals
Implementation
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Goals from the previous year
are evaluated
Each regions is given a rating
based on reaching their goals
Bonus are given based on score
card
NFTE Finances
Cash Flow in the Non-Profit World
Then and Now
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NFTE then
$180,000 per year budget
 No endowment
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NFTE now
$9 million per year budget
 $2 million endowment
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Problems of the Past
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Relied on grants and gifts that
rarely funded overhead
No steady or reliable cash flow
Not uncommon for non-profits
Possible Solutions: member
fees, merchandise sales, annual
fundraising drives
The Adaptation
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Develop curriculum for sale to
the public
Annual revenue of $450,00 a year
 Partnership with a publishing firm
minimizes resource drain
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Write overhead into the grants
Include salaries and rent in project
budgets
 Rely on multiple grants to fund
rent and salaries
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How is it Working?
New England Regional Office
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Responsible for all their own
fundraising
60% foundation, 20%corporate,
20%individual
Partnership with Babson
eliminates rent
Sees little revenue from
curriculum sales
Possible Alternatives
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Government Funding
NFTE does pursue some
government support
 Widespread concern about
government regulation
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For-Profit Branch
Does this undermine NFTE’s
mission?
 Requires more resources than are
currently available
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Growth of NFTE
and
Other Obstacles
Steve Mariotti’s Role
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President Steve Mariotti still
very involved:
Fundraising
 curriculum development (his pet
project)
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Dilemma: Is there a point when
a founder of an organization
should leave that organization,
so that the organization can take
on its own identity and possibly
go in a new direction?
Operating Unit Scorecards
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Each unit (each of the 7 regions)
gets a scorecard every year
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Each unit sets its own standards,
then attempts to meet those
standards
Communication between regions
improves scores
5 scorecard criteria:
- teachers
- students
- alumni
- finances
- programs
Company culture
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How does NFTE preserve the
company culture as NFTE
grows?
NFTE wants an open and
understanding culture.
 Management is cooperative, not
punitive.
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MCAS state standard exams
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Schools are focusing on getting
students to pass the MCAS
state standard exams.
NFTE programs aren’t as
important to school administration.
 NFTE is looking at ways to
embody MCAS standards
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Bootstrap Grant Fund
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Provides startup money for
student businesses
$5000 fund provides rotating
credit for startup loans
 Most students only need a few
hundred dollars to start their
business
 Enables students to pay a vendor,
etc.
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NFTE International
Argentina
Belgium
El Salvador
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India
Netherlands
United Kingdom
NFTE International is a program
partnership, not a subunit
Language barrier: NFTE CETIs
only speak English
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teachers must speak English to
become certified
Recommendations
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Find colleges (like Babson) to host NFTE
regional offices
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NFTE won’t have get funds for rent (difficult)
donors want their money to go directly to
students
Create a for profit section of NFTE to sell
the program and teacher training to higher
income students
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more students would benefit from
entrepreneurship education
Revenue would help students that NFTE now
serves
Possible drawback: NFTE might stray from its
mission and start focusing on profits instead of
helping disadvantaged students
Questions?