What's Normal for Nonprofit Reserves?
Past Webinar - March 19, 2026
Finance committees and boards often wrestle with big questions: Are we holding the right amount in reserves? Are we being overly cautious or not cautious enough? As we grow, should our investment approach change?
Reserve and investment decisions are among the most important financial choices nonprofit leaders make, directly influencing stability, flexibility, and long-term sustainability. Peer benchmarking can offer valuable perspective by showing how similar organizations structure reserves and allocate investments, helping boards better understand what is typical, identify potential gaps, and inform strategic conversations. Meaningful decisions, however, are grounded in a broader view that considers mission priorities, financial risk, access to funds, growth plans, and governance practices.
This session was designed for nonprofit and association executives looking for a practical way to think about reserves and investments without needing expert-level investment knowledge. In this session, we explored how to use peer benchmarking to provide additional context, with a focus on insights from Raffa’s Study on Nonprofit Investing (SONI) Dashboard.
Learning Objectives:
- Explain the different purposes reserves can serve, including day-to-day stability, strategic growth, and long-term “rainy day” protection.
- Understand how their organization’s revenue patterns and risk exposure affect how much reserve is appropriate.
- Organize reserves by time horizon and purpose, so funds are managed in ways that match when they may be needed.
- Recognize the core components of a strong reserve and investment policy, and how boards can provide effective oversight.
- Use peer data as helpful context, without feeling pressured to copy what other organizations are doing.