OneStar Foundation

Fiduciary Excellence
2026-03-24 09:30 - 13:30 (America/Chicago) | Austin Community College – Highland Business Center, 5930 Middle Fiskville Rd, Austin, TX, United States
Financial decisions shape your mission, team, and future. This course builds the confidence nonprofit leaders need to lead with clarity.
A 2-part series (March 24 & March 31 | 9:30am – 1:30pm CST):
Few nonprofit leaders sign up to be financial experts—but financial decisions shape everything you care about: your mission impact, your team’s sustainability, and your organization’s future. This course gives you the financial confidence and clarity to lead boldly, whether you’re an executive director navigating cash flow, a board member fulfilling fiduciary duties, or a staff leader championing program priorities.
Move beyond confusion and compliance to true financial leadership. You’ll learn to read the story behind the numbers, build trust between board and staff, prevent the pitfalls that derail good organizations, and lead budgeting as a mission-driven tool—not a dreaded chore. Walk away with practical strategies you can implement immediately to strengthen decision-making, prevent fraud, and unite your team around a shared financial vision.
What You’ll Master:

Core Financial Roles & Responsibilities – Clarify who does what (executive director, finance staff, and board) to eliminate confusion and gaps
Building Healthy Financial Relationships – Foster productive board-staff collaboration, engage your finance committee effectively, and develop a sustainable relationship with time and money
Making Sense of Financial Reports – Decode balance sheets, profit and loss statements, and dashboards so you can speak up with confidence
Protecting Your Organization – Understand audits, implement fraud prevention strategies, and establish separation of duties that actually work
Budget Leadership That Unites – Lead budgeting processes that bring your team together and drive mission results

What You’ll Gain:
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to:

Clearly define financial roles and hold yourself and others accountable without overstepping
Foster collaboration where board and staff work as partners, not adversaries, around money decisions
Participate confidently in financial discussions and ask the right questions at the right time
Implement safeguards that genuinely protect your organization from financial risk and fraud
Lead budgeting as a strategic, unifying process that reflects your values and priorities
Translate financial information so everyone on your team—regardless of background—can engage meaningfully
Lead with financial clarity. Strengthen your impact. This is financial leadership for mission-driven leaders.

Meet the Facilitator:
Sean Hale has served a variety of nonprofits since 1999. During his 20 years as a nonprofit finance leader, he made improvements that reduced waste, generated new revenue, boosted staff productivity and morale, grew financial transparency, and shrank risk.
In 2020, he founded Nonprofit CFOs: now a 12-person team that helps small and medium-sized nonprofits ensure they have strong, effective financial management. Services include interim staffing, fractional CFO, bookkeeping, and indirect cost rate calculations.
Sean holds a Master’s degree, Certificate in Nonprofit Management, and a Certificate in Social Entrepreneurship.
