The Financial Forest
Field Notes
Each edition follows one finding carefully: what the data shows, what it means by archetype, and where the questions are taking the work next. Subscribers receive every issue first; the archive opens after.
Follow the researchLatest dispatch
-
04 August 2026
What a Mission Category Does Not Tell You
Fourteen mission categories in the study have at least 40 organizations. All fourteen contain at least six of the seven financial archetypes. A shelter and a housing developer file a few digits apart on the IRS taxonomy and get benchmarked together, when their business models have almost nothing in common.
Read this issue -
03 July 2026
Why “Normal” Overhead Isn’t One Number
Organizations reporting almost no overhead are the most financially stressed of any band, 46% versus a 41% dataset average, while typical overhead itself runs from 9.3% to 19.4% depending on archetype. A close look at the near-zero group, the executive-pay objection, and why a single 15% benchmark can't judge every business model fairly.
Read this issue -
02 June 2026
The Cash Timing Problem in Government-Funded Nonprofits
Plains Cottonwood organizations (government contractors, workforce developers, social service providers) carry a 51.8% financial stress rate, eleven points above the dataset average. A close look at the government revenue hump, the cash timing problem, and what the 42 organizations that were never stressed have in common.
Read this issue -
01 May 2026
What the Diversification Data Actually Shows
The four revenue groups (ranked most to least diversified) landed at 13.8%, 16.8%, 15.4%, and 14.2%, in no consistent order. The most diversified archetype in the dataset carries a financial stress rate above the average. Across 1,248 organizations, there is essentially no relationship between revenue diversification and growth.
Read this issue