Going Through The “What If” Process—to Give Decision-makers The Information They Need to Make Their Next Move

At A Glance

Company Type: Small, Nonprofit

Industry: Education

Solution Area: FP&A

About The Client

This nonprofit develops programs that increase opportunities for low-income students seeking a college education and economically mobile careers.

Challenge

Could the organization help even more students? The nonprofit saw a way to match up its programs to a higher number of students but were stymied by some critical unknowns: the costs involved, how the initiative would be funded, and whether there was enough interest from the community.  They needed a way to model various scenarios and inputs, to understand what was possible and whether to pursue this idea.

Solution

• A ZRG senior FP&A consultant started the process by asking targeted questions of the leadership team and researching similar organizations
• Converged and aligned key stakeholders’ varied perspectives and priorities into a workable model
• Built out a model for the new envisioned program that accounted for all major assumptions and risks, with additional models accounting for wraparound and support services tied to the main program
• Everything was made to be flexible, to meet various individuals’ needs and Excel skill levels so that the models can be easily maintained
• A centralized structure allowed for the input of new assumptions with assurance that the new updates would automatically propagate throughout the model and keep everything synchronized
• Conducted a critical check-in as the models developed to ensure the organization could adjust for changing market conditions

Results

• User-friendly model that’s easy to update under new assumptions and conditions
• Executive views of the same data for different reasons—decision-makers can slice and dice data to view the impacts of various scenarios using consistent assumptions
• The organization can explore a variety of options for enriched academic offerings, incorporate community input and other criteria, and fully understand the cost structure

“ZRG’s modeling expertise and third-party objectivity allowed us to see a variety of options and enabled us to provide choices to the community that we feel comfortable will be supportable.  We could not have done this on our own.”

- Chairman & President

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