Financial leadership at the hands of the chief executive officer (CEO) means that the CEO is guiding the nonprofit organization towards financial sustainability especially in the long run (Barr & Bell, 2011). Although the board-of-directors are responsible for the financial wellbeing of the organization, it is the job of the CEO to develop and maintain a business model that sustains financial health as well as ensure that all efforts are in alignment with the organization’s mission. For a CEO to be a strong financial leader, ethics and integrity are a top priority as most financial scandals happen at the hands of CEO’s and top financial staff members (Chen, 2010). According to Bell and Schaffer (2011), there are five leadership principles that create a strong financial leader and that all CEOs’ should adhere to. These are: …show more content…
Since donors are what keep the organization running, being transparent with where the money is going and accountability within the organization is the surest way to build trust within the donor base. It is not only the CEO that sets this tone within the organization but also the board members. Accountability means that the organization is financially accountable to their board members, their staff members, donors, government funders, clients, the IRS, and the general public (Bell & Schaffer, 2011). In conclusion, the CEO must be a strong financial leader if the organization wants to have long-term sustainability. This is not the sole duty of the CEO as the CEO is in a partnership with the board-of-directors when it comes to financial health and sustainability. Although the CEO does not handle the daily financial functions and transactions, as leaders, the sustainability of the organization is at the hands of the CEO’s ability to assess, plan, and communicate the financial health of the