Free Resource for Nonprofits
A structured, self-guided review of financial stewardship practices to help you:
109 metrics across five categories. Generate three tailored reports for your internal team, your Board, and potential donors.
No grades. No comparisons. Just a clear picture of where you stand and what more you might want to achieve.
Already started an assessment? Access your assessment
Why This Matters
Many nonprofits are too often judged by a single overhead ratio, a number that tells donors and others almost nothing about how responsibly a nonprofit manages its resources. There’s a much better way to make that determination. By looking at their commitment to outstanding stewardship.
Three Reports in One
Complete the assessment once and instantly generate three distinct reports, each tailored to a different audience and purpose. You decide what to share and when to share it.
A complete picture of the current status of your stewardship practices, identifying your strengths and revealing new opportunities to do even more. Designed for your finance and leadership team.
Full transparency for your Board. Displays basic and advanced stewardship practices you have in place and others you might consider pursuing in the future. Framed for governance oversight.
A donor-facing summary of the stewardship practices you have in place. Focused solely on highlighting your strengths to show all you do to effectively manage and protect your resources.
The Framework
The assessment helps nonprofits look beyond a single ratio and consider a broad range of systems, disciplines, and decisions that may support responsible financial stewardship.
Work through all five categories or begin with the areas most relevant to your organization’s current context, risks, and priorities. Save your progress at any time and return when you’re ready.
01
02
03
04
Grant compliance, restricted funds, cost allocation, revenue controls, and funding stewardship.
05
Procurement, vendor management, disbursement processes, and disciplined cost containment.
How It Works
Enter your email. ACRE sends you a secure, one-time link. New users provide their name, the nonprofit’s name, and their position. The log-in is remembered on your browse whenever you come back to the site. No password or credit card required.
Select which of the stewardship categories you want to review. All are pre-selected by default, but you can focus on just the areas most relevant to your current needs.
For each practice, select whether that standard is Met, Not Met, In Progress, Not Applicable, or Not Currently Achievable. Add notes, if desired. Save to resume later at any time.
When you’re ready, generate your Internal Report, Board Report, and/or Donor Report — all from the same assessment. You control what goes into each report. The Internal Report might include all results, while the Donor Report might just include those stewardship standards that you currently have in place. You frame your story from the facts.
Free Access
Enter your information below to access the free assessment. We’ll also send you occasional stewardship resources and updates from ACRE. Unsubscribe anytime.
Already started an assessment? Access your assessment
© 2026 Administrative Cost Reduction Experts (ACRE). All rights reserved.
The Nonprofit Financial Stewardship Assessment is provided as a free educational resource.
It is not a substitute for legal, accounting, or audit advice.
acrecutscosts.com
