Project Overview
Public Square Amplified (PSA) is a cooperative newsroom. PSA is looking to engage a volunteer to help us organize our operations/finance area as we transition from the former director of operations to setting up a new streamlined system to record, track, and report expenses, revenues, and cash flow to meet obligations to funders, and the state, and federal entities. PSA would also like training and guidelines on how to manage the system and generate reports.
As a small nonprofit, PSA is focused on realizing the mission-critical work of amplifying local community voices in New Jersey; and ensuring our finances and accounting are consistent and in compliance for future audits and tax purposes. PSA's central goal is to update and refine our current procedures to allow us to run our business operations without interruptions or delays. The right professional will have proficiency with Excel, AirTable, Donorbox, and QuickBooks, experience working with a fiscal sponsor and managing a bookkeeping system. We use AirTable to track expenses and revenue, store all receipts and invoices, and monitor individual donations via Donorbox. The fiscal sponsor provides monthly financial reports, which are used to prepare monthly cash flow reports and reconcile bank statements. Upon completion, the Standard Operating Procedure manual will record the changes, and designated members will be trained.
This project is urgent. Public Square Amplified (PSA) is in a stage of transition and expansion. The organization needs to stabilize its financial operations as we prepare to re-organize and expand our newsroom operations. PSA is a mission-driven newsroom, and our increased funding to expand our reporting requires meticulous tracking and recording of monies and timely reporting to funders and government agencies.
The volunteer will shape and improve our systems and support the long-term stability of PSA.
Public Square Amplified (PSA) has a 40-page Standard Operating Procedures manual that dedicates a large section to our financial operations. PSA has invested in technical applications like Quickbooks and AirTable to support our financial operations, which provides a baseline for any volunteer. As a small nonprofit, PSA is a mainly volunteer-driven organization, so we understand how best to support volunteers. The executive director is the point person on this project.
Nonprofit Overview
Public Square is a local nonprofit newsroom founded by a team of Black women with over 70 years of combined experience in the nonprofit, journalism, and community organizing sectors. Public Square positions journalism as a civic tool and creates a pipeline for a new generation of local journalists. Our reporting centers on social and economic justice, racial equity and equality, the climate crisis, and the immigrant experience in covering issues impacting and concerning citizens in and surrounding our headquarters, Newark, from the community's point of view.