Smart Financial Management Can Save Lives

“Number crunchers” are known for saving money, but Stuart Jackson and his staff at the John Wayne Cancer Institute use their financial prowess to help save something much more important – lives.

As the institute's manager of accounting, Jackson is charged with managing more than $20 million in grant funds allocated for research in the John Wayne Cancer Institute's three focus areas: melanoma, breast and gastrointestinal cancer treatments.

Part of Jackson's work includes overseeing fundraising efforts, which is often considered one of the most challenging tasks faced by not-for-profit organizations. However, once funds are received from various sources – ranging from contracts from pharmaceutical companies to grants from foundations and private estates – an equally challenging project begins.

The Reporting “Nightmare”

“As a result of our funding structure, we must provide separate reports for more than 30 grants over various periods including quarterly, donor's fiscal year, our fiscal year, and single and multiple calendar years,” Jackson explained. “And, we're audited twice each year.”

To ease some of the financial management pressures, in 1998, Jackson made the decision to convert from an in-house system to a robust fund accounting system.

“Y2K had some role in our decision to purchase more sophisticated software at that time, but it was really based on the fact that our own system could not produce the reports our board needed to make important financial decisions as the organization grew,” Jackson explained.

After researching many options, Jackson selected FundWare (then American FundWare) for the job.

Since converting to FundWare, Jackson and his staff are able to create the reports they need for management, the board of directors, governmental agencies, auditors and donors using built-in templates, or easily creating their own custom formulas.

A Stitch in Time Saves Nine

Not only does FundWare meet John Wayne Cancer Institute's essential reporting needs, over the past four years it has helped the organization save another important commodity, time.

As an example, before purchasing FundWare, Jackson's staff did many processes manually, including purchasing.

“By having all the purchasing information stored in FundWare, we can easily calculate overhead and indirect costs, negotiate rates with the government and really make the most of every dollar we have,” Jackson said. “Having this in our system, instead of in a file drawer makes a significant difference.”

Along the same vein, Jackson explained that having all financial records captured in FundWare makes it possible to monitor budgets and make important decisions.

“With the Project/Grant module, we're able to track our melanoma, breast and gastrointestinal cancer programs separately, compare how each are performing and determine budgeting needs for the future,” Jackson said.

“It also helps with fundraising in the fact that we can easily show prospective donors exactly how we've spent our money in the past, and demonstrate that we can allocate any funds they might provide to the exact research that interests them most,” he added.

Yet what is most telling is that over the past 10 years, the John Wayne Cancer Institute has grown from $3 million in annual revenues to more than $20 million. While that growth has had a tremendous impact on the finance department, with help from FundWare, it has managed the growth without adding any staff.

Focus on the Mission

Ultimately, an efficiently run finance department enables the John Wayne Cancer Institute to focus on its mission of translational research that combines scientific discovery with clinical application to promote the early detection, treatment and prevention of cancer.

Currently, the center is teaming with other research facilities throughout the world to test a potential melanoma vaccine that is expected to save lives. Past research has included revolutionary findings in the surgical management of lymph node disease, causing doctors to abandon less accurate and more radical techniques. Another study found that a particular tumor-associated antigen, TA90, could be identified much sooner with blood tests than through traditional testing methods, allowing for early detection and higher survival rates for patients with melanoma.