Elementum

First, are you steady?

A quick check before we address anything. It might be the most important two minutes in this whole process.

Here is why. When you walk into an emergency room, the first person you meet is not the specialist. It is the nurse who decides, in about a minute, how urgent you are. Are you bleeding, or can you wait? They do that first on purpose, because treating a broken finger while someone's heart is stopping helps nobody. Organizations work the same way. If the doors are about to close, it does not matter how good your plan is. You handle the emergency first, then you build.

So answer these five, honestly. Nobody is grading you. When you are done, I will tell you where you stand and what to do first.

1. If your funding stopped today and nothing else changed, how long could you keep operating and paying people?

Less than a month 1 to 3 months 3 to 6 months More than 6 months

People sometimes call this your runway, or your months of reserve. It just means how long you could keep the lights on and the paychecks going if the money coming in stopped. A rough guess is fine.

2. Over your next two pay periods, can you comfortably cover payroll, rent, and your core obligations?

Yes Barely No

3. Is there one funder, grant, contract, or person who, if you lost them this month, would put the mission in real danger?

Yes No

This is the question leaders most often wave away. Do not wave it away. If most of your budget rides on one source, or one relationship holds it all together, that is a live risk even in a good month.

4. Is there an active legal, tax, licensing, or compliance problem right now?

Yes No

A lawsuit, an audit, unpaid payroll taxes, a lapsed filing, a missed grant-reporting deadline, a question about your tax-exempt standing, or a clawback risk.

5. Are you, or your leader, personally running on empty, at or near a breaking point?

Yes No

Answer all five and I will show you where you stand.

You can always go back to the welcome page and start over.