Helping HOPE: The Creation of a Financial-Tracking System

An action research project by:

Allie Schneider
Alyssa Geiger
Tyler Steer
Komla Doe Dotse

December 4th 2009

Executive Summary

In late September, our professor of “The Finance Function in Nonprofit and

Public Organizations” at the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS) informed
us that we would apply our financial skills in the real world through work with a local
NGO. As we would be spending a semester learning about the financial aspects of
nonprofit organizations, our task was to find a local organization that was in need of and
willing to work with us in a financial consultancy meant to support that organization in
some area of financial management need. The four of us, Allie, Alyssa, Tyler and Komla,
looked into NGOs in the area that were interested in getting financial help and were
fortunate enough to find HOPE.
Helping Our Peninsula's Environment, HOPE, is a locally based NGO that is
concerned with protecting the natural resources of the Monterey Peninsula. As its name
implies, HOPE strives to not only prevent future threats to the environment, but also to
bring awareness to the damage that developers and businesses have inflicted on the
natural habitats abundant in the area. Because HOPE is such an integral player in
protecting the local environment, its ability to continue with its mission into the future is
imperative for saving the natural beauty of Peninsula.
In our initial meeting with David Dilworth, the founding Director of HOPE, we
learned that due to the economic downturn, the organization was having difficulty
obtaining the level of funding that it had in years prior. Because Mr. Dilworth had always
received consistent donations from individuals who trusted his ability to use the money
wisely, HOPE had never experienced serious problems with generating funds. As a
result, there was no pressing need for the organization to examine the current budgeting
system until now. Based on our initial discussions, we found that HOPE was interested in
a fundraising plan. However, after further discussion, we realized that HOPE did not have
a clear financial tracking system that could better help them budget for their projects and
make a fundraising plan feasible.
This report aims to convey the necessity of a financial tracking system that will
help predict the costs of future projects in order to create an effective fundraising plan.
By understanding the size and scope of the incoming projects, which can range from two
hours to fifteen years in time, the organization will be able to budget its finances more
effectively. Additionally, we wish to show how HOPE's current financing method of
immediate allocation of funds needed for a project might not be as sustainable on a long-
term basis as the system we are proposing. Therefore, because we understand HOPE's
passion and determination in protecting the environment of the Monterey Peninsula, we
want to show the organization how a financial tracking system will increase the number
of donors and donor retention by allowing HOPE to show how much money is needed to
implement a certain project. Although we are not developing the fundraising plan
ourselves, the expense tracking system we propose will allow HOPE to better understand
how much money they will need to raise for each given project. The end result of our
financial tracking system will be “project thermometers” that HOPE can display on its
website. This tracking system will allow HOPE to save some of its funds by recording all
of the expenses it incurs as well as create more transparency of its operations, increasing
accountability to its donors and other supporters.

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I. Background

The Monterey Peninsula is a nature lover’s paradise. Ranging from the native
forests of Monterey and Pacific Grove to the shorelines of Pebble Beach and Carmel-by-
the Sea, the Peninsula is full of natural habitats and untouched environmental beauty.
This led David Dilworth, a native of the Peninsula, to feel inclined to fight for
environmental protection in the Monterey area against developers and other threats.
Responding to the concerns of local citizens to prevent development in nature reserves,
David Dilworth along with his environmentally active founding trustees, started “Helping
Our Peninsula’s Environment,” HOPE, in 1998.
From its inception in the late 1990s, HOPE has worked to combat all potential
problems that could harm the native environment of the Monterey Peninsula. The mission
statement of the organization—“to encourage, and to provide assistance, education,
inspiration and research to the public, people and organizations who wish to
encourage 1.) the complete protection, conservation, preservation of all natural
phenomena and natural lands of the Greater Monterey Peninsula and the restoration
of its native ecosystems to a healthy self-sustainable state; 2.) improvements in
sustainable participatory democracy in all forms of local, state, U.S. and international
government which could affect the natural phenomena of the Greater Monterey
Peninsula; and to use all lawful means to carry out these goals, except that the
organization will not support candidates for elected office.”—not only expresses the
need to protect and conserve the environment, but also to educate the public about the
importance of conservation of natural resources. Furthermore, even though the public
does require education about specific projects, HOPE strives to empower the public to
voice environmental protection concerns. Having a participatory democracy is of utmost
importance to HOPE, as it allows for the highest form of formal accountability.
Empowering and educating the public regarding their own concerns to halt development
on their own nature reserves ensures a high level of downward accountability. Mr.
Dilworth has even said that “it is important to declare that protection of the Peninsula’s
natural majesty and its residents are of the highest concern and that economic and
business concerns shall fend for themselves.”
Since 1999, when HOPE officially received its legal status as a not-for-profit
organization, it has expanded its ability to respond quickly and effectively to threats to
the local environment and democracy. According to Mr. Dilworth, HOPE is great at
“putting out fires,” a metaphor for its necessary rapid response to immediate
environmental threats and small window of opportunity to take action. HOPE operates
like a more vigilant, responsive and grassroots oriented Sierra Club that has established a
track record addressing environmental issues through an inclusive democracy approach.
Mostly going after government decisions through lawsuits, HOPE has successfully
intervened to stop development on Pebble Beach, save September Ranch and prohibit the
spraying of aerial pesticides.

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Core area of concern—financial instability
On the Eve of its 10th anniversary as a not-for-profit organization, HOPE has
recently found itself with extremely limited funds for continuing its projects. For the first
time, the organization had to give up a project it could no longer fund. Because David
Dilworth is very well known in the community, he has never had any problem in
attracting individual donors. HOPE has a 50% win rate in all its lawsuits, an incredibly
high percentage for any organization, and members of the public have shown an inherent
trust in how Mr. Dilworth uses their funds. This reputation has led to strong connections
with local legislators and other powerful individuals, a high amount of donor retention,
and a high level of flexibility to use the donations as Mr. Dilworth best sees fit for
carrying out HOPE’s mission. As of today, the donors' funds are solely unrestricted and
do not require any additional approval regarding how they are programmed. Additionally,
because HOPE is always responding to current emergencies, it cannot always predict
future endeavors or allocate time to work on its long-term projects. These long-term
projects such as the creation of a library and a newspaper tend to be placed on the back
burner. The core area of concern for HOPE is that, in light of current economic downturn,
HOPE’s donors have been less generous with their donations, leaving HOPE in an
unprecedented situation without the necessary funding needed to adequately continue its
efforts to save the environment.

II. Key Findings

From our initial telephone conversation with Mr. Dilworth, we understood that his
current need for HOPE was to establish a fundraising plan. Therefore, prior to meeting
with him and discussing his organization in detail, we reviewed his website to determine
how best to gauge HOPE's expenses and resource allocations. Since the creation of a
fundraising plan for the organization would require a deep understanding of the nature of
HOPE’s activities, needs, and costs of operation, we decided to focus on a cash-flow
analysis that would allow the organization to track cash inflows and outflows. Because
we thought that the lack of funds for projects could have been a result of a cash-flow
problem, we believed that analyzing the current process would help HOPE effectively
use the funds already in their possession. This would occur in place of a direct
fundraising plan, and thus would help HOPE better use the funds they already had,
instead of a pure focus on attaining more donations.
However, we soon learned after meeting with Mr. Dilworth that HOPE's financial
tracking system was inadequate as a basis for creating a cash-flow analysis, as HOPE
does not keep track of all of its inflows and outflows. Using his current system, Mr.
Dilworth took the donations as he received them and put them towards the "salary” line
item. As the only permanent paid employee of HOPE, the 990 Income Tax Form stated
that the funds went directly to salaries at $50,000 per year. Mr Dilworth then uses the
funds as he best sees fit for each project, and has never encountered a problem in the past.
However, this method fails to show individual project costs that would be central as a
first step for developing a fundraising plan. Although Mr. Dilworth was able to estimate
how much money he spent on a given individual project, he has no secure tracking
system to plan for future projects. This lack of a fund allocation and tracking system
contributes to the current predicament in which HOPE cannot fund all of the potential
upcoming projects without raising more funds. At the same time, HOPE cannot develop a

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credible fundraising plan without a clearer understanding of its programmatic needs and
associated costs.
We set out to create a simplified financial tracking system as a first step in laying
the foundation for the fundraising plan. In terms of finances, Mr. Dilworth looks at both
time and monetary expenses as costs and he refers to projects in both of these terms.
Because HOPE is a not-for-profit organization, Mr. Dilworth economizes as much as
possible. As a result, some projects cannot be determined by monetary expenditures, thus
making it necessary to incorporate the cost of time as well.
Our first task became to brainstorm a type of financial tracking system that would
be customized to the specific needs of HOPE while still increasing the transparency of
funds for the organization. The practical needs were clear enough, but we also found it
important that whatever solution should also increase organizational transparency and
accountability. Although HOPE was always very accountable to its beneficiaries, as seen
through its clear positive environmental impact, HOPE spent less time “rendering
accounts” to itself for internal management purposes, and to donors, to increase
programmatic credibility. We have no evidence of this being a problem in the past, but
believe that HOPE's decreased financial viability demands a more proactive and holistic
understanding and practice of organizational accountability.
HOPE has an incredible dedication to doing whatever needs to be done to save the
environment, and we knew that even a dearth of funding will not immediately stop HOPE
from taking on projects. Yet, we still find it important to come up with a way that would
not only allow HOPE to record information about all the costs associated with a project,
but would also lead to increased funding from its present donors as well as future donors.
We wanted to help the organization focus on donor retention by keeping past donors
more informed about future projects. We know that Mr. Dilworth has strong connections
in the Peninsula area, but we wanted to garner more interest for his projects from the
environmentally concerned public by providing more transparency and accountability,
which would also contribute to generating more donations.
To summarize, our starting point is that—in an environment of scarce funding—
HOPE has no financial tracking system and thus there is no clear information about how
much money is going into what project, and towards which stage (planning or
implementation). HOPE refers to its projects in terms of the hours it takes to complete
them and not necessarily by their financial costs. As an organization with a high level of
passion responding to enormous, underserved demands, HOPE tries to do everything as
economically as possible and thus some projects do not fund indirect costs—i.e. projects
are rarely truly “fully costed”. Additionally, we noticed that the hours his volunteers and
occasional staff (consultants) put in for each area of each project along with their
activities were not being recorded. (See Annex B for an outline of our methodology in
defining and assessing HOPE's current problems and needs)

III. Recommendations

Our recommendations are as follows:

1.) Begin utilizing a simplified financial tracking system in order to track future projects.

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The simplified financial tracking system is comprised of three worksheets that would
record both the monetary and time expenses for each stage of each project. Using these
worksheets (Annexes C, D, and E) would allow Mr. Dilworth to clearly understand how
much each project costs overall. Not only would Mr. Dilworth be able to see how much
projects of a certain size cost, but he would also see how much each stage of the project
costs his organization. These include filing attorney fees and making photocopies, etc.
The related worksheets are to be used together, but, depending on the size of the project,
may only require the use of one or two worksheets at a time

2.) Study data from previous projects in order to better forecast future financial needs
This portfolio consists of six past projects recorded through the financial tracking system
mentioned in the previous paragraph (Annex A). The costs associated with these past
projects would help Mr. Dilworth predict the costs of future projects. Therefore, he would
know how much money and time he would need to complete future projects. Thresholds
of time and money could then be used in order to categorize the projects and anticipate
maximum costs.

Implementation of Recommendation 11
The first financial tracking system worksheet, Worksheet A, tracks the total
expenses of Mr. Dilworth in both monetary and time costs for each individual project.
The second worksheet, Worksheet B, tracks the time put in by both staff and volunteers.
The third worksheet, Worksheet C, combines the findings found in the first two
worksheets to give the total monetary cost and number of hours for a given project.

Goals and Structure of Worksheet A

Worksheet A, which is found in annex C, is the main tracking device of all
expenses incurred for each project and is only intended to be used by Mr. Dilworth. This
project tracking system worksheet looks at all of the financial costs in a project both as
direct expenses and hourly rates. Because Mr. Dilworth essentially orchestrates all of the
projects, this worksheet only focuses on his personal expenditures. Worksheet A shows
the monetary value of his time invested in each project in addition to the actual expenses
incurred. However, Mr. Dilworth will be able to keep track of the amount of time spent
on each stage of the project in hourly terms before converting the hours into an actual
monetary cost.
The worksheet is divided into two parts with planning as the first stage followed by
implementation as the second stage. Following each action at each stage, such as research
in the planning stage, Mr. Dilworth will fill in the boxes showing both the amount of
dollars he is spending and the amount of hours he is working. At the bottom of
Worksheet A, he will add up all of the total costs and hours spent in order to see how
much this project is costing him. However, in order to get the total cost of the six past
projects we are using as references, we had to convert this total number of hours into a
monetary amount. Because we knew that nearly all of Mr. Dilworth's annual salary,

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In order to achieve more synergy we have used the six past projects referenced in recommendation 2, to
show how the financial tracking worksheets of recommendation 1 work. This serves the dual purpose of
showing how the worksheets work, and calculating some of the prior project expenses.

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$50,000, goes into the projects we divided this figure by the number of weeks in a year,
52. We then divided this number by the number of hours in a full-time work week, 40,
and could then infer that every hour spent on a given project costs Mr. Dilworth $24.04.
After talking to Mr. Dilworth, we learned that he has taken virtually no vacations over the
course of the six projects we tracked. Therefore, our equation represents the hours and
weeks worked during those six projects.

$50,000/year / 52 weeks / 40 hours = $24.04/hour

Using the total number of hours arrived at by summing the total hours spent on each stage
in the project, Mr. Dilworth would now multiply this number by $24.04 in order to find
out how much money he spent on his work. Accordingly, the TOTAL costs incurred by
Mr. Dilworth are found by adding the total direct expenses with his hourly rate.

However, Mr. Dilworth has informed us that for future projects, he will be taking two
weeks vacation time per year. Therefore, our equation for the future projects is as
follows:

$50,000/year/50 weeks/40 hours= $25.00/hour.

This equation will only be used to track current and upcoming projects and thus is only
pertinent to future expenses.

Goals and Structure of Worksheet B

Worksheet B—which is found in annex C2— tracks the activities and hours put in
by the staff and volunteers of HOPE. Although not as detailed as Worksheet A, it has
separate boxes for both the hours of work put in by paid staff and volunteers as well as
their activities. The staff section will track the hours put in for each activity that they
undertake and a box where the total number of hours is summed together is placed at the
bottom. However, as the staff are getting paid by HOPE for the work that they do, it is
important to convert their hours into a monetary value, similar to what we did with
Worksheet A. Mr. Dilworth informed as that staff will usually get paid around $20/hour
and thus the total number of hours worked by the staff will be multiplied by $20 in order
to get an hourly rate.
As HOPE has many volunteers, we thought it was important to include an area
that would track the activities and hours put in by unpaid workers. This section will not
be converted into a monetary number, but would be necessary for Mr. Dilworth to not
only see the total number of hours put into each stage of each project, but also to see the
value of volunteer work.

Goals and Structure of Worksheet C

Worksheet C is the final worksheet that combines the findings found in both
Worksheets A and B. It will show the total costs and hours of the given project. For the
monetary expenses, Worksheet C has Mr. Dilworth add together the TOTAL figure found
in Worksheet A (combining expenses with the hourly rate) and the TOTAL figure found

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in Worksheet B for the paid staff. This equation will show the overall total monetary cost
of the project.

Total Cost of Project for Mr. Dilworth + Total Cost of Staff=Total Monetary Cost of
Project. Worksheet C can be found in annex C3, and is shown as figure 1.

Figure 1—Worksheet C

WORKSHEET C: Total Costs and Hours of Project

Project Name: __________________________ Project Period :

_________________________________

Total Cost of Project Total Cost of Staff Total Monetary Cost of

for David Project

+ =
Total Hours of Total Hours Total Hours Total Hours
Project for David of Staff of Volunteers of Project

+ + =
As for the total number of hours required for each project, excluding the hourly rate, Mr.
Dilworth will add together the hours he spent found in Worksheet A with both the total
hours of staff and the total hours of volunteers found on Worksheet B. This equation will
show the TOTAL amount of hours spent on the project without being fixed to a monetary
amount.

Total Hours of Project for Mr. Dilworth+Total Hours of Staff+Total Hours of

Volunteers= Total Hours of Project.

In order to reaffirm the intended goals of the worksheets, we included a

conceptual map on Worksheet C. A holistic view of the finance function for HOPE can
be seen as a tree that symbolizes growth. For life of the tree to be sustained, two things
need to happen: the number of hours put in each project by Mr. Dilworth, the staff and
volunteers, along with the monetary value in terms of total costs incurred by Mr.
Dilworth and by the staff, represent the vital information gathering for decision-making
purposes. This, in turn, combined with a revamped, dynamic and interactive website is
likely to increase existing donors’ confidence as well as potential donors and other key
stakeholders’ interest. As the new and improved website shines like a sun and donations

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pour in like April rain, it is our expectation that the fundraising thermometer will rise and
HOPE will deepen it roots for a long-term, sustainable local and regional presence. The
conceptual map is shown in figure 2.

Figure 2: Conceptual Map

These three worksheets not only provide a clear financial tracking system, but
also serve as an evaluative tool for Mr. Dilworth to see how HOPE's time is being used.
By breaking up the project into different stages comprising of different activities, the
transparency by HOPE's actions greatly increases while allowing Mr. Dilworth to see
how his resources are being used. Understanding how much time and money is being
spent on each stage of each project can better predict how HOPE can finance upcoming
projects of similar sizes. When additional staff and volunteers are needed to help, Mr.
Dilworth can see the relevant monetary and hourly expenditures. By knowing how much

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money is spent on each project, Mr. Dilworth can then fundraise for that exact amount for
future projects by using the "thermometer" approach.

Implementation of Recommendation 2, compilation of data from previous projects

We decided to analyze, research and track six of HOPE's past projects varying in
size from small to medium to large in order to build a portfolio detailing the history of
past projects. The Public Records Requests (one with and one without a lawsuit) account
for the smallest projects, while Sewer Spills, Fairywoods Forest, September Ranch and
the Pebble Beach Projects all get increasingly larger. Because these projects have a broad
range, they serve as good examples for Mr. Dilworth to predict the expenses incurred for
future projects. Furthermore, the organization focuses on very specialized projects
dealing with science and law, and the past six were a good representation of HOPE's
activities to use in order to develop a past budget history. Given that these projects are all
very different from one another, we are showing HOPE's entire range of projects in order
to better estimate the financial costs and time of future projects.
Before actually filling out the worksheets from Mr. Dilworth's information about
specific projects, we noted that many costs associated with projects were standard and
fixed. Examples include filing fees, lawyer fees and miscellaneous costs like
photocopying. Initially, it was the most difficult to determine the costs of activities that
do not have a direct monetary expense, such as research, so we had to determine his
hourly rate. This is important because if, for example, Mr. Dilworth researched tax laws
for 20 hours it will not actually directly cost HOPE any money. He often uses public
library resources and the Internet for his research. However, Mr. Dilworth time is
HOPE's money and thus, from using the $24.04/hour rate, 20 hours of research is actually
a $480.80 expense for HOPE. Additionally, Mr. Dilworth also "ball parked" his
estimates, and then usually came with a high and low number. We decided to use the high
number, as this shows the highest costs projects could cost. Please see annex A for an
analysis by project.

IV. Additional Suggestions

In light of the interviews with Mr Dilworth and from our own research into
HOPE's financial situation, we are recommending the following systemic method of
generating and allocating resources in addition to the financial tracking system:
Although our first recommendation of a financial-tracking system will enable
HOPE to display "thermometers" on its website in order to show current and potential
donors how much more money is needed in order to fully fund various projects, we do
not recommend that HOPE implements the thermometers until HOPE:

1.) Updates its current website

After consulting with Mr. Cole, a digital media specialist at the Digital Media
Center at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, about HOPE's website, we first
concluded that it made little sense to add such a high-tech tool, such as the thermometers,
to a website that is severely outdated in terms of technology. Currently, the website does
not have the capacity to support donors donations online. Additionally, the website itself

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is difficult to navigate and access crucial information needed for donor retention and
potential donors. Current projects are not easily visible. Most of the 312 pages have not
been updated since 2005. Unnecessary information should be deleted. A revamped
website will be able to incorporate HOPE's virtual thermometers, where donors can easily
see the current projects they are working on, and how much each project is costing. A
simple click would lead to an online donation page that would have high levels of
transparency. A blog or forum can also be used in order to establish and nurture feedback
and two-way communication with current and potential donors on its website.

2.) Develop a low-cost labor strategy

We would also like to suggest the use of a 'low-cost' labor strategy for such
projects as re-vamping the website, or volunteer work. This could include the
involvement of high school and university students with interest in advocacy for
democracy and environment protection. We would encourage HOPE to collaborate more
with organizations and other individuals (as it did in the Sewer Spills case) so that it can
best allocate its resources and share costs.

We believe that through our recommendations and suggestions combined, HOPE will be
able to build and launch it's first ever, highly successful fundraising strategy.

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Annex A—Projects reviewed

1.) Non-Lawsuit and 2.) Lawsuit Public Records Requests

Public Records Requests occur when HOPE requests the release of information from the
government on behalf of the public, are the smallest and most abundant projects for the
organization. We decided to separate the Public Records Requests into two types of
projects: lawsuit and non-lawsuit. As 5% of Public Records Requests require a lawsuit
while the remaining 95% of requests do not end up going to court. Therefore, we have
one set of worksheets tracking the expenses that incur when it is necessary to take legal
action and one set that track the expenses when no legal action is necessary. The Public
Records Request is a very good representation of a small project HOPE takes on because
it only requires a minimal amount of resource expenditure. The costs and time associated
with a Public Records Request are very small, representing only $36.06 in monetary costs
and 1.5 hours of Mr. Dilworth's time. These are the only expenses incurred if the Public
Records Request does not go to court and thus are represented on Worksheet C. When a
request that is not instantly granted occurs, HOPE files a lawsuit. Estimated costs of $500
for filing fees and other stationary supply costs bring the project total to a little over
$600. Although these numbers are very small, However, it is still crucial for HOPE to
estimate all the costs and time associated with them. (Annex C.2 and C.3) Because these
projects are small, only Worksheet A and C need to be used. Annex (E.2 and E.3) show
Worksheet C for both projects.

3. Sewer Spills
HOPE dedicated its time to a Sewer Spills project which aimed to clean up the sewer
systems in Pacific Grove. Outdated manhole covers and pipes were leaking sewage waste
into Monterey Bay and into the city of Pacific Grove posing a health hazard. HOPE was
dedicated to the project, but knew that a large lawsuit against the city would be costly and
that applying for grants to cover the cost of the project would be too time-consuming.
They partnered with local attorneys, and persuaded them to take on the lawsuit
themselves. Estimated costs for HOPE, again, were minimal compared to the impact they
made for the city. Initial agenda-setting costs, phone calls and research were the only
planning costs, netting $120.20 in costs from the 5 hours of time spent. Low cost projects
such as this one take up most of HOPE's time. Therefore, estimates must be done
carefully in order to accurately project HOPE's entire incurred costs as a whole as well as
with individual projects. Once again, only Worksheet A (Annex C.4) and Worksheet C
(Annex E.4) are relevant for this project.

4. Fairywoods Forest
A good example of a medium sized project is the Fairywoods Forest case in which a
developer received land rights to bulldoze a beautiful forest directly next to an
elementary school. HOPE intervened and advocated for the preservation of the forest.
Initial research, property surveys and meetings with neighbors totaled 50 hours. HOPE
also spent another seventeen hours on education in the form of nature walks for
schoolchildren, townhall meetings, and preparatory letters. Converting the hours into
costs, HOPE spent over $1,000 on this project. Worksheet B covers all of the hours that
volunteers put it into this project, and the figure is included in the total hours on

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Worksheet C. Unfortunately, there was not enough law to support HOPE's efforts,
therefore, there was no lawsuit and the Forest was destroyed. (Annex C.5) Worksheets A,
B (Annex D.2) and C (Annex E.5) are utilized with this project.

5. September Ranch
September Ranch is also medium sized project that involved two lawsuits over two
years. Developers wanted to build 100 luxury homes on September Ranch, a hilly, tree-
lined 891-acre property off Carmel Valley Road. This medium project serves as a
success story, as HOPE intervened with two successful lawsuits that cited an incorrect
Environmental Impact Report. A total of 150 hours was spent on research for both of the
lawsuits, and direct costs incurred totaled $3,300. The actual implementation of the
lawsuits cost an additional $3,700 in direct fees to the lawyers. Combining both the value
added time and money spent on this project, September Ranch cost HOPE nearly $11,000
in addition to the 130 hours of volunteer work indicated on Worksheet B. September
Ranch is a good example of a project HOPE takes on with a potential lawsuit. The
organization knew there was a high probability of the project going to court, so it was
imperative we included this project in our findings. Worksheet A (Annex C.6),
Worksheet B (Annex D.3) and Worksheet C (Annex E.6) are used for this project.

6. Pebble Beach Project

Pebble Beach represents one of the largest projects HOPE has undertaken. Since the
project's total cost of $500,000 was over the span of 15 years, including every detail onto
one financial tracking sheet was not possible. It was also difficult for Mr. Dilworth to
reflect upon the past 15 years he was involved with the project in order to determine
exactly how much time was spent on each activity. We did our best to go by his
estimates. Factoring in Mr. Dilworth's time on the project during the 15 years as well of
his salary, seemed at first, impossible. This particular project required a 100% time
commitment lasting three full months from Mr. Dilworth on three different occasions.
Staff was also hired throughout this intense work period. Much less of Mr. Dilworth's
time was dedicated throughout the other phases of the project. We therefore decided to
take the total cost incurred throughout the project and subtracted it from the final cost of
the project in order to arrive at how much Mr. Dilworth's salary totaled for the project
which came out to be: $382,883.08. To be certain this figure was more or less correct we
double-checked our method of deducing this information with Mr. Dilworth, who agreed
with our assumptions. Worksheet B shows the time invested by paid staff, equaling
$16,200 once converted into dollars, and the hours put in by volunteers. All of these
figures are combined on Worksheet C showing the total costs and total hours. Worksheet
A (Annex C.7) shows the significant expenditures in both time and money on this project
and will be used in conjunction with Worksheets B (Annex D.4) and C (Annex E.7).

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Annex B: Methodological framework

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Annex Instruction Sheet

The annexes below include all the tracking worksheets as well as the beginning portfolio
of 6 of HOPE’s past projects. The blank worksheets are intended to be printed and used
for future projects, and can be seen below as Annex C, D and E respectively. The
completed forms show various methods of useability, and should be used as references.

Annex C: Blank Worksheet A: HOPE’s Estimated Costs For David…………...…....pg 14

Annex C2-C7: Completed Worksheet A of Past Projects…………………...……pg 15-27

Annex D: Blank Worksheet B: HOPE’s Estimated Costs for Staff and Volunteers....pg 28

Annex D2-D4: Completed Worksheet B of Past Projects………………..……….pg 29-34

Annex E: Blank Worksheet C: Total Cost and Hours of Project……………………..pg 35

Annex E2-E7: Completed Worksheet C of Past Projects………………………....pg 36-44

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 ANNEX C

WORKSHEET A: HOPE’s Estimated Project Costs For David

Project Name: ________________________ Projected Period:
________________________

Size of Project: Small, Medium, Large *Assuming David makes appx: $24.04/hr

ACTIVITIES COST ($) TIME

(hrs)

•
RESEARCH
•
PLANNING

•
TRAINING •
EDUCATION
(Meetings, •
Mailers,
Posters, •
Awareness
Campaigns) •

TOTAL PLANNING Cost-Time Figure

+
+
ACTIVITIES COST ($) TIME (hrs)
Filing fees
IMPLEMENTATION

LEGAL
Lawyer fee
ACTION
Misc

•
NON-LEGAL
•

TOTAL IMPLEMENTATION Cost-Time Figure

=
=
COST ($) TIME (hrs)

15
 Total Hours for David

TOTAL Cost-Time Figure

X $24.04/hr

Total Cost + Time

+
TOTAL COST OF PROJECT FOR DAVID

Insert Value into WS C

16
Annex C.2

WORKSHEET A: HOPE’s Estimated Project Costs For David

Project Name: ________Public Records Request (No
Lawsuit)_________________________

Size of Project: Small, Medium, Large *Assuming David makes appx: $24.04/hr

ACTIVITIES COST ($) TIME (hrs)

• Phone Call .5
RESEARCH 1
• Written Letter
PLANNING

•
TRAINING •
EDUCATION
(Meetings, •
Mailers, Posters,
Awareness •
Campaigns)
•

TOTAL PLANNING Cost-Time Figure 1.5

+
+
ACTIVITIES COST ($) TIME (hrs)
Filing fees
IMPLEMENTATION

LEGAL
Lawyer fee
ACTION
Misc

•
NON-LEGAL
•

TOTAL IMPLEMENTATION Cost-Time Figure

=
=
COST ($) TIME (hrs)

17
 0 Total Hours for David

TOTAL Cost-Time Figure 1.5

X $24.04/hr

Total Cost + Time 0 36.06

+
TOTAL COST OF PROJECT FOR DAVID
36.06
Insert Value into WS C

18
Annex C.3
WORKSHEET A: HOPE’s Estimated Project Costs For David

Project Name: ______Public Records Request (Lawsuit)__________________

Size of Project: Small, Medium, Large *Assuming David makes appx: $24.04/hr

ACTIVITIES COST TIME (hrs)

• Phone Call .5
RESEARCH 1
• Written Letter
PLANNING

•
TRAINING •
EDUCATION
(Meetings, •
Mailers, Posters,
Awareness •
Campaigns)
•

TOTAL PLANNING Cost-Time Figure 1.5

+
+
ACTIVITIES COST TIME (hrs)
Filing fees $500 .25
IMPLEMENTATION

LEGAL
Lawyer fee
ACTION
Misc $60 .5

•
NON-LEGAL
•

TOTAL IMPLEMENTATION Cost-Time Figure $560 .75

=
=
COST TIME (hrs)
Total Hours for David

TOTAL Cost-Time Figure $560 2.25

19
 X $24.04/hr

Total Cost + Time

$560 + $54.09

TOTAL COST OF PROJECT FOR DAVID $614.09

Insert Value into WS C

20
Annex C.4

WORKSHEET A: HOPE’s Estimated Project Costs For David

Project Name: ___________Sewer Spills______________________

Size of Project: Small, Medium, Large *Assuming David makes appx: $24.04/hr

ACTIVITIES COST ($) TIME (hrs)

• Agenda Setting 2

RESEARCH • Research of Laws 2

PLANNING

• Consultation w/ 1
Attorneys
TRAINING •
EDUCATION
(Meetings, •
Mailers,
Posters, •
Awareness
Campaigns) •

TOTAL PLANNING Cost-Time Figure 5

+
+
ACTIVITIES COST ($) TIME (hrs)
Filing fees
IMPLEMENTATION

LEGAL
Lawyer fee
ACTION
Misc

•
NON-LEGAL
•

$0 0
TOTAL IMPLEMENTATION Cost-Time Figure

=
=
COST ($) TIME (hrs)
Total Hours for David

TOTAL Cost-Time Figure 5

21
 X $24.04/hr

Total Cost + Time

+ $120.20

TOTAL COST OF PROJECT FOR DAVID $120.20

Insert Value into WS C

22
Annex C.5

WORKSHEET A: HOPE’s Estimated Project Costs For David

Project Name: ________Fairywoods Forest_________________________

Size of Project: Small, Medium, Large *Assuming David makes appx: $24.04/hr

ACTIVITIES COST ($) TIME (hrs)

• Meetings with Neighbors 20

RESEARCH 10
• Property Survey
PLANNING

• Genereal Research 20
TRAINING •
EDUCATION
(Meetings, • Schoolchildren Walks 4
Mailers,
Posters, • Government Meetings 10
Awareness
Campaigns) • Preperatory Letters 3

TOTAL PLANNING Cost-Time Figure 67

+
+
ACTIVITIES COST ($) TIME (hrs)
Filing fees
IMPLEMENTATION

LEGAL
Lawyer fee
ACTION
Misc

•
NON-LEGAL
•

TOTAL IMPLEMENTATION Cost-Time Figure

=
=
COST ($) TIME (hrs)
Total Hours for David

TOTAL Cost-Time Figure 67

23
 X $24.04/hr

Total Cost + Time

+ $1610.68

TOTAL COST OF PROJECT FOR DAVID

$1610.68

Insert Value into WS C

24
Annex C.6

WORKSHEET A: HOPE’s Estimated Project Costs For David

Project Name: ____________September Ranch_____________________

Size of Project: Small, Medium, Large *Assuming David makes appx: $24.04/hr

ACTIVITIES COST ($) TIME (hrs)

• Research for Lawsuit 1 $3000 150

RESEARCH $300 15
• Research for Lawsuit 2
PLANNING

•
TRAINING •
EDUCATION
(Meetings, •
Mailers, Posters,
Awareness •
Campaigns)
•

TOTAL PLANNING Cost-Time Figure $3,300 165

+
+
ACTIVITIES COST ($) TIME (hrs)
Filing fees Lawsuit 1 $500
IMPLEMENTATION

LEGAL Filing fees Lawsuit 2 $500

ACTION Lawyer fee Lawsuit 1 $1,000
Lawyer fee Lawsuit 2 $1,000
• Misc $700
NON-LEGAL
•

TOTAL IMPLEMENTATION Cost-Time Figure $3,700

=
=
COST ($) TIME (hrs)
Total Hours for David

TOTAL Cost-Time Figure $7,000 165

25
 X $24.04/hr

+
Total Cost + Time $7,000 $3966.60

TOTAL COST OF PROJECT FOR DAVID

$10,966.60
Insert Value into WS C

26
Annex C.7

WORKSHEET A: HOPE’s Estimated Project Costs For David

Project Name: __________Pebble Beach Company_______________________

Size of Project: Small, Medium, Large *Assuming David makes appx: $24.04/hr

ACTIVITIES COST ($) TIME (hrs)

• General Research 1500

RESEARCH
•
PLANNING

•
TRAINING • General Training of 100
Staff
EDUCATION
(Meetings, • Educational Mailers $50,000 3
Mailers,
Posters, • State/Local Government 20
Awareness Meetings
Campaigns)

TOTAL PLANNING Cost-Time Figure $50,000 1623

+
+
ACTIVITIES COST ($) TIME (hrs)
Filing fees 500
IMPLEMENTATION

LEGAL $20,000
Lawyer fee
ACTION
Misc $700

• David’s Salary (Over 15

NON-LEGAL $382,883.08
yrs)

TOTAL IMPLEMENTATION Cost-Time Figure $404,083.08

=
=
COST ($) TIME (hrs)

27
 Total Hours for
David
TOTAL Cost-Time Figure $454,083.08
1623
X $24.04/hr

Total Cost + Time $454,083.08

+ $39,016.92

TOTAL COST OF PROJECT FOR DAVID $493,100

Insert Value into WS C

28
Annex D

WORKSHEET B: Staff and Volunteer Project Tracking Form

Project Name: __________________ Project Period:______________

STAFF
Amount of time
DATE ACTIVITIES
invested (in hours)
• • •

• • •

• • •

• • •

• • •

• • •

• • •

Hours
VALUE
TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME
AND VALUE FOR STAFF X $20 =
Insert Value Into WS C Insert
Value Into WS C

VOLUNTEERS
Amount of time
DATE ACTIVITIES
invested (in hours)

29
• • •

• • •

• • •

• • •

• • •

• • •

• • •

Hours
TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME
AND VALUE FOR VOLUNTEERS

Insert VALUE into WS C

30
Annex D.2

WORKSHEET B: Staff and Volunteer Project Tracking Form

Project Name: Fairywoods Forest_________________________________

Project Period:_____67 hrs_________

STAFF
Amount of time
NAME ACTIVITIES
invested (in hours)
• •

• • •

• • •

• • •

• • •

• • •

• • •

Hours VALUE
TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME
AND VALUE FOR STAFF X $20 =
Insert Value Into WS C Insert
Value Into WS C

VOLUNTEERS
Amount of time
DATE ACTIVITIES
invested (in hours)

31
• Billy • Researched Laws • 6

• Billy • Education • 4

• Janet • Public Meetings • 8

• Fred • Led Nature Walk •4

• Billy • Education •2

• •

• •

Hours
TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME
AND VALUE FOR VOLUNTEERS 24

Insert VALUE into WS C

32
Annex D.3

WORKSHEET B: Staff and Volunteer Project Tracking Form

Project Name: _____September Ranch_________________

Project Period:______10 yrs________

STAFF
Amount of time
DATE ACTIVITIES
invested (in hours)
• • •

• • •

• • •

• • •

• • •

• • •

• • •

Hours
VALUE
TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME
AND VALUE FOR STAFF X $20 =
Insert Value Into WS C Insert
Value Into WS C

VOLUNTEERS
Amount of time
DATE ACTIVITIES
invested (in hours)

33
• Barry • Government Meetings • 20

• Thomas • Clerical Work • 40

• Mary • Research • 20

• Betsy • Law Research • 40

• Kathy • Local Meeting • 10

• • •

• • •

Hours
TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME
AND VALUE FOR VOLUNTEERS
130

Insert VALUE into WS C

34
Annex D.4

WORKSHEET B: Staff and Volunteer Project Tracking Form

Project Name: _______Pebble Beach Project_______________

Project Period:_____15 yrs_________

STAFF
Amount of time
DATE ACTIVITIES
invested (in hours)
• Bonnie • Research • 400

• Thomas • Research • 200

• Kerry • Organized Meetings • 60

• Bill • Document Creation/Research • 150

• • •

• • •

• • •

Hours VALUE
TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME
AND VALUE FOR STAFF 810 X $20 =$16,200
Insert Value Into WS C Insert
Value Into WS C

VOLUNTEERS
Amount of time
DATE ACTIVITIES
invested (in hours)

35
• Jane • Organized Meetings • 10

• Harry • Stuffed Envelopes • 8

• Sam • Attended Government Meeting • 40

• Cleo • Research for David • 200

• Robbie • Research • 140

• Marcus • Clerical Work • 30

• Rita • Educated students • 20

Hours
TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME
AND VALUE FOR VOLUNTEERS 448

Insert VALUE into WS C

36
Annex E

WORKSHEET C: Total Costs and Hours of Project

Project Name: __________________________ Project Period:

_________________________________

Total Cost of Project Total Cost of Staff Total Monetary Cost of

for David Project

+ =
Total Hours of Total Hours Total Hours Total Hours
Project for David of Staff of Volunteers of Project

+ + =

37
Annex E.2

WORKSHEET C: Total Costs and Hours of Project

Project Name: ____Public Records Request No Lawsuit__________________________

Project Period: _________1.5 hr________________________

Total Cost of Project Total Cost of Staff Total Monetary Cost of

for David Project

$36.06 + 0 = $36.06

Total Hours of Total Hours Total Hours Total Hours

Project for David of Staff of Volunteers of Project

1.5
+ 0

+ 0

= 1.5

38
Annex E.3

WORKSHEET C: Total Costs and Hours of Project

Project Name: ____Public Records Request (Lawsuit)___________________________

Project Period: ________2.25 hrs_________________________

Total Cost of Project Total Cost of Staff Total Monetary Cost of

for David Project

$614.09 + 0 = $614.09

Total Hours of Total Hours Total Hours Total Hours

Project for David of Staff of Volunteers of Project

+ + =
2.25 0 0 2.25

39
Annex E.4

WORKSHEET C: Total Costs and Hours of Project

Project Name: _____Sewer

Spills_____________________________________________________ Project Period:
_________5 hrs________________________

Total Cost of Project Total Cost of Staff Total Monetary Cost of

for David Project

$120.20 + 0
= $120.20

Total Hours of Total Hours Total Hours Total Hours

Project for David of Staff of Volunteers of Project

5
+ 0

+ 0

= 5

40
Annex E.5

WORKSHEET C: Total Costs and Hours of Project

Project Name: ___Fairywoods

Forest_______________________________________________ Project Period:
________67 hrs_________________________

Total Cost of Project Total Cost of Staff Total Monetary Cost of

for David Project

$1610.68 + = $1610.68

Total Hours of Total Hours Total Hours Total Hours

Project for David of Staff of Volunteers of Project

67
+ 0

+ 24

= 91

41
Annex E.6

WORKSHEET C: Total Costs and Hours of Project

Project Name: ____September

Ranch______________________________________________ Project Period:
__________10 yrs_______________________

Total Cost of Project Total Cost of Staff Total Monetary Cost of

for David Project

$10,966.60 + = $10,966.60

Total Hours of Total Hours Total Hours Total Hours

Project for David of Staff of Volunteers of Project

165
+ 0

+ 130

= 295

42
Annex E.7

WORKSHEET C: Total Costs and Hours of Project

Project Name: _______Pebble

Beach_________________________________________________ Project Period:
_________15 yrs________________________

Total Cost of Project Total Cost of Staff Total Monetary Cost of

for David Project

$493,100 + $16,200
= $509,300

Total Hours of Total Hours Total Hours Total Hours

Project for David of Staff of Volunteers of Project

1623
+ 810

+ 448

= 2,881

43