As my time in Florence is coming to an end, I’ve been thinking a lot about how much my research project has changed my perspective.
When I first started my independent project on revenue concentration and financial fragility in nonprofit organizations, I honestly thought it was going to be all about numbers. I expected to spend most of my time reading articles, looking at data, and trying to understand financial trends.
I was wrong.
One of the most interesting parts of this experience has been visiting nonprofit organizations throughout Florence and hearing directly about the work they do. It made everything we have been studying feel real instead of just theoretical.
Before this summer, if someone had asked me what financial fragility meant, I probably would have given them a textbook definition. Now, I think about it completely differently.
I think about the people.
I think about the employees, volunteers, and community members who depend on these organizations every single day. I think about how one financial decision can affect so many people beyond the organization’s walls.
As I visited these nonprofits, I found myself asking questions I never would have thought about before. How do they secure funding year after year? What happens if a major donor stops contributing? How do they continue operating during difficult times?
Those questions helped me realize that financial sustainability is much more complicated than I originally thought.
What surprised me the most was how passionate everyone was about their work. Even though every organization was different, they all had one thing in common: they truly cared about helping others. You could immediately tell that their work was more than just a job.
As an Accounting and Economics student, this experience has also changed the way I think about my future career. I have always enjoyed working with numbers, but I now understand that numbers are only one part of the story.
Before this project, I mostly associated accounting with spreadsheets, financial reports, and calculations. Now, I see it differently. Financial decisions can determine whether organizations are able to continue serving their communities and carrying out their missions.
I also learned a lot about myself throughout this process. Since this was an independent project, I was responsible for managing my own research and connecting everything together. There were definitely moments when I felt overwhelmed or unsure if I was headed in the right direction, but I learned to trust the process.
Research is not about immediately finding the right answer. Sometimes it is about being comfortable with uncertainty and allowing yourself to keep asking questions.
I think that is something I will take with me long after this summer ends.
Looking back, I realize my biggest takeaway has nothing to do with memorizing terms like revenue concentration or financial fragility. Instead, it is understanding why they matter in the first place.
What started as a project about financial vulnerability became a lesson about people, communities, and the impact organizations have on everyday lives.
If there is one thing this experience has taught me, it is that behind every number is a story, and behind every story are people who depend on those numbers more than we realize.
That is something no textbook could have taught me.
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