DonorsChoose.org: How Technology Facilitated a New Funding Model Net Present Value (NPV) / MBA Resources

Introduction to Net Present Value (NPV) - What is Net Present Value (NPV) ? How it impacts financial decisions regarding project management?

NPV solution for DonorsChoose.org: How Technology Facilitated a New Funding Model case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. DonorsChoose.org: How Technology Facilitated a New Funding Model case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen, Sarah Murray. The DonorsChoose.org: How Technology Facilitated a New Funding Model (referred as “Donorschoose.org Itch” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Innovation & Entrepreneurship. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Transparency, Venture capital.

The net present value (NPV) of an investment proposal is the present value of the proposal’s net cash flows less the proposal’s initial cash outflow. If a project’s NPV is greater than or equal to zero, the project should be accepted.

NPV = Present Value of Future Cash Flows LESS Project’s Initial Investment

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Case Description of DonorsChoose.org: How Technology Facilitated a New Funding Model Case Study

In 2000, Charles Best, a social studies teacher working in a school in the Bronx, New York, scraped together $2,000 to pay an overseas web designer to build a rudimentary website he had designed using pencil and paper. On the website, teachers could post projects that needed funding-from books and paints to field trips and educational software-and individuals could donate towards those requests. By 2014, half of the public and charter schools in the United States had at least one teacher who had used the DonorsChoose.org website, more than 10 million students had received classroom resources and more than 1.4 million donors had contributed funds to providing these supplies. Over time, the organization also found itself with a powerful tool at its disposal-vast troves of data, the analysis of which could provide insights into everything from teaching methods to core education funding needs. "This was one of the breed of start-ups that is scratching a personal itch," explained Best. "And the solution just started to grow beyond that particular itch." Best had not set out to influence public education policy. He simply wanted to raise some money to pay for classroom materials and experiences, such as trips to museums and nature preserves, which his school could not afford. But his idea for using the Internet to connect individual donors to teachers who needed extra learning resources was to turn into something far bigger than he had ever imagined.

Case Authors : Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen, Sarah Murray

Topic : Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Related Areas : Transparency, Venture capital

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for DonorsChoose.org: How Technology Facilitated a New Funding Model Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10006700)	-10006700	-	-
Year 1	3445395	-6561305	3445395	0.9434	3250373
Year 2	3954215	-2607090	7399610	0.89	3519237
Year 3	3966032	1358942	11365642	0.8396	3329957
Year 4	3250587	4609529	14616229	0.7921	2574769
TOTAL			14616229		12674336

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2667636

In isolation the NPV number doesn't mean much but put in right context then it is one of the best method to evaluate project returns. In this article we will cover -

Different methods of capital budgeting

What is NPV & Formula of NPV,
How it is calculated,
How to use NPV number for project evaluation, and
Scenario Planning given risks and management priorities.

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Capital Budgeting Approaches

Methods of Capital Budgeting

There are four types of capital budgeting techniques that are widely used in the corporate world –

1. Net Present Value
2. Payback Period
3. Internal Rate of Return
4. Profitability Index

Apart from the Payback period method which is an additive method, rest of the methods are based on Discounted Cash Flow technique. Even though cash flow can be calculated based on the nature of the project, for the simplicity of the article we are assuming that all the expected cash flows are realized at the end of the year.

Discounted Cash Flow approaches provide a more objective basis for evaluating and selecting investment projects. They take into consideration both –

1. Timing of the expected cash flows – stockholders of Donorschoose.org Itch have higher preference for cash returns over 4-5 years rather than 10-15 years given the nature of the volatility in the industry.
2. Magnitude of both incoming and outgoing cash flows – Projects can be capital intensive, time intensive, or both. Donorschoose.org Itch shareholders have preference for diversified projects investment rather than prospective high income from a single capital intensive project.

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Formula and Steps to Calculate Net Present Value (NPV) of DonorsChoose.org: How Technology Facilitated a New Funding Model

NPV = Net Cash In Flowt1 / (1+r)t1 + Net Cash In Flowt2 / (1+r)t2 + … Net Cash In Flowtn / (1+r)tn
Less Net Cash Out Flowt0 / (1+r)t0

Where t = time period, in this case year 1, year 2 and so on.
r = discount rate or return that could be earned using other safe proposition such as fixed deposit or treasury bond rate. Net Cash In Flow – What the firm will get each year.
Net Cash Out Flow – What the firm needs to invest initially in the project.

Step 1 – Understand the nature of the project and calculate cash flow for each year.
Step 2 – Discount those cash flow based on the discount rate.
Step 3 – Add all the discounted cash flow.
Step 4 – Selection of the project

Why Innovation & Entrepreneurship Managers need to know Financial Tools such as Net Present Value (NPV)?

In our daily workplace we often come across people and colleagues who are just focused on their core competency and targets they have to deliver. For example marketing managers at Donorschoose.org Itch often design programs whose objective is to drive brand awareness and customer reach. But how that 30 point increase in brand awareness or 10 point increase in customer touch points will result into shareholders’ value is not specified.

To overcome such scenarios managers at Donorschoose.org Itch needs to not only know the financial aspect of project management but also needs to have tools to integrate them into part of the project development and monitoring plan.

Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 15%

After working through various assumptions we reached a conclusion that risk is far higher than 6%. In a reasonably stable industry with weak competition - 15% discount rate can be a good benchmark.

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 15 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10006700)	-10006700	-	-
Year 1	3445395	-6561305	3445395	0.8696	2995996
Year 2	3954215	-2607090	7399610	0.7561	2989955
Year 3	3966032	1358942	11365642	0.6575	2607730
Year 4	3250587	4609529	14616229	0.5718	1858534
TOTAL					10452214

The Net NPV after 4 years is 445514

(10452214 - 10006700 )

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 20%

If the risk component is high in the industry then we should go for a higher hurdle rate / discount rate of 20%.

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 20 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10006700)	-10006700	-	-
Year 1	3445395	-6561305	3445395	0.8333	2871163
Year 2	3954215	-2607090	7399610	0.6944	2745983
Year 3	3966032	1358942	11365642	0.5787	2295157
Year 4	3250587	4609529	14616229	0.4823	1567606
TOTAL					9479908

The Net NPV after 4 years is -526792

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9479908 - 10006700 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Donorschoose.org Itch to discount cash flow at lower discount rates such as 15%.

Acceptance Criteria of a Project based on NPV

Simplest Approach – If the investment project of Donorschoose.org Itch has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Donorschoose.org Itch can ACCEPT the project, otherwise they can reject the project. This means that project will deliver higher returns over the period of time than any alternate investment strategy.

In theory if the required rate of return or discount rate is chosen correctly by finance managers at Donorschoose.org Itch, then the stock price of the Donorschoose.org Itch should change by same amount of the NPV. In real world we know that share price also reflects various other factors that can be related to both macro and micro environment.

In the same vein – accepting the project with zero NPV should result in stagnant share price. Finance managers use discount rates as a measure of risk components in the project execution process.

Sensitivity Analysis

Project selection is often a far more complex decision than just choosing it based on the NPV number. Finance managers at Donorschoose.org Itch should conduct a sensitivity analysis to better understand not only the inherent risk of the projects but also how those risks can be either factored in or mitigated during the project execution. Sensitivity analysis helps in –

What will be a multi year spillover effect of various taxation regulations.

What are the key aspects of the projects that need to be monitored, refined, and retuned for continuous delivery of projected cash flows.

What are the uncertainties surrounding the project Initial Cash Outlay (ICO’s). ICO’s often have several different components such as land, machinery, building, and other equipment.

Understanding of risks involved in the project.

What can impact the cash flow of the project.

Some of the assumptions while using the Discounted Cash Flow Methods –

Projects are assumed to be Mutually Exclusive – This is seldom the came in modern day giant organizations where projects are often inter-related and rejecting a project solely based on NPV can result in sunk cost from a related project.

Independent projects have independent cash flows – As explained in the marketing project – though the project may look independent but in reality it is not as the brand awareness project can be closely associated with the spending on sales promotions and product specific advertising.

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Negotiation Strategy of DonorsChoose.org: How Technology Facilitated a New Funding Model

References & Further Readings

Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen, Sarah Murray (2018), "DonorsChoose.org: How Technology Facilitated a New Funding Model Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.