Nonprofits should be run like a well-run for-profit. The difference is you reinvest those profits back into the mission instead of distributing to the owners. In the for-profit world, we call them "profits" and "losses," but in a nonprofit organization, the number represented on the bottom line of your organization's Statement of Functional Expenses (Income Statement) is either a surplus (a positive figure) or a deficit (a negative figure). At year-end, when a nonprofit has a surplus, it means it ended the year bringing in more money than was spent, and a deficit typically means the organization did not meet the spending, fundraising or budget goal outlined by its finance committee.