Not for Profit

Although most not-for-profits have been hurt by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, your organization’s specific challenges probably depend on your mission, constituency and other factors. For example, social distancing rules have forced most arts organization to temporarily shut down and furlough employees. Many social services charities, on the other hand, have remained open and are struggling to meet surging demand for services. What unites the nonprofit [...]

On March 27, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law. How is this massive $2 trillion recovery package poised to help your not-for-profit organization? It depends on your group’s size, financial condition and other factors. But most nonprofits affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak are eligible for some relief under the CARES Act. Paycheck Protection Program (PPC) This $349 billion loan [...]

Whether your not-for-profit is newly deluged with demand for services or you’ve closed doors temporarily, it’s important to keep up with legislation responding to the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. On March 18, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act was signed into law to provide American workers affected by the pandemic with extended sick and family leave benefits. The new law applies to your nonprofit if you [...]

A majority of large U.S. companies offer matching gift programs to boost the impact of their employees’ charitable gifts. Double the Donation estimates that $2 to $3 billion is donated through matching gift programs every year. At the same time, between $4 and $7 billion in matching gift funds goes unclaimed annually. Is your not-for-profit doing everything it can to claim its share of this pool of corporate gifts? Finding sources [...]

Real-Time Strategic Planning (RTSP) offers not-for-profits a fluid approach to identifying, understanding and acting on challenges and opportunities to advance their missions. Is this process right for your organization? Let’s take a look. What is it, exactly? RTSP was first introduced by nonprofit consultant David La Piana as “a coordinated set of actions designed to create and sustain a competitive advantage in achieving a nonprofit’s [...]

Outside financial audits may seem like an extravagance to not-for-profits working to contain costs and focus on their mission. But undergoing regular audits allows your organization to identify risks early and act quickly to prevent problems. Independent audits also provide valuable reassurance to donors. Fortunately, you can reduce the cost of external audits with good preparation. Draft an RFP Start by drafting a request for [...]

A key fiduciary duty of your not-for-profit’s board of directors is to oversee and monitor the organization’s financial health. Some financial warning signs — such as the loss of a major funder — may jump out immediately. But other red flags can be more subtle. Here are some of them. Budget issues Certain budget-related issues may hint at rocky financial times to come. Having no [...]

The deductibility of most charitable gifts hasn’t changed since passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, but some recordkeeping requirements have. Helping your donors who itemize deductions understand the rules and benefits of their gifts can strengthen your not-for-profit’s ties with them — and may help increase contributions. Allowable deductions Generally, donors can deduct total contributions of money or property up to 60% of [...]

Do you associate enterprise risk management (ERM) with for-profit businesses? This systemic approach to risk reduction can be just as effective when adopted by nonprofit organizations. Even organizations with limited resources can — and should — use an ERM process to combat threats. Weighing risks ERM is a comprehensive program that considers an organization’s entire portfolio of risks. Rather than attacking every risk equally, ERM [...]

Nonprofit capital campaigns aim to raise a specific — usually, a significant — amount of money over a limited time period. Your not-for-profit may undertake a capital campaign to acquire land, buy a new facility, expand an existing facility, purchase major equipment or seed an endowment. Whatever your goal, a capital campaign can be grueling, so you need to ensure stakeholders are on board and [...]

Nonprofit capital campaigns aim to raise a specific — usually, a significant — amount of money over a limited time period. Your not-for-profit may undertake a capital campaign to acquire land, buy a new facility, expand an existing facility, purchase major equipment or seed an endowment. Whatever your goal, a capital campaign can be grueling, so you need to ensure stakeholders are on board and [...]

A much-hated tax on not-for-profit organizations is on the way out. At the end of 2019, Congress repealed a provision of 2017’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) that triggered the unrelated business income tax (UBIT) of 21% on nonprofit employers that provide employees with transportation fringe benefits. Unequipped to handle the additional administrative burdens and compliance costs, thousands of nonprofits had complained — and [...]

If you think search engine optimization (SEO) is something only for-profit businesses need to worry about, think again. The Google rankings of your not-for-profit’s website can make a tremendous difference in the donations and other support you receive. Cracking Google metrics Google, of course, isn’t the only search engine on the Web. But it accounts for more than 75% of search engine traffic worldwide and [...]

A hypothetical not-for-profit staffer named Britney had maxed out her personal credit cards. So when her car needed repairs, she reached for her employer’s card. She reasoned that she would come up with the money to pay the bill before her boss ever saw a statement. Britney didn’t come up with the money. But lucky for her, her boss didn’t review the card statement that [...]