Category Archives: Governance

Nonprofit News and Updates

This is a great way to start of a blog post, and awesome Infographic from “America’s Nonprofit Sector: A Primer” from the Foundation Center. Please click on the image to enlarge.

Elections and Nonprofits

Many elections this year around the country have issues that will directly affect nonprofit organizations. The National Council of Nonprofits has a nice rundown here of more than 140, check it out to see what is happening in your state.

Washington Nonprofits will be having upcoming events around elections and what nonprofits can do, click through to see all that they are doing this election season.

Nonprofit HR

Do you know about Seattle’s new paid sick/safe leave ordinance that takes effect September 1? Washington Employers has good information on the program and, if you are affected by this, what to do.

Finance and Regulations

The Nonprofit Times has a good piece via their Exempt e-newsletter about new and proposed state regulations will make things harder for some nonprofits. It’s good to know what is happening in other states so you can have a ready response in case legislation like these come to yours.

Two articles from the Chronicle of Philanthropy detail the pitfalls in spending, fundraising and especially outsourced fundraising. The articles feature two veterans charities – why do these types of organizations seem so ripe for potential scams – and one animal related group, but there are lots of similarities, red flags and warnings in them for both donors and nonprofits. The first is here, the second is here.

This may be the most interesting piece, to me at least, that came out recently. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants has released a draft of a proposed not-for-profit guide. It is primarily designed for CPAs performing work for not-for-profits, but it offers insight to all as to what issues the field thinks is important. I’ll be looking them over and probably letting them know my two cents in the comment period.

Management and Money

Both of these articles from the Nonprofit Quarterly stood out to me recently. Is managing a complex organization a game? This article makes the case that it is not. And do you know what the right mix of resources is for your organization? If so have you achieved that mix of income? This article is helpful for identifying so areas of thought you might not have considered before.

Thanks so much.

Nonprofit News

The Alliance of Nonprofit’s Annual Conference is coming up on May 11th up in Bellevue. I’ll be there, and here is a link to more information if you’d like to see what they are offering. It is the biggest conference of the year for nonprofits in Washington and they usually pull in so good keynote speakers.

Time to File

First Quarter Filings – Are due by April 30 for assorted state agency and the federal government. Be sure you know what to file and when to file it so you don’t incur late fees or penalties.

990 Due – May 15 2012 is the first deadline for folks whose fiscal year ended December 31 2012. You’ll have to have your form filled out, signed and postmarked by that day or get a 3 month extension filed if you need more time. Don’t know when your form is due? Click here for some help.

How is Your Organization Doing?

Executive Compensation – Does your board review how it compensates the Executive Director? They should be, and it is a question on the full form 990. Here are some guidelines that can help you create a policy about compensation practices.

Check up – The Executive Service Corps of Los Angeles posted a nice Nonprofit Check-Up article, Preventive Medicine for Nonprofits. It is a good run down of things to sit back and look at critically about our organizations.

Check on – The IRS is making it easier for the public to look up nonprofits. This page has the details about their new search service.

Spruced UpStayExemp.org, the IRS’s exempt organization training site, has been updated. It looks better and has a more straight foreword interface. There are good tools and resources there for both staff and volunteers, I always encourage people to check out the site.

Continuing to Serve Nonprofits

Many of you in the South Sound region may have heard that my recent employer, The Nonprofit Center, is winding down. Myself and former staff member Christine Garst (cbgarst@gmail.com) will continue to provide the accounting and bookkeeping services that we did at The Nonprofit Center. One of our main goals is to provide continuity of services for former Center clients. If you have any questions please feel free to contact myself or Christine and we will be happy to answer them. I look forward to being able to provide the services I enjoy doing to the South Sound nonprofit community.