Category Archives: Governance

News and Notes

Posted on January 22, 2009 | Leave a comment

News StandHere are some interesting news items form the last week or so.

From the Nonprofit Times comes this piece about about the cap for the US Post Office rate hike.  Thanks to a sluggish economy, the article says, when the Post Office petitions for a rate increase this year average increases will be capped at an average of 3.8 %

From the Chronicle comes this item that I could not agree with more. Marc Owens, a former chief of the IRS’s Exempt Organizations (EO) Division has called on the IRS to offer explicit guidance on what it expects in matters of governance from nonprofit organizations.  With the IRS’s new push towards governance regulation and the belief that, according to Steven T. Miller, commissioner of the IRS’s tax-exempt and government-entities division,”a well-governed organization is more likely to be compliant with the tax law, while poor governance can easily lead to trouble” it would be nice to have some kind of official guidance as to what that is.  I agree that a well governed nonprofit is probably a better nonprofit but I would like to see some clear rules so nonprofits are not the object of subjective discipline.

The IRS has announced this years small and mid-size nonprofit workshop series here.

And finally, I have updated the “New 990 To-Do List” since the final version of the form has been released.

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More Questions and Answers

Posted on January 19, 2009 | 2 comments

Questions?When I present trainings and workshops I always get at least one question I can’t answer on the spot and need to look up.  Here are the Questions and Answers from the week of January 12th, 2009:

  1. If our organization awards scholarships do we list that on the form 990?

    Yes you probably do.  For information about what kinds of grants and other assistance is listed in the updated Form 990 and Schedule I please click here.

  2. How long do we keep records for donations to our nonprofit?

    At least seven years after the donation.  Many organizations keep them permanently but that is up to the organization.

  3. When we pay someone a stipend do we have to give them a 1099 at the end of the year?

    Yes you do as it is considered “non-employee compensation.”  Please check out the IRS’s 1099-Misc information here.

  4. Where can I find more sample policies and procedures?  Specifically ones that the IRS is asking for?

    updated Form 990 The Yolo Community Foundation has put theirs online to promote good governance, please check them out here.
    Also the National Council of Nonprofits has some good samples as well.

  5. Do raffle and auction winners get a donation thank you?

    Yes, if they end up paying more than market value for the item they recieved.  Check out this nice piece from the IRS that is all about contributions and specifically take a look at the examples that start on page three.

Did I miss any?  Ask them in the comments below or email me.

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Posted in Governance, IRS, Nonprofit Accounting, Policies and Procedures, Q&A, Tax Forms

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Workshop Resources

Posted on January 12, 2009 | 3 comments

Box 'o resourcesThanks to all of you who attended the workshops.  As promised I have put together all of the resources that were mentioned in the trainings in one area.  These are listed elsewhere on the site but I thought it would be nice to organize them into one place.  Scroll down the page for the list of all the resources and please post a comment or email me if you have any questions.

  • The Unified Chart of Accounts (UCOA) and Key Word Index – The UCOA (pronounced yoo-KOH-uh) is an activity-based accounting system that incorporates the reporting requirements of many institutional funders and can be tailored to each nonprofit’s changing needs and existing system. The UCOA is designed to allow nonprofits to add as many reporting requirements as necessary while still allowing you to use just one system for accounting and reporting. Click here for more information.
  • The payment requisition form mentioned in the workshop.
  • Time-sheet and cost allocation samples – click here if you would like to download the excel worksheets to play with.
  • Joint Costs – When you send out something that is both educational AND a solicitation for funds you run the risk of having the total cost of the activity listed as fundraising and not program unless you meet certain criteria. This article will help guide you through the process.
  • The 2004 Nonprofit Integrity Act, SB 1264 – For all the details please see the overview of 2004’s Nonprofit Integrity Act (pdf), and go here and here.
  • Pub. 1771, Charitable Contributions Guidelines for Donors (PDF)
  • An article on Cost Allocation I mentioned.
  • IRS & 990 – All of the IRS and updated Form 990 resources are here, take your pick!
  • Information on putting together an operations manual or financial policies can be found here.
  • Budgeting and other Financial Management resources are on this page.
  • How to create a financial policy manual and financial management plan.
  • Other resources including the donation and auction item journal entry guidance and fraud prevention articles can be found in the General Resource page

For those who missed the presentation handout or want another copy I have the most recent events on Not-for-Profit Accounting Groups page.  Please click to get them and feel free to join the group and start some discussions.  If you don’t see them there contact me and I will make sure to upload them.

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Posted in Governance, IRS, Nonprofit Accounting, Policies and Procedures, Q&A, Risk Management, Tax Forms

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