nonprofit

How to Select an Independent Outside Auditor

Independent audits can go a long way toward providing stakeholders with assurance about your nonprofit organization’s financial stability. Ensuring true independence requires more than just hiring an outside firm, though.…

OMB Uniform Guidance: What Federal Grant Recipients Need to Know about New Regulations

The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently released its final guidance based on previously proposed revisions of the Uniform Guidance (UG). The changes — to be adopted by…

Are Your Nonprofit Board Meetings as Focused as They Could Be?

According to nonprofit BoardSource, not-for-profit boards that meet monthly should be able to cover all business in one to two hours. If your meetings last longer, they may lack planning…

Welcome Charitable Pledges — And Account For Them Properly

The difference between financial pledges and donations is relatively simple: Pledges are promises to donate sometime in the future, and donations provide immediate support for your not-for-profit organization. What’s not…

Fundamental Differences Between Nonprofit and For-Profit Accounting

You may know the difference between nonprofit and for-profit accounting systems, but do your newest employees and board members? Not-for-profits and businesses share certain similarities. For example, both must carefully…

Update on a Possible Universal Charitable Deduction

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress temporarily enabled individual charitable donors who didn’t itemize federal income tax deductions to deduct up to $300 in contributions in both 2020 and 2021. This…

Making Your Board Retreat Rejuvenating — And Productive

Perhaps you think a board retreat would be nice to have — but, given your not-for-profit’s tight budget, it isn’t really necessary. Yet consider the benefits. A retreat allows members…

Don’t Let Myths and Self-Doubt Thwart Your Capital Campaign Plan

It’s understandable if your not-for-profit has been putting off launching a capital campaign — despite having grand plans to build a new facility, make major purchases or expand a key…

Planning an Event? Don’t Neglect Sponsorships

There are many ways to evaluate the success of a not-for-profit event. But for most nonprofit leaders, financial success — how much did we raise? — is the metric that ultimately matters.…

Nonprofit Refresher Course: Excess Benefit Transactions

Most not-for-profit leaders are familiar with the concept of excess benefit transactions and the need to avoid them. But a refresher course may be in order, particularly when you consider…

Outsourcing HR Tasks Can Help Understaffed, Overworked Nonprofits

At one time, not-for-profit HR departments might have been responsible primarily for recruiting and hiring and occasionally for intervening in disciplinary or conflict resolution matters. Today, HR staffers usually also…

News for Nonprofits: Summer 2024

Identifying common traits of MacKenzie Scott donees MacKenzie Scott has granted more than $15 billion to almost 2,000 nonprofits since 2019. Now Harvard researchers have dug into data on the…

Election 2024: The Importance of Keeping Nonprofit Political Activity Nonpartisan

Most charitable organizations generally understand that they’re barred from participating or intervening in political campaigns. Failure to follow IRS rules governing nonprofits and politics may result in an excise tax,…

Even a Lower-Cost Benefits Menu Can Help You Attract Talent

Some job candidates assume that not-for-profit organizations offer lower compensation than for-profit companies do. If your nonprofit has open positions, this can be a difficult hurdle to overcome — particularly…

What to Know about Proposed OMB Uniform Guidance Changes

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) last fall released the details on what it terms a “fundamental rewrite” of the Uniform Guidance, the rules and requirements for federal awards.…