Category: not for profit

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…

According to the Center for Effective Philanthropy, practically all not-for-profits in the United States solicit feedback from their clients when designing programs and services. However, resource constraints — lack of adequate staffing, funding and sophisticated technology — may mean that they don’t collect data as often as they’d like or use it as well as…

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…

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 At the end of 2019, Congress repealed a provision of 2017’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) that triggered the unrelated business income tax (UBIT) of 21% on nonprofit employers that provide employees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…

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,…

Does your not-for-profit organization have a conflict-of-interest policy in place? Do your board members, trustees and key employees understand how the policy affects them? If you answer “no” to either (or both) of these questions, you have some work to do. A duty Nonprofit board officers, directors, trustees and key employees all must avoid conflicts…

Is your not-for-profit thinking about merging or otherwise restructuring? Recently, the IRS made the process easier for some organizations. Revising old rules Under previous IRS rules, tax-exempt organizations were required to file new exemption applications when they made certain changes to their structure. Each change was seen as creating a new legal entity that needed…

According to the Society for Human Resource Management, 47% of companies offer a community volunteer program for employees. Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose has found that large companies are even more likely to sponsor volunteer activities: 61% offer paid-release time volunteer programs or a structured corporate volunteer program. If your not-for-profit suffers from a chronic…

State law typically specifies the minimum number of directors a not-for-profit must have on its board. But so long as organizations fulfill that requirement, it’s up to them to determine how many total board members they need. Several guidelines can help you arrive at the right number. Small vs. large Both small and large boards…

If your top executive were to step down tomorrow, would your not-for-profit know how to make a smooth leadership transition or would your boat suddenly be rudderless? Research by the nonprofit BoardSource has found that only 27% of charitable organizations have written succession plans. Most nonprofits, therefore, face an uncertain future — one that could…