The filing deadline for the 2009 Form 990 is May 17, 2010 for 501(c)(3) and other tax-exempt organizations running on a calendar year basis. There is nothing particularly new about that. What IS new is that this year’s filing obligation has the potential to cause an enormous amount of heartache to those nonprofits that are [...]
Avoiding 501(c)(3) Founder’s Syndrome
Founder’s syndrome. It affects nonprofits and for-profits alike. And it can be crippling to any organization. Understanding what it is and how to avoid it is crucial to the future of your 501(c)(3). Taken from that most-reputable of sources, Wikipedia, founder’s syndrome is defined as, “a pattern of negative or undesirable behavior on the part [...]
Conflict Within Your Nonprofit – Handle With Care
The honeymoon is over. It seems like yesterday that everyone was full of passion, vision and warm fuzzies. You were going to save the world and nothing could stand in your way. Now, passions have cooled, visions have diverged and the warm fuzzies have been replace with contempt and backbiting. How did things go south [...]
Nonprofit Board Members – Choose Wisely
No decision you make regarding your nonprofit organization carries more importance than who is chosen to lead it. The members of your board of directors make up the governing body of your nonprofit and are legally accountable for its actions. Practically speaking, they are accountable to your supporters and beneficiaries to oversee the accomplishment of [...]
Answers to Reader Questions (July ’09)
At the end of every newsletter, we put out the call for “topic requests”. We have used quite a few reader questions or topic suggestions for article topics. Some questions or topics do not require a whole article to answer or discuss. We save those to make a multi-topic article from time-to-time. That’s what we’re going to [...]
The Dirty (Half) Dozen Nonprofit No-Nos
Occasionally, you have to protect people from themselves. Even those with the best of intentions can mess things up so badly that it can jeopardize what they are trying to accomplish. In the nonprofit world, there are best practices, good practices and acceptable practices…and, really, really bad practices that will cause your organization, its board, [...]
Nonprofit Executive Compensation
Nonprofit executive compensation tops the current list of IRS hot button issues. A few weeks ago we talked about the fact that the IRS is ramping up its oversight and enforcement of nonprofit executive compensation. With all the rancor surrounding executive perks and bonuses on Wall Street, expect that populist sentiment to spill over into [...]
A Tale of Two Nonprofit Websites
Once upon a time, there were two websites, each belonging to a different charity. Our tale follows the adventures of these websites. The first website…we’ll call it “the good site”…was considered a real asset to its owner. While not fancy or flashy, it was nice to look at and was obviously well taken care of. [...]
How to Protect Your Nonprofit’s Board Members
Your board of directors is one of the most important assets your nonprofit has. Assuming they understand their role and are there for the right reasons, your board members provide invaluable insight, direction and oversight. They volunteer their time and expertise, usually for little more than a pat on the back. They also assume a [...]
How To Get Funding For Your Nonprofit
It is the burning question of every nonprofit organization: “How do we get funding?” With the economy in the dumps, and recovery looking like a distant hope, this question screams for an answer. In fact, we get more requests from newsletter subscribers for articles on funding than just about any other topic. The purpose of [...]
