Posts Tagged ‘nonprofit taxes’

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 certain level of liability in exchange for their efforts.  The old phrase, “No good deed goes unpunished”, is not something you want to see come true.  Let’s explore how to protect those who give of their time to your organization.

Understanding the issues. The first step to properly protecting your board members is to educate them as to what they are responsible for.  It is discouraging to see the level of ignorance that many boards operate under.  We frequently encounter boards where some members are merely placeholders who are doing a favor for the founder.  They rarely participate in substantive discussions or planning, nor are they consulted with by the program director.  They have no idea that there is any liability to them, but there is.  This liability usually falls into three categories:  1) corporate (state), 2) federal (IRS) and, 3) general liability.  Let’s take a closer look at each:

1. Corporate liability:  Board members are the legal, governing body of a nonprofit corporation.  They collectively represent the organization and its interests.  Each nonprofit corporation is incorporated in a particular state, according to that state’s corporate law.  Board members are responsible to make sure the corporation follows state law and that it follows its bylaws.  It is not terribly uncommon to hear of court cases involving other board members, or members of the public, accusing the organization of not abiding by its bylaws.  And, if the corporation is an employer, the board members have a fiduciary responsibility to ensure that employment taxes and related things are properly handled. Read the rest of this entry »

At the end of most newsletters, we put out the call for “topic requests”.  We wanted to get to some reader questions before the year ended. We will try to answer questions like these, that don’t require a whole article, from time to time. If you have article topics that you would like us to cover, email them to us at mail@foundationgroup.com or simply reply to the email newsletter when you receive it.  We cannot guarantee your question will be chosen, but we’ll try.  On to the questions…

Q) Do all donations need to be spent by year’s end?

A) The quick answer is, no. “Nonprofit” does not mean that at the end of the year there should be no money left in the account.  A 501(c)(3) organization can have money left at the end of the year. It would probably be a good idea if it can.  Money left over can go toward adding programs, improving existing programs, make up for less funding next year, etc.  Never forget that you’re still running a business (of sorts)…you gotta make more than you spend!

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