Non Profit Principles: Steering You in the Right Direction Archives

06Apr 2017 by William Simi No Comments

How to achieve non-profit board diversity

Non Profit Principles: Steering You in the Right Direction, Not For Profit

The importance of a diverse board that represents the values of a non-profit’s stakeholders cannot be understated. Each individual board member should bring their own take on proceedings to the table, not to mention their own network of contacts and professional experience. What’s more, with a mix of cultural backgrounds and ages on your board, in addition to the requisite skills, you will have a non-profit that is well placed to manage risk, plan accordingly, take advantage of future opportunities, and engage with the wider community on a much deeper level. Why is non-profit board diversity important? By reflecting the diversity of the very community you are serving, your non-profit board will be in a position to make meaningful connections with prospective donors, partners, and policy makers. It’s also important…

09Mar 2017 by William Simi No Comments

The impact of Unrelated Business Taxable Income on your nonprofit

Compliance, Non Profit Principles: Steering You in the Right Direction, Not For Profit, Tax, Uncategorized

As a non-profit organization, you may be used to the idea that most of the income you generate through your organization’s activities is exempt from tax. But as every accountant knows, when it comes to the tax law, there are always exceptions to every exception and exemptions from every exemption. Or should we say exceptions to every exemption. Anyway, you get my meaning. In the case of non-profit organizations one of those exceptions to the general rule of tax exemption is something called “Unrelated Business Taxable Income”. Nonprofit boards and management should be aware that it is out there and that it might be applicable to their organization depending on the kind of activities it carries out. First, let’s get clear on a couple of acronyms that might otherwise be…

05May 2015 by William Simi

Focusing on Overhead: The Nonprofit Circle

Business Advisory, FREE Business Tools: Learn the Secrets, Non Profit Principles: Steering You in the Right Direction

Think about how you donate to charities; do you focus on the percentage of your dollar that will actually go towards the cause? If for every one dollar donated 50% of the amount goes towards the cause, would you still donate? How about 40%? 30%? 10%? Here is some food for thought. Overhead expenses and the cause or goal of the nonprofit can be two good measurable indicators of success within a nonprofit organization. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation point out that they use many measurable indicators to prove their cause is a success without limiting themselves to JUST the overhead metric. Their causes or goals are measurable, attainable, and set within a time limit to encourage continued movement towards the goal/cause. SMART goals, as you might have heard them referred to in…

04Dec 2014 by Fred Crooks

Donating to Charities: Where is your money really going?

Archived Posts, Non Profit Principles: Steering You in the Right Direction

When donating to charities, especially this holiday season, do you know where your money is going? Before giving money to a homeless person, many people stop and think about what they might use the money for. Are they going to use it to support a drug addiction or will they actually use it for food? This type of mindset should be used when deciding to give to a charity. People tend to give to better known philanthropies such as the Salvation Army, Feed the Children, the United Way. On a list of top-money raising charities there is Fidelity Charitable, which most people have never heard of. Yet people have given an amazing amount of money to this charity. Fidelity Charitable is a branch of a huge Boston based management firm…

08May 2014 by William Simi

Principle 11: Board Diversity

Business Advisory, FREE Business Tools: Learn the Secrets, Non Profit Principles: Steering You in the Right Direction

In order to obtain board diversity, the board of an organization should include members with diverse backgrounds (including, but not limited to, ethnic, racial and gender perspectives), experience, and organizational and financial skills necessary to advance the organization’s mission. A board should have a variety of skills, expertise, backgrounds, and perspectives in order to make informed decisions. Boards of charitable organizations generally focus on including members with expertise in budget and financial management, investments, personnel, fundraising, public relations, and marketing. Every board should have expertise in budgeting and financial management. The board must ensure that all financial matters of the organization are conducted legally, ethically and in accordance with proper accounting rules, therefore making an effort to ensure that at least one member has financial literacy. Some organizations seek to…

06May 2014 by Fred Crooks

Principle 10: Board Size And Structure

Business Advisory, Non Profit Principles: Steering You in the Right Direction

Every charitable organization needs to establish the structure and size of their board. There should be enough board members in order to have different ideas and thoughts on governance and other organizational matters. This doesn’t pertain to smaller charitable organizations in which they should have at least five board members. -The charitable organization’s board size should be based directly on the needs of the organization. -The way for determining board size is the function that they serve. The structure and size of the board will naturally be different as time progresses, thus the size and structure should be reviewed as the organization grows. -Other things can affect the size of the board, such as the need for diversity, workload, phase in the life cycle, legal mandates, and maintaining a manageable group. LEGAL AND…

25Apr 2014 by William Simi

Principle 9: Successful Board Meetings

Business Advisory, Non Profit Principles: Steering You in the Right Direction

Every charitable organization’s board should have board meetings on a regular basis in order to conduct its business and successfully fulfill its duties. -In order to conduct a board meeting that will not be tedious yet successful, try to start off your meeting with an ice breaker to have members feel comfortable as well as more engaged and interested. -The number of meetings held should be determined by the needs of the organization. -Many charitable organizations find it prudent to meet at least three times a year to fulfill basic governance and oversight responsibilities but organizations with widely dispersed board membership will hold only one or two meetings each year. -Regular meetings provide the chief venue for board members to: -Review the organizations financial situation and program activities -Establish and…

19Mar 2014 by Fred Crooks

Principle 6: Protection of Assets

Business Advisory, Non Profit Principles: Steering You in the Right Direction

The board of a charitable organization must be certain that the organization is organized and has a good system to protect their assets. Such assets include property, financial, human resources, programmatic content, material, integrity and their reputation. These all must be protected from loss or damage. Thus, the board should be regularly reviewing the organization’s need for general liability and liability insurance for their directors and officers. CORE CONCEPTS -The board manages the organizational assets. -Every organization should have adequate risk management. -Risk can be either assumed, eliminated, protected, or even delegated. -The board, the organization, and those associated with the organization all need to be covered with liability protection. LEGAL AND COMPLIANCE ISSUES -The board is responsible for watching the activities of the organization. -Each board member has duties…

12Mar 2014 by William Simi

Principle 5: Document Retention and Destruction

Non Profit Principles: Steering You in the Right Direction

A charitable organization should establish and implement policies and procedures to protect and preserve the organization’s important documents and business records. CORE CONCEPTS -The boards should clearly note and realize the clear difference between document destruction during an investigation vs. document purging as a normal day to day management duty. -It is important to have a schedule for document retention as a necessary tool to guarantee the retention of documents needed for any legal or business purposes. -The board should know how an official investigation is determined and how to be sure that the organization follows the laws. -An organized and efficient filing system is important for all organizations. LEGAL AND COMPLIANCE ISSUES -In Sarbaines—Oxyley Act of 2004 in Section 802 for the document and destruction clause applies to nonprofit…

05Mar 2014 by Fred Crooks

Principle 4: “Whistle-blower” Policy

Non Profit Principles: Steering You in the Right Direction

It is vital to have a policy in place to protect those individuals who come forward with information regarding unlawful practices or violations of organizational policies. The “whistle-blower” policy should implement specifics values to protect both the company and the individual bringing information forth. Certain laws are in place to protect those who provide valuable information about the organizations that have unethical activities. CORE CONCEPTS -Each organization should have a confidential process for addressing all complaints or reports of supposed illegal or unethical activities. -Staff and volunteers need to feel safe to report unacceptable acts. -Retaliation against whistleblowers can be a criminal act that applies to all organizations. -Appropriate internal controls can help alleviate the occurrence of unacceptable acts. LEGAL AND COMPLIANCE ISSUES -The Sarbanes- Oxley Act (SOX), Section 1107,…

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