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07Oct 2017 by William Simi No Comments

Year End Audit Preparation for Nonprofit Organizations

Holiday parties; family gatherings; golden turkey and all those other edible goodies - some things just make you look forward to this most wonderful time of the year. But you know it is looming. Out there, in the not too distant future. Waiting. Here’s the truth - your end of year audit isn’t going to disappear anytime soon. Taking the right steps now in getting prepared will not only save you time and money, but also a great deal of frustration. And whether or not you think of it as merely a necessary (or unnecessary) evil, be assured that the annual audit does in fact have its benefits. You see, an audit is a great opportunity for taking stock of your nonprofit organization; to come face to face with its…

16May 2017 by William Simi No Comments

Performance Measurement for Nonprofits

Business Advisory, Not For Profit, Uncategorized

There’s a great deal your nonprofit organization can glean from the operations of a successful for-profit business. In particular, learning to measure the performance of your nonprofit can help you shape your programs and improve your nonprofit’s overall effectiveness. Implementing a performance measurement program requires the development of an information feedback system. By this we mean a system that allows the management to identify, monitor, and take action to improve select KPIs (key performance indicators) that relate to the primary performance areas of the organization. In this post, we will discuss how to identify these performance areas for your nonprofit, and how to implement your own performance measurement system based on your mission statement. Don’t Try to Measure Everything at Once It’s important that you drill down into the performance…

09May 2017 by Fred Crooks No Comments

The many benefits of an outsourced CFO

Business Advisory

As your small business or nonprofit grows, so to does your need for professional assistance. In particular, the financial aspects of a growing organization require a great deal of attention. And while you may not be in a position to bring someone on full-time to take care of this for you at the moment, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t look to delegate these tasks to a professional. By outsourcing your financials to a part-time CFO (Chief Financial Officer) you can access “big company” resources without the expense. In this post, we take a look at the benefits of appointing an outsourced CFO. What is a CFO? A CFO is a senior executive who is responsible for the financial affairs of a company or other institution. These responsibilities often include…

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…

10Feb 2017 by William Simi No Comments

Form 990 – A Necessary Evil or a Great Opportunity?

Compliance, Not For Profit

It’s true of any organization, of any shape and size; once the year end rolls around, you will have some sort of tax-related filing to deal with. For nonprofits, it can be all too easy to overlook the importance of such filings, viewing it as a necessary evil - a dull and dry “must do” on the end of year checklist. However, one form in particular - the 990 - should be considered a truly great opportunity (more on that later). But first… What is the 990? For those of you unaware, the Form 990 was designed to allow both the IRS and the public to evaluate tax-exempt organizations and how they operate. It collects information about the nonprofit’s mission, programs, and of course finances. And more recently, the 990…

13Oct 2016 by William Simi

Overcoming the Overhead Myth

Not For Profit

If you work in the non-profit sector then you’ve almost certainly come across Dan Pallotta’s highly influential TED talk from 2009 ‘The Way We Think About Charity Is Dead Wrong’ – and if you haven’t then we would strongly urge you to do so. The key element of the TED talk is the concept of ‘The Overhead Myth’ – the ingrained and persistent belief that a non-profit organization’s key aim should always be to limit and reduce its overhead above all other objectives. There’s a belief that spending money on fundraising efforts, advertising campaigns and talented, experienced personnel is somehow contrary to the aims of a charity – and that causes a problem for the non-profit sector. If you’re ever going to grow your charity, increase your fundraising income and…

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…

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…

Tag: not for profit