Tag Archives: Board of Directors

Nonprofit News Update

roundupThis edition of my Nonprofit News Update features resources for your nonprofit.  One thing I really like about how this sector operates is the willingness we have to share good ideas, to help out our brother and sister organizations.  Twitter is a fine example of that phenomena.  Just follow some of the nonprofit folk out there and you can learn a lot about what is going on in the sector and where the choicest resources lie.

Along the lines of social networks and sharing reddit and Idealist have come together to bring us IdealistNews, a place to post, rate and comment about news articles the feature charitable issues.  Check it out and see what others think is relevant to the nonprofit sector.

A nice resource for nonprofit boards of directors are these videos from BoardSource.  The eleven videos will walk you through the basic responsibility of nonprofit boards, including financial matters.

Been laid off?  Planning on laying people off?  This Guide to Surviving Layoffs might be a good page for helping you and others get back on your feet.

Continue reading

CPAs, Boards and the IRS

MegaphoneBelow are three items that might be of interest to nonprofit accounting professionals.

How can our nonprofit find a CPA?

This article from Step By Step Fundraising has some great information on getting you started on your search.  As a bonus for you home school folks out there the author of that article has a great website too.

Are board members liable for investment losses?

Two posts back I answered a question on weather or not a board could be liable if it relied, in good faith, on outside advice when making its decisions.  Later I came across this great piece from the Risk Management Center that talks about the recent Madoff scandal and the impact it will have on nonprofits who had invested funds with him.  Please do read the article and follow through the links, especially to this one, a free publication that details the state laws for charitable immunity.

IRS and 990 trainings and tips

FAS 117-1

Board MeetingDoes your nonprofit have a donor-restricted endowment fund or a board-designated endowment fund? Are you hoping to get or create one? Effective for fiscal years ending after December 15, 2008, nonprofit organizations with donor-restricted and board-designated endowment funds are facing changes in financial statement reporting and disclosure requirements.

In August 2008 the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued FASB Staff Position (FSP) No. FAS 117-1, “Endowments of Not-for-Profit Organizations: Net Asset Classifications of Funds Subject to an Enacted Version of the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act (UPMIFA), and Enhanced Disclosures for All Endowment Funds.”

Continue reading