Corporate Sponsorships: Tax-free Gift or Taxable Income?

Done right, corporate sponsorships can pay off for both the nonprofits that receive funding and the sponsors that receive valuable branding opportunities. Done wrong, though, your organization could end up on the hook for unrelated business income tax (UBIT). You need to understand how to navigate the nuances before you wade in. Identify qualified sponsorship…

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How You Should Respond After an Outside Audit

Regular outside financial audits are among the most effective tools for revealing financial risks in a timely manner. And they assure your donors and other stakeholders about your stability — so long as you respond to the results appropriately. Failing to act on issues identified in an audit isn’t only a waste of money. It…

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CFOs Deliver Financial Know-how — But Does Your Nonprofit Really Need One?

Some executive directors, board members and others in nonprofit leadership roles may look at the financial side of their organization and muse, “We could do so much better.” You may think you can boost financial performance by hiring a chief financial officer to help “run the show.” But there’s a lot to consider before taking…

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Program Service or Supporting Activity? Get Your Expense Allocation Right

The push for more transparency from nonprofits has placed a greater emphasis on how an organization’s expenses break down — in other words, how it uses its resources. In 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) released a new rule that reflects this priority. While the rule has been in effect for almost two years,…

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Returnships Might Fill Your Talent Gap

In today’s tight job market, employers must innovate when it comes to filling their positions. A growing number of for-profit businesses — including such big names as Walmart, BP, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase & Co. — have found success with returnship programs. These arrangements also could provide welcome and valuable relief for nonprofits…

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Gifts to Donor-advised Funds Continue to Bloom

Fully understand these popular gifts before acceptance Donor-advised funds (DAFs) are flourishing, at a rate not observed before by fund followers. According to a 2018 report from the National Philanthropic Trust, “For the eighth consecutive year, there was growth in all key metrics: the number of individual donor-advised funds, total grant dollars from them, total…

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IRS Issues Guidance for Excise Tax on Executive Compensation

The passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) in late 2017 brought several unwelcome developments for nonprofits, including a new excise tax on certain executive compensation. To answer the many questions about the tax, the IRS has issued interim guidance that is largely unfavorable for organizations with highly paid executives or so-called “excess…

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Sharpening Your Organization’s Accounting Function

Your nonprofit may be exempt from income tax, but financial and accounting responsibilities still abound: There are budgets to project and results to monitor. There are financial statements to prepare and payroll taxes to collect. And these are only some of the responsibilities that fall under the accounting umbrella. Are these tasks, and others, being…

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Employee or Independent Contractor? Consider These Factors.

The rise of ride-sharing firms like Uber and Lyft has led to headline-making questions about whether their drivers should be treated as employees or independent contractors. But for-profit companies aren’t the only ones that struggle with the issue. Nonprofits also can harbor uncertainties about whether workers are employees for whom you must withhold and pay…

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Government Shutdown Means 990 Filing Delays

IMPORTANT: This currently impacts only those with 12/31 and 01/31 fiscal year ends. Government shutdowns are never helpful, more so when it occurs at the end of the year because of how it impacts the IRS and those whose fiscal year end is December 31st. As of right now, many types of individual and business…

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