After the pandemic-induced lull, many nonprofits are making up for lost time and fundraising opportunities by ramping up their special events. It’s easy to get caught up in the details that come with event planning, but it’s also important to remember that these functions can have tax implications. Here are some things to keep in…
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IRS Issues Guidance on LLCs as 501(c)(3) Entities
Nonprofits often use limited liability companies (LLCs) when they want to form subsidiaries to, for example, launch a new service or joint venture. However, federal regulations for tax-exempt organizations don’t specifically address LLCs. This makes new guidance from the IRS on the requirements an LLC must satisfy to be deemed tax-exempt welcome news. Guidance gap…
Changes are Coming to Your Auditor’s Report
The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Auditing Standards Board’s latest standards are kicking in, and many nonprofits will notice resulting changes to the format and content of auditor reports on their organizations’ financial statements. The updates are intended to make auditor reports more meaningful and transparent for the users of financial statements, including…
How to Protect Your Nonprofit from Cyberattacks
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in numerous risks for nonprofit organizations. In addition to health-related risks and financial challenges, the pandemic has intensified the threat of cyberattacks. Hackers have grown more sophisticated in recent years. They often target nonprofits because charities hold confidential donor data but may fail to safeguard such data. And the cost…
4 Tips for Rebuilding Your Operating Reserves
The COVID-19 pandemic has driven home many lessons for nonprofits, perhaps none so much as the importance of operating reserves. If your nonprofit is among those organizations with dramatically depleted — or nonexistent — reserves, here are some steps you can take to remedy the situation. 1. Achieve buy-in. It sometimes can be difficult to…
3 Tips for Getting Your Budgeting Back on Track
The pandemic has wreaked havoc with many nonprofits’ budgets over the past two years. Some organizations have taken a more permissive approach to budgeting, but they can’t afford to continue it indefinitely. If your nonprofit is in this position, it’s time to buckle down. Here are three tips to help you develop the realistic budgets…
5 Critical Issues for Your Nonprofit’s Finance Committee
The role of a nonprofit’s finance committee is probably more important now than at any time since the 2008 financial crisis and ensuing Great Recession. Here are some of the areas your committee should focus on almost two years into the COVID-19 pandemic. 1. Cash flow Financial reserves have taken a hit across all types…
GoFundMe Charity to Shut Down
GoFundMe Charity, the fundraising-dedicated website launched in November 2019, is now scheduled to shut down on September 30, 2021, when it will merge with GoFundMe.com. The last day to start a new fundraising campaign on the platform is June 30, 2021. Nonprofits have through December 31, 2021, to view and export their donor and fundraiser…
Time to Replenish: Are Your Operating Reserves at a Good Level?
Operating reserves — generally, unrestricted assets you can easily tap — are often called “rainy day funds.” But stable reserves are critical for far more pressing reasons than the metaphorical rainy day. Many nonprofits, for example, have drawn on their operating reserves since the spring of 2020 to cope with the economic backlash of the…
Surge in virtual events lowers revenue expectations
The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted fundraising from traditional events, such as annual galas and walkathons, to virtual happenings. But, according to research from the Peer-to-Peer Professional Forum, the revenues raised from these events often fall below projected revenues. The organization surveyed 120 North American nonprofits and found two-thirds already had hosted a virtual campaign in…