1. Nonprofit organizations can support ballot issues and causes that are impactful to their mission. Any advocacy and legislative support should be voted by the Board of Directors and the messaging around the level and kind of support communicated clearly within their organization and to the community they serve.  Volunteers and donors contribute time and money based on their knowledge of what the organization supports as well.
2. Nonprofit organizations cannot support individual candidates.  Encouraging supporters to vote for or raising money for an individual candidate is not allowed.  
3. The IRS wants Form 5768 filed if your nonprofit will do Legislative Lobbying and Advocacy.  
4. The IRS requires you have a separate checking account or accounting of money raised and spent for lobbying and/or advocacy.  When filing your Form 990 you will list the specifics of your annual income and spending on this activity. When being audited, you need to show the detail of your income and expenses for this activity.
5. There are some additional details so make sure you work with your nonprofit consultant and/or accountant to ensure you are following all the rules.

With this said, your nonprofit can benefit greatly from an increase in available revenue and laws that benefit your nonprofit mission.  Supporting the right causes helps raise further awareness and success of your nonprofit mission.

The post Compliance Corner: Politics and Elections! appeared first on CANDO 501c3.

1. Financial records
   1. Income:  Cash register receipts, bank deposit slips, receipt books, invoices, credit card slips, 1099-MISC and keep for a minimum of 3 years
   2. Expenses:  Account statements, canceled checks, cash register receipts, and invoices and keep for a minimum of 3 years
   3. Employment Tax Records:  Salaries, Wages, Benefits paid, taxes withheld and keep for at least 4 years
   4. Asset Records:  Assets including investments, buildings, and furniture including documentation such as purchase and sales invoices, real estate closing statements, cancelled checks and account statements and keep for at least 3 years
2. Form 1023 application
3. Articles of Incorporation with the 5 clauses of a nonprofit organization
4. Determination Letter
5. Board of Director Meeting Minutes
6. Descriptions of your organization’s programs
   1. The IRS requires you track income and expenses for operations, each program and each fundraiser separately.
7. Annual 990s and all related filing documentation
   1. You MUST file a 990 even if your nonprofit made $0 that year.  Once you have your 501c3 tax exempt status, the way to stay compliant and keep it is to file every year regardless of the income you made in a year.

Public Inspection rules apply to most of your documents.  This means you must make available, for free, your documentation to the public. Many organizations put their 1023 and 990s online for easy access.  You are not required to share your donors information.

By following the IRS recordkeeping and tracking requirements you will be in compliance with the IRS laws and rules and keep your tax exempt status.

The post Compliance Corner: Keeping Financial Records appeared first on CANDO 501c3.

Executive Directors are hired, fired, and supervised by the board, so being a voting member of the board would obviously be a conflict of interest. However, the board needs the ED’s presence at board meetings to keep it informed and educated about what the organization is doing. In volunteer-only organizations, those volunteers might do the work, and some may serve on the board.

Foundations providing grants also often restrict paid Executive Directors from serving on the board.

Unpaid Executive Directors should refrain from serving on the board as well.  In addition to the conflict of interest on voting on their salary votes on duties can also be problematic.  Also, a goal of most nonprofit organizations is to have the Executive Director be a paid staff position.

In my practice I have had the IRS refuse to approve a 501c3 Tax Exempt application for a nonprofit who had paid staff on the board.  This shows that the IRS cares about whether a new nonprofit has a paid Executive Director on the board.

Sometimes state laws permit staff to serve on nonprofit boards, with California being the prime example.

The post Compliance Corner: Paid Staff Member Serving on the Board appeared first on CANDO 501c3.

WHY SOCIAL MEDIA?

Nearly every generation uses Social Media including the Gen Z children, the young adult Millenials, the Gen X parents and the Baby Boomers. Below is a chart of these generations and the Social Media they often use:

Depending on who you want to target and why you want to target that group, you can consider varying campaign targets.

WHAT WILL YOU USE IT FOR?

PUBLIC AWARENESS

Social Media is best known for Public Awareness marketing.  Setting up profiles on each of the platforms should be concentrated on who you want to reach and why.  Campaigns with a limited and targeted marketing that is communicated across platforms can reach a broad audience.  Likewise, if your desire is to target a certain group, you can keep it to fewer platforms. If you want to reach Millenials you may design a picture and add a statistic to it and post it to Snapchat and Instragram.  Then add hashtags to reach specific audiences and watch your content be shared. This gets your organization better known. The more platforms you attach and send the content to, the more you reach. Learning what different respond to helps as well.

VOLUNTEER RECRUITMENT

Nonprofits find new volunteers by sharing their needs using Social Media.  Facebook, SnapChat, LinkedIn and Instragram can reach various groups to help locate volunteers.  Remember to stay specific with your volunteer need such as “Help walk our dogs. Join our team!” or “Love managing people?  Be our new volunteer coordinator!” or “Volunteers drivers needed to deliver food to seniors in their homes.” Put these with a heart-tugging picture and grow your volunteer base!

FUNDRAISING

Social Media can be used for fundraising as well.  The best known is using CrowdFunding websites and Apps like GoFundMe, CauseVox, Indiegogo, Causes and many others.  Be aware that running a CrowdFunding option is like running any other kind of event that take preparation, research, and dialing interaction to get people to participate.  Keep it simple by asking for a specific program and/or program item to funded.

I recently found a great company using an App during your Silent Auction called HandBid.  The App is loaded onto your attendees phones and when they place a bid on an item it is added to receive updates. Every time someone else bids on that item, the other person is notified that they can bid higher if they want.  The competitive nature of people using this (or other similar Apps) have significantly increased their Silent Auction revenues.

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT APPS

One of the major challenges in Social Media is how much time and effort it can take Nonprofit Organizations to manage.  Developing content, keeping the interaction going and learning the new Apps and uses can be time consuming. Hootsuite is an App that helps manage all your social media platforms.  You can schedule your content throughout the month(s). Once you learn the ropes on this App, you can benefit from the time-saving features it can provide your nonprofit.

Social Media is a part of our daily lives and it is a great way to have instant contact with your future volunteers and donors.

The post CANDO! Blog: Social Media appeared first on CANDO 501c3.

Appreciation of donors begins with the charitable donation receipt and continues with regular and ongoing thank yous in small and large ways. When thanking donors avoid asking for more money.

Board of Directors are a resource for thanking donors. Directors help cultivate donors and they should be the one to thank those donors. Writing thank you notes signed by the Board of Directors is one simple task. Donors appreciate meeting one on one with directors and who knows, maybe a donor will one day join your board and help cultivate new donors.

Connection between the nonprofit and the donor is becoming more important to donors. Creating the connection can be expressed in different ways depending on the donor. They may respond to touring your facility, meeting clients receiving your services, volunteering or serving on an Advisory Board. Always ask your donors what they want to see and know about your work and how they want to be part of your success.

Donor Management Systems are a valuable tool to tracking each donor. Donors donate for many different reasons and when and how they donate and the money they donate. It allows your organization to determine what they have been donating, when and why. Was there a specific letter they responded to or do they give during a annual gives day? Learn each donors partners and customize your next asks

Events to thank your donors, without asking for any money, provides a way for donors to learn more about your organization and meet other donors.

Free fundraiser events are a great to reward special donors. Consider offering a free ticket to select donors who regularly attend fundraising events. This is more of a thank you than an ask for money. Although this is not a ask for money, they may still donate at the event.

Growth

Honor your donors with a special custom gift on their birthday or anniversary. Recognizing their special events keeps a strong connection with your donor.

Involvement in your activities may be enticing to some donors. Find ways to include your donors by inviting them to some of your programmatic activities.

Jazzy ways of recognizing donors keeps them interested in your nonprofit.

Keep donors intents and interests at the top of mind with any communications.

Longevity is a primary goal to pursue in stewarding your donors. Consider ways that will keep your donor around forever. The longer you have donors, the more they increase their giving dollar amounts.

Major Gifts are often discussions left out by nonprofits, but often on the mind of some donors. Learn about planned giving and how to discuss with your donors to add another income source that can have a lasting impact. Gifts of charitable remainder trust, life insurance, annuities, endowments and donor advised funds are some ways donors leave a legacy.

Novel ways of thanking and appreciating donors can be discussed by your Board and Staff keeping active interest in your organization’s activities

One-on-One meetings to get to know your donor interests and impact to the organization help feel more involved.

Personalized Touches like learning their favorite colors, children’s activities or special vacation places help to keep connections with your donors.

Quick and easy methods can help save time and money for the organization. Taking a few minutes a day to write notes or make a couple of phone calls can go along way to tackle donor reach out campaigns.

Results can be measured and tracked by your organization to ensure the outreach activities.

Surveys sent to your donors will help your organization be responsive to your donor needs and interests ensuring you are doing the right activities to retain all your donors.

Tracking donors includes keeping a notes section in your Donor Management Software. These notes can be seen by everyone and add additional special touches to your contacts with each donor.

Understanding your donors is critically important. It’s important to know why they gave to and what will have them giving in the future.

Volunteering

Wills are a result of long term cultivation of a donor.

Xoxo, saying you care and even love your donor is the best way to keep them coming back for more impact.

Yes to requests your donors have creates a strong bond and ongoing connection between you both.

Zillions of dollars and donors are open to your nonprofit. By stewarding your existing donors you can have long term relationships that will reward your nonprofit for years to come.

The post CANDO! Blog: ABCs of Donor Stewardship appeared first on CANDO 501c3.

Eligibility

This grant is eligible to a range of nonprofit organizations from:

• Educational institutions,
• programs conducted by Municipal, county, state or federal government entities that align with the State Farm® charitable focus,
• 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit organizations,
• 501(c)(4) volunteer fire companies,
• 501(c)(6) chambers of commerce

Details

Safety Grants focus on Auto and road safety, teen driving education, home safety and fire protection, disaster preparedness, and disaster recovery.

Community Development Grants focus on affordable housing, job training, neighborhood revitalization, small business development, financial literacy, and first time home ownership.

Education Grants focus on college pathways and career success nationally, and teacher development, service learning and education reform and improvement locally.

Application

Applications are available Sept. 1, 2018 – Oct 31, 2018, with grant decisions coming in by the end of the first quarter 2019.

Link to Application

Develop a Strategic Plan for this Grant Application

The post Grant Heartbeat: Good Neighbor Citizenship Grants appeared first on CANDO 501c3.

Grant Size

Grants range in size from $1,000.00 to $10,000.00.

Eligibility

501c3 organizations or those with 501c3 fiscal sponsors only.

The program does not support: public or private schools, individuals, government agencies, art, music, or recreational programs, disaster relief, political organizations, religious organizations, medical research, quality of life, wish fulfillment, or disease treatment organizations, basic needs programs (that exist to supply food or clothing), single service programs such as individual counseling, efforts to protect individual species or animals.

Exceptions may be made by board member or founder request.

Details

Areas of interest include children and families, and disenfranchised and marginalized groups (due to social or economic class, disabilities, homelessness, education, etc.). The program places emphasis on projects which help people overcome social or economic barriers to education or employment, promote the empowerment of individuals toward self-sufficiency, and provide opportunities for personal growth that benefit their greater community, and/or demonstrate human equality and encourage people to cross boundary lines to help others.

Application

Application requires:

• a mission statement,
• a description of project and how the project empowers others to benefit others,
• a project plan that includes measurability, and steps for acheiving the goals with timetables,
• the organization’s rediness,
• confirmation of 501c3 status,
• itemized budget,
• and aletter from your projects managers.

Link to application

Develop a Strategic Plan for this Grant Application

The post Grant Heartbeat: Singing for Change appeared first on CANDO 501c3.

1.  Donors are responsible for obtaining a written acknowledgment from a charity for any single contribution of $250 or more before the donors can claim a charitable contribution on their federal income tax returns.
2.  Charitable organizations are required to provide a written disclosure to a donor who receives goods or services in exchange for a single payment in excess of $75.  

What’s this mean for my operations?
Nonprofit Industry BEST PRACTICE is to give a receipt for all donations!

Scenario A: When should I to send a written acknowledgement of a donation?

When receiving donations greater than $250 (including in-kind donations) a written acknowledgement must be sent. Be sure to collect address information, full name, and save the donors on a list so you can complete your mailing before the donor needs to file their taxes!  Below is a template for a written acknowledgement that you can email, send electronically through your online donation system or even through the mail. The template is designed for both in-kind and cash donations. Although the IRS states $250 requires a receipt, best practice is for all donations to receive a receipt.

This receipt can be a template format where you simply change the donor’s information. CANDO! Has a free template for your convenience, feel free to change whatever information you need.

Get your Written Acknowledgement of Nonprofit Donation Template

Scenario B: When is a disclosure statement needed?

When a donor makes a payment of $75 or great to a charity partly as a contribution and partly for goods or services, then a disclosure statement clarifying the deductible portion of the payment is needed. This is common in silent auction scenarios, fundraiser events, etc. For example: if a donor gives a charity $90 and receives a meal valued at $20, the donor has made a quid pro quo contribution. The charitable contribution part of the payment is $70, calculated by subtracting the value of goods and services from the total contribution. Even though the deductible part of the payment is not more than $75, a disclosure statement must be provided by the organization to the donor because the donor’s payment (a ‘quid pro quo’ contribution) is more than $75. Failure to make the required disclosure may result in a penalty to the organization.

Note: There is some other fine print  exempting quid pro quo exchanges around membership benefits, smaller value items, ‘tokens’, and intangible religious benefits.

“[A] required written disclosure statement must:

1. Inform the donor that the amount of the contribution that is deductible for federal income tax purposes is limited to the excess of any money (and the value of any property other than money) contributed by the donor over the fair market value of goods or services provided by the charity, and
2.  Provide the donor with a good faith estimate of the fair market value of the goods or services that the donor received.  The charity must furnish the statement in connection with either the solicitation or the receipt of the quid pro quo contribution.  If the disclosure statement is furnished in connection with a particular solicitation, it is not necessary for the organization to provide another statement when it actually receives the contribution.”

Here are some examples of quid pro quo donation disclosure statements.

IRS Disclosure Statement Sample

On a fundraising ticket or sale item description or offer (eg. the solicitation):

In a receipt for a quid pro quo contribution:

The post Nonprofit Pulse: Receiving and Acknowledging Donations as a Nonprofit appeared first on CANDO 501c3.

So how can boards make this process easier and ensure they can predict what the priorities of the next year will bring?  The keys are in the planning and awareness of the past and present of your nonprofit. Here’s some tips that can help ease the process as you create the next year’s future of your organization.

1. FINANCIAL COMMITTEE

Many nonprofits have an ongoing financial committee that meets at least monthly during the year.  In addition to reviewing the fiscal policy, the financial committee can track the success of the operations, programs and fundraising activities of the organization.  By looking at the details of the current spending, financial committees can offer thoughts and ideas on how to improve these areas of the nonprofit. A financial committee can help determine if a fundraiser should continue, a program should be modified due to lack of income generation or cost analysis.  With that said, not every fundraiser or program should be scrapped if they don’t mean a fundraising goal or are an expense part of the organization. These can be valuable for the public awareness aspects or meeting the true mission of the organization. Since there are many factors in determining what is best for the organization, a financial committee can be helpful in providing pertinent insight into the inner workings of the organization and the advice used to inform the upcoming priorities for the year.

2. STICK WITH THE MISSION

In all the work of the nonprofit, the mission is key. This is a great time for the board to make sure each program and fundraiser is in line with the purpose of the organization.  Often times the organization may have programs that are no longer meeting a need in the community or became part of “mission creep”. Mission creep is common when new programs are created to obtain grants or meet a specific need in the community that may no longer be necessary.  Reviewing and sticking to the mission is an important part of determining the priorities for the next year. Sometimes an organization may find that they need a whole new mission statement because the one they have is outdated or not clear in the priorities of the previous years. This process should not taken lightly and if in question is a great time to seek advice and/or professional help in guiding the creation of a new mission statement.  The primary goal is to keep the organization mission aligned with its operations, programs and fundraising activity.

3. START WITH EXPENSES

This process can be pretty simple when you are an organization that has been around for many years.  The exception to this is when a long-standing organization is trying to lower expenses in operations and programs or even fundraisers. If an organization is trying to keep expenses in check it is good to review the past several years of individual parts of the organization and compare the trend.  Was the increase in expenses gradual and in line with the income of the organization? Was there a time where expenses made a sharp increase for an activity and never brought back into line with the overall budget? Review of these areas when determining where to make budget cuts can be helpful in ensuring activities are properly funded.  

I work frequently with new nonprofit organizations that don’t have a history of income and expenses.  They often struggle with determining how to predict the amount of activity will occur in operations and programming and how much it costs to run a fundraiser.  The good news is there is a history of similar activity occurring with other nonprofit organizations that can assist in determining expenses in a new nonprofit.  New nonprofits benefit from clearly identifying the needs of the organization in addition to the community need for its services and funds. If your nonprofit hopes to pay staff in the coming year, write that into your budget expenses and then determine the various income sources you will needed to accomplish that goal. Do this every aspect of your nonprofit and keep to what you WILL accomplish in the new year.  This becomes very important if you want to obtain grants in the near future. Foundations like to see organizations that have kept in line with their mission and organization priorities and the budget is a great way to show you have accomplished your priorities within budget.

4. BE HOPEFULLY REALISTIC

Budgets should be hopefully realistic. Passion may drive a desire for idealistic priorities and this can be good when raising money to meet the true needs of the community you serve. The challenge arises when idealism surpasses actual results.  This can negatively impact the view of an organization that does not have goals they accomplish throughout the year because the budget and activities of the organization where beyond the capacity of the organization. Capacity of the organization, a common buzz term, includes number of volunteers, staff and collaborations needed to meet the mission of the organization.  Capacity can include your organization office space and how many can work in the space or how much time it takes to raise money. Having everything you need to deliver your organization mission and programs is key to developing a strong budget for the new year.

Budgets require time and attention to develop.  Making it a year round activity that is informed by and past and present experiences will help to create a less stressful new year that aligns your budget with your nonprofit’s mission and goals.

The post CANDO! Blog: Budgeting for Success appeared first on CANDO 501c3.

TOPIC:  Nonprofit Strategic Planning

DATE: Thursday October 6, 2016

TIME:  12-1pm

SPONSORING ORGANIZATION:  Berthoud Chamber of Commerce  http://berthoudcolorado.com/

PLACE:  Berthoud Community/Senior Center, 248 Welch Ave,Berthoud, CO 80513-2074

COST:  Free to Chamber members, $5.00 for non-Chamber members

DESCRIPTION:

This workshop is geared to Board of Directors and Executive Directors for all nonprofits.  It will be an overview of the components of a strategic plan for nonprofits and how to customize a strategic plan to the reality of their organization and the reality they can have for their future.  Strategic Plans are living documents to be utilized daily, reviewed at each board meeting and incorporated in all board and staff decision making.  Tips and tools will be provided on how this all comes together to create a successful implementation that increases capacity and funding.

Registration:  http://business.berthoudcolorado.com/events/details/the-non-profit-luncheon-3811

Colorado Nonprofit Association

TOPIC:  Ready. Set. PLAN YOUR GRANTS: Create a Grant Template and a Strategic Grant Plan

DATE:  Friday October 21, 2016

TIME:  10:45am-12:15pm

SPONSORING ORGANIZATION:  Colorado Nonprofit Association  Fall Conference and Exhibition

https://www.coloradononprofits.org/events/fall-conference-exhibition

PLACE:  Renaissance Denver Stapleton Hotel

3801 Quebec St., Denver, Colorado 80207

COST:  $200-$450 depending on attendance and registration date (early-bird registration by: October 7, 2016)

REGISTRATION: https://www.cvent.com/events/24th-annual-fall-conference-and-exhibition/registration-e55bf37c852249b9a69a99f30649c8ee.aspx

DESCRIPTION:  

Grant Planning begins with your organization’s passion, mission and vision. You are the best to promote your organization and create the necessary high level donors relationships to raise money for your organization. A LIVING Grant Template and Strategic Grant Plan gives you the tools to act quickly and with purpose to pursue all forms of grant funding.

The post Past Workshops appeared first on CANDO 501c3.