The President and CEO of GuideStar laughed out loud when he heard about the recent Scripps Howard News Service statistics showing that tens of thousands of charities report that they spend $0 per year to each raise more than $1 million. Every year nonprofits submit Forms 990 under penalties of perjury supposedly disclosing information regarding …
Posts Categorized: Fundraising
Online Marketing Must Match Nonprofit Mission
Be careful what your nonprofit puts on its website or on social networking sites like Facebook. When the IRS reviews an application for tax-exempt status, one thing the agents often check is whether an organization’s website or social networking site matches what the organization states on its application. Similarly, when the IRS audits an organization …
Small Charities Get Opportunity to Run Text Donation Campaigns
We recently posted about text message donations, reminding organizations that donor acknowledgments should be provided no matter how donations are received. Now an effort is underway that will make fundraising texting campaigns more accessible to small charities and safer for donors. Mobile-phone companies assisting nonprofit organizations with text message campaigns are concerned about fraud. This …
Read This Before Accepting Car Donations
Before your charity accepts a car donation, make sure the board understands the scope of the project. An improperly run car donation program can affect a charity’s tax-exempt status. IRS oversight of car donation programs often focuses on what a charity does with the donated cars. For example, if a charity uses donated cars to …
Are Pledges Binding?
We are frequently asked whether pledges are binding. In California, for the most part the answer is no. In some other states, pledges can be binding as a matter of law. A pledge is a promise made by a donor to make a charitable contribution in the future. Even when in writing, pledges are typically …
Naming Rights Motivate Donors, But Also Lawsuits
If your organization has ever considered offering naming rights to motivate donors, just know that if you offer it, you better mean it. Last week jurors ruled that Integris Hospital had to not only return a $500,000 donation from Garth Brooks, but also had to pay an additional $500,000 in punitive damages. According to Brooks, …