Does your organization conduct thorough due diligence before accepting donations? If not (and you’re not alone), your nonprofit may find itself having to repay donations later determined to have been made from funds associated with illegal activities. But Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton is trying to change that. He recently signed legislation that will help shield …
Posts Categorized: News
Attorney General Takes Action
In most states, the Attorney General has the authority to govern organizations that administer or solicit charitable funds. While the authority varies by state, most Attorneys General require initial registrations as well as annual updates. But the Attorney General plays another important role. It acts on complaints about abuses and misuses of charitable assets. Corrective …
Pro Bono Services Versus Dollars?
This is a choice Jean Case, CEO of the Case Foundation, seems to have decided for all nonprofits. Her answer? Pro bono labor. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) agrees. He was recently quoted in Business Week stating that only with pro bono technical assistance can nonprofit organizations build capacity. These two extraordinarily wealthy and influential voices …
Ways Nonprofit Consultants Can Distinguish Themselves
Many nonprofit organizations are established to provide consulting services to other nonprofit organizations at cost. The founders figure that by serving only nonprofit clients and charging only enough to cover the organization’s costs, the IRS will certainly acknowledge the organization as tax-exempt. That assumption is wrong. In general, nonprofit organizations that provide consulting services comparable …
Federal Funding Comes With Strings Attached
Nonprofits that receive federal grant money are subject to certain restrictions and regulations that other nonprofits are not. For example, federal grant recipients commonly have to undergo specialized audits that confirm government money is being used appropriately. Further, federal grant recipients must not engage in religious activity that would violate the constitutional separate of church …
Do You Dislike Charity Ratings?
Since the advent of Charity Navigator and other websites that rate charities, there has been an increasing push for charities to meet their arbitrary standards. Voices critical of charity ratings rarely reach a national audience. But now a prominent critic has reached a national forum thanks to The Huffington Post. In a recent editorial, Founder …