 TAXing INFORMATION
Years ago, I became the ED of a nonprofit organization that
had been, well let's just say less than scrupulous about the way they tracked
gifts and other revenues. They
weren't trying to be out of compliance, they just were. While we moved quickly to rectify the
various and sundry problems, I felt pretty sure that the IRS would be unlikely
to pay us much mind. Knowing that
155 new employees were hired by the IRS in 2009 for its Exempt Organization department would make me a lot less cavalier.
Of course, greater oversight has become a watchword in the
nonprofit sector. The benign
neglect about financials that too many of us practiced really became a thing of
the past with high profile scandals and the advent of the new 990s. Keeping on top of all financial
requirements is ever more important.
For some nonprofits, it's become critical.
Indeed, the IRS is reminding
nonprofits who have not filed their 990s with the government in the past three
years that an important deadline is approaching. If these groups don't file by May 15, 2010 they will lose their
tax-exempt status-and any donors would lose their ability to take charitable
deductions for their gifts. And
yes, this applies even to organizations with gross receipts of less than
$25,000.
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The Trouble With Kaizen
Toyota has been much in the news lately, and none of it
good. Unless you've been living
under a rock, you know the problems, so I won't go over them again...and besides,
Toyota is a for profit business, what could it have to do with nonprofits
(beyond being a source of charitable giving), right?
But Toyota gained much kudos over the years for its practice
of kaizen-a concept of continuous small improvements that many considered the
secret to the company's reputation for quality. Kenichi Ohmae, a management consultant in Japan, commenting
in an interview with Global Viewpoint Network editor
Nathan Gardels, says that Toyota failed to see the big picture. What is needed, he
says, "is a single person who has
a comprehensive understanding of the details of the engine and how the parts
interact and work as a whole."
That understanding of the
whole is equally important (if not as life-threatening) in the nonprofit
world. Too often fundraisers
understand how to raise money, but don't particularly understand the scope of
their organization. Read more
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As the World Turns
A mere three years ago, Thomas J. Tierney declared in Philanthropy magazine that
"Philanthropy is a growth business."
He then went on to describe growing wealth and painting a
then-reasonable rosy picture for the future of philanthropy.
But things change.
Back then Tienery wrote, that "total foundation assets in America now top $510
billion." The assumption was that
foundation giving would continually rise.
Flash forward to 2010 and Foundation giving is expected to decrease
by 26%. And that's not the only
place where support for nonprofits is expected to decline. The top nonprofits in the country
expect that the median decline in donations will be 9 percent. That means that half of them won't
decline as much but half will decline by a larger percentage.
The January 14 issue of the Chronicle of Philanthropy (www.philanthropy.com)
cities a variety of trends they think will reshape philanthropy and fundraising
over the next 10 years. Among the
things they examine is the disappearance of tax-exempt nonprofits as the
primary model for philanthropy in 2020. Read more
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Those who know me know that I am not a particular fan of the
movies. If I go to two a year,
it's a lot, and while my husband and I rent movies every few weeks, it's rare
that I manage to sit through them (though that might be more a commentary on
my husband's choices....). So the
Oscars are not a contest I follow, nor a show I watch. But this year, there were some
interesting lessons nonprofits could learn from the Oscars.
