While you are able to supplement your usual income-producing activities with sponsorships and advertising programs, it’s important to understand the possible tax implications of income from these outside sources.

The perfect bookkeeper will seamlessly handle your day-to-day accounting functions, but finding this person can be difficult. Be sure to consider your organization’s needs before actively starting your search. 

Hopefully your organization already ensures that donors receive a receipt with information about claiming a charitable contribution deduction on their tax return. Did you know that your obligations may go further than that? For noncash donations, you might have responsibilities related to certain tax forms. 

Auditors examining a nonprofit's financial statements should spend considerable time on the revenue figures. At BBD, we look at the accounting methods used to record revenues and perform a detailed income analysis. You can use the same techniques to increase your understanding of your organization's revenue profile. 

The relatively new federal procurement standards, which went into full effect in fiscal year 2017, significantly alter the way nonprofits receiving federal funding handle purchasing. You may have changed your written policies, but are you complying with the standards in practice? If not, you could risk losing funding. 

The end of your fiscal year is often a time for a push in fundraising and giving. But after the flurry of this year-end fundraising, you and your not-for-profit’s staff are probably ready for a little break. Be aware that your supporters may be tired, too. At some point, even the most philanthropic individuals experience donor fatigue and start saying “no” — even to their favorite charities.

As discussed in a previous post, we’re seeing an increase in nonprofit collaboration, whether through mergers, acquisitions or, as we’ll discuss in this post, alliances. The success of these arrangements depends on careful planning and oversight.

When an arrangement is personally benefiting one of your officers, board members or employees, you are in violation of IRS guidelines regarding conflicts of interest in nonprofits, and you could lose your tax-exempt status as well as your good reputation.

A nonprofit capital campaign is one of the best fundraising methods, particularly if you have a certain project or purchase in mind. But capital campaign fundraising requires strong leadership, extensive planning and dedicated participants.

When your nonprofit organization is struggling financially and you’ve already attempted to cut costs in more traditional ways, like wage freezes and layoffs, what’s next?