#RiskyBusiness: Risk Management for Nonprofits: Copyright
Your nonprofit is building a website. The web designer finds a great image that embodies your nonprofit’s mission exactly. The web designer downloads the image from a website of a nonprofit that does similar work, and the other nonprofit has provided a …
#RiskyBusiness: Don’t Let Internal Controls Slip at Your Nonprofit Organization!
Nonprofit organizations are more vulnerable than ever to fraud or errors in the organization’s financial statements. With employees, management, and board members focused on helping people in the communities the nonprofit serves, time and attention to …
[DOWNLOAD TEMPLATE] How to Found and Run a Nonprofit Remotely
Are you founding a nonprofit remotely? Download the free template here. A note from the author to Blue Avocado readers: A few years ago, I was stranded in Malta, a small island country and, with two friends, started to reach out to refuge …
Functional Expenses Decreased During Covid-19? How to Prepare for Conversations with Funders
The topic of functional expenses has garnered attention at nonprofit board meetings over the past year. Many nonprofits feel pressure from foundation and government funding sources to maintain a certain level of program expenses as a percentage …
Ask Rita: We Have Decided on an In-House Investigation—Now, How Do We Do It?
Last month, we discussed the factors to consider in making the decision to conduct a workplace investigation in-house, or to retain an outside investigator. If you decide that an in-house investigation is appropriate, this article is for you. Approachi …
The Worst Way to Share an Idea is to Say, “I Have an Idea.”
How nonprofit employees can help ideas be heard and embraced Bryan has an idea for something he thinks might help his nonprofit. His supervisor, Wanda, already has a lot on her plate at the moment. When Bryan says, “Here’s my idea,” it feels lik …
Still Publishing Donor Names? Ditch the List
“We nonprofits often put a great deal of time and effort into our annual reports, especially compared with how briefly most recipients will look at them,” begins the Blue Avocado article, The Secret to a High Impact Annual Report. “Rather than s …
Practical Guide to How Nonprofits Can Create Equity in Organizations and Community
In May 2020, when Black Lives Matter protests ignited by the murder of George Floyd erupted across the country, many organizations started becoming more aware of the need to challenge racism and to encourage racial equity in their own spaces. At Race F …
Ask Rita: Workplace Discrimination Investigations–Do We Need to Hire an External Professional?
Dear Rita, We are a social service nonprofit that has, at this point, 35 employees. Until now, we have had a very good—some might say remarkable—history of maintaining good employee relations, with no complaints for discrimination or harassment in the …
Ask Rita: FFCRA Paid Leaves 2021—Help!
Dear Rita, In March of last year, when the pandemic hit, we spent a lot of time implementing the required Covid-19-related paid leaves of absence. We drafted leave forms and gave notice to our employees of the right to take these leaves, and we are ver …
