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The Employee Retention Credit: What Nonprofits Need to Know
Originally enacted as part of the CARES Act in March 2020, and subsequently voted into law last December, the Employee Retention Credit (ERC) may now be claimed by eligible employers — and that includes tax-exempt nonprofit organizations — that previou …
Alleviate Accounting Systems and Staff Training Chokepoints to Power Nonprofit Missions: A Case on How One Oregon Nonprofit Did It
Part 1: Innovation is Iterative In 2019, I came to Lost Valley Education and Event Center (LVEC), first as a student for the Holistic Sustainability Semester (HSS), one of LVEC’s programs, and then began employment as LVEC’s bookkeeper, with no prior t …
Running Your Nonprofit’s Accounting Department During COVID-19 and After
When stay-at-home orders hit a year ago, was it a seamless transition for your nonprofit, or was your bookkeeper sneaking into the office early on Saturday mornings to scan documents and do work on your desktop version of Quickbooks? Your organi …
A Primer on Nonprofit Contributions and Revenue from Contracts with Customers
The Impact of ASU 2014-09 on Nonprofits You may have heard the buzz about the new revenue recognition standard, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, (ASU 2014-09), which is now effective for all nonprofits. You’re wondering what kind of impact, if an …
Best Tactics for Finding Government Grants Suitable for Your Nonprofit
Organizations and nonprofits spend a majority of their grant development operations focusing on private rather than government funders. This is for good reason, as government grants, especially federal grants, are extremely competitive and rather compl …
Assessing Financial Health in the Time of COVID-19
COVID-19 has created dramatic changes in the financial markets. Nonprofits such as private schools, universities, museums, religious organizations, and even hospitals have seen unforeseen shifts in operations due to quarantine. While the Coronavirus Ai …
IRS Tax Form 990 [Deadline Extended]: How to File It, When to File It, and Why It’s So Important
For nonrpfits, filing tax form 990 is key to retaining tax-exempt status. Here are the key features of tax form 990 and how to file it.
Audit on the Horizon? There’s a Silver Lining! Here’s What Nonprofits Need to Know
Audits can feel like the worst. No matter how you cut it, it’s never fun to be audited. When an audit is approaching, the organization goes into overdrive to review policies and procedures to make sure the audit goes smoothly. This can be extremely tim …
Donor-Centric Budgeting & Reporting: Top 6 Tips
“Pledge now and get an attractive station tote bag!” Sound familiar? The nonprofit industry I’ve been immersed in for nearly my entire career—public media—is among the most famous for taking a relatively transactional approach to fundraising. While eve …
No Budget, No Mission: A Guide to Basic Nonprofit Budgeting
What has always drawn me to a nonprofit organization is the mission. The mission of an organization speaks in ways that numbers do not. The mission instills hope, meaningful change, and impact. It elicits images of a stronger community and evokes the p …