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Financial focus: You told us
In our April issue, we asked you to offer your thoughts on how the current political landscape will affect your organization’s funding. Your answers weren’t surprising, but they weren’t optimistic either. That’s understandable. It’s tough …
Point-Counterpoint: Too Much Influence or Not Enough – Should Nonprofits Be Allowed to Support Political Candidates
After signalling his intentions to do so at the National Prayer Breakfast in February, on May 4, President Trump signed an executive order aimed at weakening the Johnson Amendment, an act that has received mixed reaction from the nonprofit world …
Should Staff Contact with the Board Be Restricted?
Not all nonprofit organizations need or have paid staff. But in those that do, a frequently thorny issue is that of direct contact between staff and board members: Should board members have contact with staff independent of the executive directo …
Four Ways to Remove a Board Member
Occasionally, a board member needs to be removed from the board. In some cases, a conflict of interest or unethical behavior may be grounds to remove an individual from the board. In other cases, the behavior of a board member may become so obst …
Endorsing Candidates. Illegal. How to Do It.
Perhaps the most effective way to bring about social change is to elect the right people. Yet nonprofit 501c3 organizations are prohibited from supporting or opposing candidates running for office. Some long-time nonprofit practices address …
Volunteerism Public Policies Can Hurt Nonprofits
Amidst the predictable praise for volunteerism and the Serve America Act, we at Blue Avocado detect the mooing of a sacred cow. Cow hunter and policy analyst Rick Cohen lets us know the four things we should be worried about with public pol …
Can Nonprofit Boards Vote By Email?
Can nonprofit boards vote by mail and email? As is true of so many matters, there are legal answers and sensible answers to this question, which may not be the same. Attorney Gene Takagi and Emily Nicole Chan discuss both in this helpful article …
A 7-Point Checklist for Responding to a Request for Family or Medical Leave
Here are the basics for how a nonprofit should handle an employee’s request to take Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave. For more, be sure to see Wading through New Family and Medical Leave Act Regulations.The employer must send the employee an e …
New Growth from Old Wood: Heroes & Nonprofits (and Sarbanes-Oxley) 1.15.09
Textbooks make it seem as if Rosa Parks just one day decided not to sit at the back of the bus. In fact, of course, many other African American women and men had done just that over the years, only to be thrown off the bus. But when Rosa Parks refused …
Sarbanes-Oxley and Nonprofits: Bogeyman in the Boardroom?
Somehow, all the publicity about Sarbanes Oxley made it seem as if this legislation applied to nonprofits, too. But contrary to what is frequently thought (and said in nonprofit boardrooms!), Sarbanes-Oxley is not applicable to nonprofits, albeit with …
