Did your organization lose its tax-exempt status because it failed to file for three consecutive years?  The IRS YouTube channel has a video about How to Get Your Tax-Exempt Status Back today.

Here are some guidelines for Protecting Your Nonprofit Corporation’s Tax-Exempt Status.

Related articles

• Help The Local Out: Do You Know These Non-Profits? (fort-greene.thelocal.nytimes.com)
• What Is the Difference Between a Federal Tax Number & a Tax Exempt Number? (cash-bandit.com)

Summer is speeding by, the heat is on, it’s hard to get new things going. Below are some things you can at least think about doing:

1.When It’s Time for a Dashboard Report from Susan C Hammond.

A dashboard report containing financial and operating information is useful when your business is entering a period of rapid change.  It will allow you to know where the “status quo” used to be, how things are changing, and whether the change is for the good or bad.   A dashboard can serve as a road map…letting you see the trail you took to get where you are today.

2. Need a mobile strategy? Start with your email. from Frogloop, Ted Fickers.

…email is increasingly being read on mobile devices and the user experience there is different enough that we need to try different approaches.

3. Six Ways To Integrate Your Nonprofit Email List With Social Media from John Haydon

Growing an email list and a Facebook fanbase for your nonprofit can sometimes feel overwhelming. Sometimes you wish you had only one channel to grow and manage.

To help make things easier, following are six ways you can integrate your nonprofit email list with social media.

4.From Socialbrite: 10 social tools to put to work for your cause by Roberta Stanfield, HandsOn Network: Learn about: AppMakr, PeerIndex, RowFeeder, Quixey, Panabee, and more…

5. The Secret Sauce of Social Media Fundraising from Network for Good by Susan Gordon from Causes:

If you do have a community on Causes, you can connect not only on Facebook but also through email. Fundraising can also be done right from Causes. Donating and fundraising is a big part of your Causes community and we have added peer to peer aspects to Causes so it is very integrated with Facebook.

Why Fundraise thru Causes?
1.       Tested, customizable and easy to use donation pages
2.       The “Big Donor Experience” makes a really positive experience
3.       Peer-to-peer fundraising through Facebook
4.       Easy Promotion: Unique URL, Facebook Page and Cause integration

Related articles

• Around the web Jul 15 for NPO’s (thenon-profittoolbox.com)
• Around the Web Jul 8 for NPO’s (thenon-profittoolbox.com)

Hope everyone is enjoying summer!! Here are some things I found interesting “around the web”

1. From Susan C Hammond: How to Benchmark Executive Compensation

If you sit on any nonprofit boards then you are familiar with the recent changes in the Form 990.  Specifically Part VII: Compensation of Officers, Trustees, Key Employees, Highest Compensated Employees & Independent Contractors requires benchmarking the compensation of the CEO and other senior leaders.

2. Don’t Think Social Media Results in Online Donations? Think Again! from Nonprofit Tech 2.0

Is it just a coincidence that online giving skyrocketed in direct correlation with the rise of social media? I don’t think so. Not at all.

In fact, social media is finally helping Donate Now technology reach its full potential. All the hopes and buzz that we were writing, e-mailing and talking about in 2000 are now transforming into real dollars raised online.

3. From Frog Loop: Multi-Channel Fundraising Raises More Money

Care2 held a terrific webinar on Multi-Channel Fundraising. During the webinar Jocelyn Harmon, Director of Nonprofit Services for Care2 posed the question “is fundraising via multiple channels magic or myth?”

Listen to the webinar here or check out the slides.

4. What is a Power Tweet from John Haydon

Within Twylah, there’s a feature called a “Power Tweet”. Twylah creatorEric Kim says that Power Tweets are tweets that have their “own contextual landing page (with all your recent, related tweets)”.

5. Also from Frog Loop: Women Rule Social Networks

Women are valuable stakeholder to nonprofits. They make contributions to twice as many charitable organizations as men do, and they are more likely to take greater risks in organizations with a strong vision for change, according to Lisa Witter and Lisa Chen, co-authors of The She Spot: Why Women are the Market for Changing the World and How to Reach Them. “Women also volunteer much more than men do. Thirty-two percent of women, compared to just 25 percent of men, volunteer across every state, age group and education level,” said Jocelyn Harmon.

Image via Wikipedia

1. Board Insurance: Do You Really Need It? from Blue Avacado, a great summary from an expert. Talks about  the key features to look for when purchasing D&O, what about legal protections for volunteers,

In today’s tight economic environment, nonprofits are facing tough budget decisions, and one expense that often comes up is D&O insurance (Directors & Officers liability insurance). How should a board of directors think about this insurance?….So, if you are a part of a nonprofit organization, consider D&O as a “must have.” Overlooking D& O puts board members at risk unnecessarily. Approach D&O insurance as a positive and essential investment for your organization.

Free booklet: A downloadable, free booklet on D&O insurance is available on the NIAC website; click here. You’ll see other free booklets there, too.

2. Facebook, Nonprofits, and Youth Programs: Safety and Privacy Issues from Beth’s Blog. Do you take photos of your events? A video interview from Beatrice Ramos: (a good conversation is brewing in comments)

Beatrice says that a social media policy spelling this out is essential.    She recognizes that photos of the kids are important to share because it makes the story of their programs come alive, but they want to do it safely.   As part of their policy,  parents sign a release at the beginning of the year that gives her organization to share all photos.

When she takes photos and posts on social media channels, she uses these common sense guidelines:

• Doesn’t take photos of kids if clothing identifies their school (e.g. wearing a school t-shirt)
• Doesn’t take photos that identify their school name or recognizable landmark
• Takes mostly group photos but often will take the photo so it doesn’t show their face, but the back of their head or back lit so the face is not easily recognizable
• Never includes the names of the kids on the photos or tags them on Facebook
• On a field trip, will take a group photo, but from far away

They have never had an inappropriate comment on their Facebook Wall from students, but have clear posting guidelines and a social media policy in place that provides education.

3. The four steps of nonprofit email marketing 101 from John Haydon. Things we should all know, but good reminders. Headline, Short, Image, Clickable…

related article: Email is still the leading social sharing tool

4. Data is People: Inspired by the 9/11 Memorial Great story about data by NTen.

Your data is people. Your data is the past, present, and future of your work. And it has the potential to change the way people think about your cause….But this is where your job starts. Who are the people behind your data? Where is the data that tells the story of the people (or animals, or whatever your area of focus) you’re working hard for?

Sometimes you already know the story you need to tell. Other times, like in the case of this memorial project, the story only emerges after you start the work of compiling your data.

Your data has infinite potential for stories. Your job is to harness that potential to help bring about the change you want to see.

5. Five Trends Are Hastening the Sector’s Transformation from MassNonProfit.org,

…converging trends are reshaping the social sector by redefining participation, blurring sector boundaries, and organizing work in completely new ways. For a nonprofit that wants to be viable in the future, “transformation is not optional.”

Organizational models of the past not only may become less successful in the future—they may simply disappear. In the past, people seeking to create social impact were primarily driven toward a single model: the nonprofit. But as nonprofits increasingly develop profit-generating enterprises, corporations are becoming more active in the social sphere, the report explains.

Become a Fan of The Non-Profit Toolbox “like” us on Facebook

We caught Susan C. Hammond, just after a breakfast last week, and discussed the importance of Advisory Boards, and what the difference is between an Advisory Board and the Board of Directors.

Susan will be speaking at the Mar 22 1/2 day Min-Conference for Non-Profit board members, directors and staff.

A week or so ago, a question was posed to us. It was where to direct people that wanted to start a NPO.

So, I asked some people/experts and here is what they said:

Rita Fuerst Adams, CFRE, President Charitable and Philanthropic Management Counsel had some great advise to start at the very beginning:

“First, instruct them to research what other organizations are doing work in the arena they are entering.

• Do we really need another organization?
• Can they work with an existing group?
• Does their program plans warrant a nonprofit or should they consider a fund at a community foundation?

A friend of mine is part of a “friends” of a local library group.  They said they wanted to start a nonprofit.  Because they are strictly raising gifts to help the library and would average $25,000 a year I suggested they start a fund at a community foundation to house the gifts.

Now if the volunteers are still convinced they need a new organization ….

The first stop they should make is to the website of the Lawyers Clearing House – section for nonprofits.  They have

the most complete links for legal issues and checklists.  When they link to the IRS website in addition to the documents for nonprofits they should search for the documents about charitable contributions.  They need to make sure they are acknowledging various forms of gifts properly.

Just 2 more notes ….

I always suggest groups adopt – Board of Trustees vs. Board of Directors.  For profit corporations must use Board of Directors.  Nonprofit corporations may use either.  So, to reaffirm status – Board of Trustees.  It also helps to remind the Board they are holding the organization in trust for the public good.

I have a form Nixon Peabody gave to me of a series of questions of information needed to complete the IRS 1023 that is the filing for 501(c)(3) status.

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The next advise came from someone who is doing research for college:  Lisa Marie Garver who is a Senior at Berklee College of Music. To finish Berklee she is working on a portfolio that details how a musician can start an arts/education nonpprofit (with little to no business skills).

Image via Wikipedia

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And then here are some resources from Susan C Hammond, scHammond Advisors

• Main IRS Page: http://www.irs.gov/charities/index.html
• Applying for Tax-exempt Status: Look at info on Form 1023
• Mass Atty General’s Office Nonprofit Info: http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=cagosubtopic&L=3&L0=Home&L1=Non-Profits+%26+Charities&L2=Charitable+Organizations&sid=Cago
• Mass. Secretary of State Nonprofit Info: http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cor/corpweb/cornp/npfrm.htm

Related articles

• Is a Nonprofit Organization Like a Business? (thinkup.waldenu.edu)
• Rules for Nonprofit Corporations (thinkup.waldenu.edu)

We are so pleased with our line-up for our March 22 Mini-Conference at the Rockland Holiday Inn!

We hope you will be able to Join Us, 8:00am-12:30pm!

Along with some of the best on the South Shore: Susan Hammond, Jane Ford, Nadine Pfautz, Jacqueline Collins, and J. Keith Phifer we have some Recent additions:

Steve Dubin

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* Steve Dubin of PR Works recently agreed to join us to talk about: PR – Visibility and Credibility for your organization.

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Timothy S. Bell, CPA

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* Timothy Bell, CPA of Malloy, Lynch, Bienvenue LLP has agreed to speak about 2011 Tax updates, and be there throughout the conference with his partner Robert Lynch to answer questions.

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Learn more about Steve and Tim  and all of our speakers from our Speakers Page.

Find the Agenda for the morning on our event page.

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And we want to welcome our sponsors:

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(there is still room for more…contact Lisa (at) thetoolboxinc.com)

Image by Dystopos via Flickr

1. An Opinion for Philantropy.com: Foundations Should Offer Thoughtful Support to Struggling Charities. by Douglas B. Bauer. (thanks Susan Hammond for alerting us to this post). Mr. Bauer writes about how impressed he is by how well nonprofits are surviving  in these tough times.

How, then, should foundations respond to best help our grantees deal with what experts call the new normal?

The grant dollars we allocate certainly cannot fill the gaps created by reduced government support—nor should they. But we certainly can be more thoughtful about how we focus our giving. For maximum impact in real time, one could suggest increased attention on four item.

General operating support, management training, access to working capital and making advocacy a priority.

2.Five Ways Nonprofits Can Use Social Media to Build Their e-Newsletter List from Nonprofit Tech 2.0

And though some reports claim that email use is dropping, others claim its use is steady and even on the rise. Reports and predictions of the death of e-mail fluctuate seemingly on a quarterly basis. However, one thing that is certain is that the ROI (Return on Investment) from e-newsletters is still relatively high compared to other Web-based channels.

Blog, convert Facebook fans to subscribers, convert twitter followers to subscribers, add subscribe to videos, add subscribe to photos and slideshare.

3. From John Haydon: What’s the best way to post as a Facebook Page? There have been drastic changes to Facebook’s pages, here is a “how to” and some thoughts on using the new tool best.

4. $100,000 in three days: How #TeamAutism did it from Socialbrite Guest post by Amy Sample Ward
amysampleward.org. Great article/interview on how they did it.

That’s a whole lot of donations in just three days! So, I connected with Sloane Berrent, founder of The Causemopolitan and a partner in Socialbrite, to learn more about this success story. She’s working with the creative agency JESS3 on this entire campaign. They created the infographic and pulled her in for the overall digital strategy.

5. From Beth Kanter:Tips for Shooting A Winning Video For Your Nonprofit guest post by Dawn and Brian Crawford

Note from Beth: After you read this guest post, you’ll have lots of great tips for your nonprofit’s video.   And don’t forget, The 5th Annual DoGooder Nonprofit Video Awards is now  open for submissions from members of the YouTube Nonprofit Program until March 2nd. This year, for the first time, in addition to awards for Best Small, Medium, and Large nonprofit organization videos, there is also a Best Thrifty Video category for videos produced for under $500.

Have a great week!