Is Your Governance House in Order?

Is Your Governance House in Order?

The tax deadline for not-for-profits is May 15.  It’s a good time to take stock of 2011 financially and to perhaps assess changes you need to make for 2012. 

More than that, though, it is an opportunity to review your organization’s compliance with best practices and other governance issues.  Several years ago, the IRS made sweeping changes to the 990 tax form that not-for-profits must file, assuming they generate more than $50,000 in annual revenue. 

Among the many updates was a new section asking not-for-profits to document whether they maintain a written conflict of interest policy, a whistle blower policy and a document retention policy. 

While not-for-profits are not required to maintain these policies at this time, they are an indication that the IRS perceives them to be best practices.  Those organizations that have not already done so should consider adopting them for their own protection. 

The 990 form also asks whether the completed return was circulated to the governing body prior to filing.  Again, while not a requirement, this is certainly an indication that the IRS expects board members to be aware of the information being provided on behalf of the organization.  This is easily accomplished by emailing a draft of the return to board members prior to filing.  Of course, all 990 returns are considered public documents and must be made available upon request by any member of the public.

The IRS is also considering changing or eliminating the Group Return option.  To this point, many organizations that have local chapters with revenues of less than $50,000 have taken advantage of the option to file a group return on their behalf.  The IRS has signaled that this option may be on its way out but specifics are not yet available.  For more information about group returns, visit the IRS website at:  http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=177799,00.html 

Resources:

Check out Guidestar (www.guidestar.org) to see what information is available there about your organization and other not-for-profits.

BoardSource http://www.boardsource.org/  offers a wealth of information for board members, including templates for the above-mentioned policies.

The Association Law Handbook by Jerald Jacobs is a great reference for all aspects of not-for-profit law and also includes templates to guide associations.  It’s available from the American Society of Association Executives (www.asaecenter.org) or through Amazon.

-Kim

Networking like you mean it...

 

Back in 2003, my high school German teacher explained to me how lucky I was to be an American who would someday enter the US job market.  She told me that Germany’s unemployment rate was 10.5% and ours was 5.8%.  Those numbers always stuck with me and, even as an adult, that lesson shaped what I think is high unemployment and what isn’t.  5.8% meant prosperity.  It meant graduating, going on to a fancy liberal arts school and finding a wonderful, high paying job where my contributions are recognized and my possibilities are limitless.  10.5% meant the opposite – student debt, a grueling job search, and settling for something I wouldn’t really enjoy…

Well, nine years have passed and I can say I’m one of the luckier members of my generation.  Despite an unemployment rate that is a long way from 5.8%, both my husband and I (knock on wood) have found meaningful work that we enjoy.  How did we manage this?  Well, the same formula that bright, ambitious, young Americans have been using for generations – good grades, hard work, and playing nice with others.  Oh, and one more thing…networking.  The word gets thrown around a lot lately, and it seems that its value has been diluted. When someone is looking for work they immediately get on Facebook and let the world know they are out there.  They start going to networking events and asking you to “put in a good word for them.”  They get desperate and start asking strangers for LinkedIn recommendations.  I understand why people do it, but I have never heard of a stranger giving someone a job because of a Facebook message…

It’s not what worked for me.  I networked with people in college – classmates and professors.  I built professional relationships with them with solid foundations.  I didn’t just LinkedIn them.  I helped them. I shared ideas with them.  I made sure they knew both my work quality and ethic.  When the time came for me to look for a job these contacts were comfortable advocating on my behalf. They used their contacts to help me get my name out there.  Two years later, when I found myself job hunting again, the coworkers with whom I had built relationships at my past job were happy to contact other employers who could use someone with my skills.  I had a networking apparatus in place before I ever left a position, and the apparatus was built on past actions.

So, the moral of the story, build your networking apparatus before you need it.  Build relationships.  Build a reputation.  Help your coworkers.  Help your boss.  Be someone who people can count on.  LinkedIn and Facebook are incredible tools and I’m not discounting their value, but I am advocating for using them correctly and never thinking that they can supplant building solid relationships.

-Nicole P

Slacktivism

So, I recently learned a new word.  Slacktivism.

Wikipedia defines it as

“a term formed out of the words slacker and activism. The word is usually considered a pejorative term that describes "feel-good" measures, in support of an issue or social cause, that have little or no practical effect other than to make the person doing it feel satisfaction. The acts tend to require minimal personal effort from the slacktivist. The underlying assumption being promoted by the term is that these low cost efforts substitute for more substantive actions rather than supplementing them, although this assumption has not been borne out by research.”  (Don’t tell any of my old college profs that I’m citing Wikipedia)

Some words just need to exist and slacktivism is one of them. Much like “truthiness” and “fremeny,” slacktivism fills a void in the English language.  It describes something many of us engage in every day, something important to our culture. When you sit at your computer and like a friend’s post on breast cancer awareness or tweet a message about saving a government program (two examples I got from checking my facebook newsfeed), you are engaging in slacktivism.

So, what does this mean for non-profits?  What does it mean for your association?
Slacktivism has been kind of a dirty word for non-profits.  It calls to mind images of people simply “liking” something instead of doing. It means half-hearted participation. It means less face-to-face contact.  It flies in the face of many of our tradition notions of what involvement should look like.  It can be scary for non-profits and opens us up to the world in a new way.  Certainly, likes, clicks, and tweets cannot replace volunteers, donations and lobby efforts.  BUT, slacktivism, when used correctly, can be a valuable tool for your association.  Here’s how

1)  It spreads the word.  Remember Kony 2012.  No matter what you think of the scandal that followed, they got the word out.  Every time someone liked that video Invisible Children’s message grew a little stronger.

2)  Its free.  When was the last time something was free?  The internet is one of the last bastion’s of “free.”  Now, since its free to create a facebook page or a twitter account, organizations and individuals will sometimes go crazy with it.  After all, since you don’t pay per post, why not post 100 times day?  Bad idea.  Just because social networking is free doesn’t mean you can’t do real harm by over posting.  Be measured in frequency.

3)  Its easy.  That’s what slacktivism is all about isn’t it?  You aren’t asking much of people so they are more likely to participate. 


4)  Its a foot in the door.  What starts out as slacktivism can easily turn into real participation.  As a casual observer grows familiar with your organization, they may be more likely to donate or pick up the phone and give you a call.

-Nicole P.