Serving on Nonprofit Board When You Can’t Meet in Person

The coronavirus global pandemic has pushed even more of our lives into cyberspace. Unless your board is socially isolating together, physical meetings create public health risks and in some cases may even be unlawful. At the same time, we’re facing an economic crisis, many organizations’ futures are imperiled, and some charitable services are in demand… View Article

Posted in Meetings and Voting, Tips for Charities on April 23, 2020

Do You Know Where Your Bank Statements Are?

If you’re like me, you’re saying, “Yeah, they’re somewhere in the cloud.” While that may work just fine for the average consumer, it’s problem for nonprofit organizations and for fiduciaries seeking to fulfill their duties. So why is it so important to download or print your electronic bank statements? It’s the Law Under Oregon law, nonprofit corporations must “maintain appropriate accounting… View Article

Posted in Record Keeping, Tips for Charities on April 10, 2020

Giving Tuesday: Tips to Avoid Donation Scams this Holiday Season

Giving Tuesday (https://www.givingtuesday.org/) is a day dedicated to supporting organizations that serve those less fortunate than ourselves. Sadly, in addition to all the good it does for charitable causes, this special celebration has unleashed a whole new array of scammers who try to take advantage of your generosity. “If you’re planning to make a charitable… View Article

Posted in Consumer Protection, News, Tips for Charities on November 26, 2018

Acknowledging Donors – More Than Just Common Courtesy

Maintaining good donor relations should be a priority for every charity. Ensuring donors are able to take a tax deduction for their donations is fundamental to maintaining good relations. Donors must have a record of their charitable contributions to claim a tax deduction. The record can be a bank record or a written acknowledgement from the charity. For any single donation… View Article

Posted in Donor Relations, Tips for Charities on May 31, 2017

Trust Is Not an Internal Control

Almost every time we tell a board of directors that an employee or volunteer has embezzled from a nonprofit, we hear some variation of, “How could this have happened? We trusted her!” Well, it happened because you trusted her. Embezzlers don’t get away with it by acting suspiciously; they get away with it by building—and… View Article

Posted in Internal Controls, Tips for Charities on April 14, 2017