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Rethinking Your 990: It’s a Marketing Tool, Too!

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For many nonprofit organizations, January is the season for closing your books, preparing your financial annual report, generating W2 and 1099 Forms, and preparing all the information you’ll need to complete your Form 990 Tax Filing. It’s all about presenting the numbers to the IRS, right?

Wrong. Your 990 filing tells a story – and lots more folks are reading it than you may realize.

Did you know that your 990 tax filing is immediately posted online for everyone to see once you file it with the IRS? Did you know that you are legally required to provide it to any member of the public who may ask for it and you cannot ask why? Did you know that it has become standard protocol for foundation and corporate donors, government contractors, prospective board members, and financial institutions to view your 990 before investing in or partnering with your organization?

In their article, “Telling the Not-for-Profit Story Through Form 990,”  Marian Butler, CPA, Ph.D. and Brian Butler, identify four (yes, 4!) sections of the 990 and 990EZ that allow nonprofits to write narratives to better convey the value and importance of their mission and programs. Unfortunately, most of the CPAs who prepare the tax forms are not well versed in their clients missions and programs and many will simply copy a few lines of text from a website or re-enter language that has been used in your organization’s filings for years and is no longer relevant or accurate.

Remember, it is a best management practice that all nonprofit board members review and approve their organization’s tax filing prior to finalizing and submitting it to the IRS. When reviewing this year’s tax forms, read the narrative sections carefully and, if necessary, provide your CPA with more accurate or compelling language that will resonate with a wider audience. (And, if the language in the form is outdated and was taken from your website, make sure to update the website, too!) If possible, ask a marketing professional to assist you in crafting the narratives and never miss another opportunity to educate your community on the importance of the work you do!

For more tips on how to better market your organization through your Form 990 tax filing, read the full article here. 

NOTE: Only the 990 EZ and 990 include the narrative sections. If your nonprofit generates less than $50,000 in revenue per year, you will use the 990N. However, you have an opportunity to tell a story with your tax filing, too. Your 990N will automatically be uploaded to guidestar.org and you may logon to the website and post narrative information that enhances the limited information included in your abbreviated tax filing. Contact Spokes if you have questions on how to update your guidestar.org profile.

 

Making Missions Matter

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Quick! Write down your mission statement. No cheating. Just from memory.

Did you do it? Did you miss any language or concepts? Was your mission statement so overwhelming that you didn’t try?

We ask this question in every one of our Best Practices in Nonprofit Management classes and only very rarely do we find someone in the room that is able to perform this task accurately. And, that’s a problem.

A nonprofit’s mission statement is its covenant with the public trust; the promise of the work we nonprofit leaders will do to earn the privilege of not paying taxes on the revenue our organizations generate. Mission statements are the guide by which we measure and evaluate which programs to offer, whom to hire, what services to stop offering, and which funding sources to pursue. Without a clear and specific mission statement to guide them, many nonprofits unwittingly over-extend themselves, undermine their impact, or accept grants that tragically become more prohibitive than helpful to their work.

If your nonprofit’s board of directors hasn’t conducted a thoughtful review of its mission statement in the last 3-5 years, it’s time to do so now. And, if you have reviewed your mission statement but it’s still too long to memorize, it’s time to review it again.

In their Stanford Social Innovation Review article, “Mission Matters Most,” Kim Jonker and William F. Meehan III, cite the greatest saboteur for most nonprofit mission statements as the desire to be overly broad. They stress that clarity is the most important component of a mission statement and outline seven key characteristics you can use to evaluate your nonprofit’s mission statement:

  1. It is focused.
  2. It solves unmet public needs.
  3. It leverages unique skills.
  4. It guides trade-offs.
  5. It inspires, and is inspired by, key stakeholders.
  6. It anticipates change.
  7. It sticks in memory.

If your nonprofit’s mission statement doesn’t meet these criteria, let Spokes help you change it! Join us for our new classes, “How to Facilitate Meaningful Conversations About Your Mission” on January 10, 2017 and “Writing an Inspiring Mission Statement” on February 28, 2017. Remember, your mission statement is crafted by folks internal to your nonprofit, but it is driven and inspired by the folks – clients, beneficiaries, and stakeholders – who are external to your organization. Refining your mission statement will require you to solicit feedback, to listen, to be thoughtful and to be patient with the process. It will take some time to conduct a good mission revision, so start now and register for these classes today!

Link to article: https://ssir.org/articles/entry/mission_matters_most

 

Link to classes: http://spokes.clubexpress.com/content.aspx?page_id=87&club_id=870953&item_id=565194

http://spokes.clubexpress.com/content.aspx?page_id=87&club_id=870953&item_id=565191

 

4 Steps to Better Networking

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Relationships, relationships, relationships. Every nonprofit organization relies on its external relationships to achieve its mission. Relationships with donors, relationships with clients, relationships with volunteers – they’re all paramount to our success. We are continually asking our board members and staff to network and create new relationships for our organizations. And, yet, even though we recognize that networking is a necessity for our nonprofits, many of us are overwhelmed by where to start or how to do it successfully.

Are you a confident and competent “networker”? Take this test to find out:

Quick! Fill in the missing letters:

W_ _ H
S H _ _ E R

S _ _ P

Which words did you spell?

If you spelled “wish,” “shaker,” or “step,” you are most likely very successful at networking. If you spelled “wash,” “shower,” or “soap,” however, you may have a negative perception of networking and struggle to make connections at social events. In fact, you may find professional networking to be – at best – distasteful and – at worst –  “morally dirty.”

If you are more of a “washer” than a “wisher,” don’t worry. In their article, Learn to Love Networking published in the May 2016 issue of the Harvard Business Review, authors Tiziana Casciaro, Francesco Gino, and Maryam Kouchaki offer four simple steps to help anyone learn to be excited about networking – and more effective:
  1. Focus on what you can learn through networking;
  2. Identify common interests you have with the folks you meet to create truly meaningful relationships;
  3. Give what you can to those you meet; and
  4. Network in order to serve others; a higher purpose will make your interactions more authentic and enjoyable.
Read the entire article here (https://hbr.org/2016/05/learn-to-love-networking) to learn more about each of these steps and make your next “mixer” your best one yet! Want a little practice? Be sure to join us for our next Spokes Happy Hub Hour on Tuesday, September 20, 2016 from 5:30pm-6:30pm at Spokes’ offices. It’s a fun, fast, free, and fulfilling way to meet other great nonprofit professionals, volunteers, consultants and donors just like you!
Click here to register today!

Strategic Planning and Major Gift Fundraising

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At Spokes, we have been surprised – and impressed – by the number of nonprofit boards that have chosen to spend their summer completing strategic plans for their organizations. We know it’s not an easy choice to make when the sun is shining and the beach is only a few miles away. And, yet, we also know the vital role strategic planning plays in the success and longevity of organizations. So, for all of you who have stepped up to the plate instead of into the sand, we commend you! Please find a refreshing drink with an umbrella and toast yourself as soon as possible!

In most of the strategic plans we have helped create, there is a consistent theme of setting goals to increase revenues through major gifts. Even though evidence proves the value of major gift fundraising over event fundraising and other forms of development, lots of folks are terrified by it. It CAN be daunting to directly ask another person to make a significant gift to your organization. We understand and want to help you overcome your fears and successfully execute your strategic goals and objectives.

Kim Klein is a well-known and well-regarded fundraising expert who specializes in fundraising for smaller grassroots organizations (similar to most of Spokes’ members.) In her two-part series published in the February 2016 issue of Nonprofit Quarterly, “Starting a Major Gifts Program,” Kim shares personal strategies for overcoming her own fear of asking folks for money. Her quick tips: remember that “feelings are not facts” and make a gift of your own so that you can feel you stand “on firmer ground” when asking a donor to join you in making a gift.

Kim goes on to offer formulas and charts to guide you in determining how many gifts to seek and at what levels.  Her experience tells her that, in healthy nonprofits:

  • 10 percent of the donors give 60 percent of the income.
  • 20 percent of the donors give 20 percent of the income.
  • 70 percent of the donors give 20 percent of the income

In the second part of her series, Kim offers tips to help your nonprofit decide what types of benefits it will offer donors, what types of collateral/promotional materials to create to help solicit donors, and a few basic steps to take in cultivating and stewarding major gift donors – including sending a personal note with every mailing.

Read through Part I and Part II of the series for a quick “virtual” class in major gift solicitation. Use your strategic plan and ask donors to join you in reaching the goals you have set to better serve the men, women and children who rely on your nonprofit. This time next year, you’ll have lots of reasons for more tropical toasts!
 

Part I
https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2016/02/11/starting-a-major-gifts-program-part-i/

Is AmeriCorps Right For Your Nonprofit?

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August will be here in a few weeks and so begins a new AmeriCorps season. Soon, thousands of young people will start a year of service working for our local nonprofits. If you’re not familiar with the AmeriCorps program, it is a division of CalSERVES often described as the “Domestic Peace Corps” (more information about the program on their website). The program is credited with cultivating hundreds of today’s nonprofit leaders.

For nonprofits, AmeriCorps offers a subsidized full-time staff person for a period of 10-12 months. Nonprofits apply to host an AmeriCorps member and agree to pay half of the AmeriCorps member’s stipend. For many nonprofits, AmeriCorps provides critically needed staffing capacity at a greatly reduced cost. However, it is an employment program and, just as in any other hiring scenario, participating nonprofits can suffer AmeriCorps “mis-hires.”

If you are considering hosting an AmeriCorps member, we’d like to offer the following tips and
suggestions to ensure that your organization’s participation in the program is as successful as possible:

1. Have a very clearly defined job description.

AmeriCorps must take the candidates who have applied for positions and match them with hosted positions. You enable AmeriCorps to identify the best possible match for your organization when you can be very clear about the skills and abilities you need. What minimal experience do you need your AmeriCorps member to bring to your organization to serve you well? What day-to-day responsibilities will they have? What end product do you hope they deliver at the end of the service term?

Stay true to your job description. It is your right and privilege to request another AmeriCorps candidate if you feel the first one presented to you is unable to fulfill the defined role and responsibilities.

2. Remember that AmeriCorps members are often new to corporate and business environments.

AmeriCorps members are mostly college students who have had minimal, if any, corporate or business environment experience. Nuances of professional behavior and dress may be unknown to them. AmeriCorps offers some training to support its members, but as a host, you will be required to offer additional training and guidance. If you are asking your AmeriCorps member to help with your marketing you may have less training to do than if you’re asking them to interface with donors or clients. Do you have time to offer the guidance and mentorship an AmeriCorps member will need to serve you well?

3. Read the AmeriCorps contract carefully to understand its terms.

Because “mis-hires” happen, it’s important to understand the terms of the AmeriCorps contracts and the amount of time allowed to exit the contract and receive a refund if the AmeriCorps member is not performing to expectations. You’ll also want to confirm the proper procedure for documenting and addressing performance issues related to your AmeriCorps volunteer and what protocol to follow when there are grounds for immediate dismissal, such as incidents of theft. What recourse do you have if suddenly your AmeriCorps volunteer stops showing up for work? Unfortunately, it happens.

4. Re-confirm that the AmeriCorps program is the right fit for your organization.

After following each of the steps above, take a moment to reflect with your board or colleagues if an AmeriCorps volunteer is the best solution for your organization’s needs. If you don’t have the time to successfully mentor your AmeriCorps candidate or if AmeriCorps candidate presented to you is not a good fit for the job, perhaps hiring a part-time employee with more work experience and the ability to work independently is a better use of your limited resources, both with respect to your available time and finances.

AmeriCorps can be a tremendous boost to your organizations productivity when you do the due diligence to support your success. Use these steps to make sure you do.

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