Blog - Spokes | Resources for Nonprofits

Do You Owe Sales Tax?

August 31, 2022 by Michael Simkins

As a nonprofit organization you may qualify for exemption from paying both federal and state income tax, but sales tax is a different matter. With some exceptions, a nonprofit’s sales and purchases are taxable. In other words, nonprofit and religious organizations, in general, are treated just like other California sellers and buyers for sales and use tax purposes.

For example, one of our local nonprofits held a day-long yard sale. All of the items sold had been donated to the organization for this purpose. Some members of the organization were surprised to learn that they needed to pay sales tax to the State of California based on the amount of their sales that day.

Some other examples:

Sales of food, meals, beverages, and similar items under a number of different circumstances.
Sales of tickets that buyers will exchange for food, beverages, or other physical products.
Sales of booklets, books, pamphlets, etc.
Sales of tickets for fundraising events when the ticket price includes amounts for food or beverages.
Sales of merchandise in Internet, live, and silent auctions.

Thankfully, the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration has published a guide specifically for nonprofits. Download your copy here.

Board Recruitment

May 21, 2022 by Michael Simkins

What’s the best way to find new board members?

While there is rarely one best way to do anything, when it comes to finding new board members a great way to start is to know what you’re looking for. Create a concrete list of traits or attributes you need to have represented on your board. You need to be strategic. You’ll hear this referred to as a board matrix. List desired traits, skills, and characteristics down the left column. In the top row, give each of your current board members a column, then check off which attributes each brings to the table. Basically, you’re doing an inventory of what you currently have “in stock” and identifying what you need to go find.

Knowing what you need makes it so much easier to know where to look! Need a lawyer? Talk to lawyers. Talk to people who know lawyers. Contact the local bar association. Need someone with lots of community contacts? Get acquainted with a member of a local service club. That person may not be interested but may well know someone who is. Share your specific need with your friends. They’ll have ideas.

Be aware that you don’t need a separate person for each trait. Often, you can find someone who will fulfill more than one need. For example, one board I served on wanted to have a lawyer on the board. Also, the board was mostly male “baby boomers” and wanted a better balance of perspectives. Through sharing their vacancy with people in the community, they found a female, Gen X attorney!

Here are some helpful resources:

Keep It or Toss It?

April 22, 2022 by Michael Simkins

Digital technology makes it so easy to create and store files. Over time, you can easily amass thousands of files (I have 26,443 on my laptop and counting). We don’t need all those files, and the more there are the harder it becomes to find the ones you do need. That’s where a document retention policy comes to the rescue.

There are files you want to keep. There are files you need to keep. The rest you can delete (or if they are on paper, shred and discard). A document retention policy tells you which are which and, for those you need to keep, how long you need to keep them. It’s also a policy that helps make sure you are in compliance with IRS regulations and keep your tax-exempt status.

If your nonprofit has not adopted a document retention policy yet, this is a good time to start the process. Familiarize yourself with the IRS regulations. Then, look at some samples and templates. Pick one that seems to best fit your organization and then customize. Finally, and most importantly, make sure everyone is familiar with the policy and follows it—including you!

Here are some good starting places:

Mileage Reimbursement for Volunteers?

April 11, 2022 by Michael Simkins

Should our nonprofit reimburse volunteers at the business rate because nonprofits are businesses? Or should we reimburse at the rate for charitable organizations?

First of all, whether or not to provide mileage reimbursement to your nonprofit’s volunteers is optional. So is the rate at which you choose to reimburse them. But there is an important caveat!

The IRS reimbursement rate for charitable mileage is currently 14 cents per mile. If a volunteer itemizes deductions and keeps track of miles driven for charitable purposes, that amount can be a deduction. But, if you choose to reimburse the volunteer at a higher rate, the volunteer must report the difference as income.

If you choose to offer mileage reimbursement to your volunteers, it is good practice to adopt a written policy that makes it clear what trips qualify, when and how the reimbursement will be made, and what documentation the volunteer must submit in order to be reimbursed.

Here are some sound resources on this topic:

Managing Conflict

March 28, 2022 by Spokes For Nonprofits

Do you have advice about how to manage conflict on our board? We seem to be in two camps and can’t agree on what to do.

Conflict is bound to arise when a group of people is involved in a common endeavor. It’s not a bad thing. In fact, differing opinions can lead to creative solutions. On the other hand, serious and unresolved conflict can cripple an organization. Here are some suggestions for preventing, managing, and resolving conflict gleaned from some expert resources.

Pointers

In her article “Moving From Dissonance to Harmony: Managing Conflict on the Board,” Jill Sarah Moscowitz offers these basic pointers:

Start by reminding yourselves of your common interest in furthering the mission of organization
Identify the key issues. Even if they seem obvious, take the time to label them and write them down.
Begin with facts rather than assertions.
Avoid taking about “my position” versus “your position.” Instead, seek out your common interests. What do you all want to see accomplished.
Be truly curious. Focus more on listening than having the answer.

Face-to-Face Communication

Writing in “Managing Conflict: A Guide for Volunteer Boards,” E. Grant MacDonald emphasizes that “Confronting a conflict situation almost always can benefit from face-to-face communication.” He suggests holding a series of meetings and offers these recommendations:

Involve a trusted third party to facilitate the meetings.
Insist on confidentiality.
These are private meetings, not board meetings, but they are not secret meetings.
Make sure everyone knows that no decisions will be made in these meetings that bind the organization. The goal is for the parties to agree on recommendations that they will make to the board at large.

Avoiding Conflict

MacDonald also offers these ten practices to help avoid unnecessary conflicts in the first place. Many of them can be part of your board development activities.

Practice good interpersonal communication.
Operate with a strategic plan.
Clarify roles and responsibilities.
Help develop a skilled chairperson.
Learn about conflict resolutions processes.
Establish a code of conduct for directors.
Encourage performance evaluation.
Implement a grievance procedure.
Celebrate agreements and new understandings.
Look to gender and cultural differences as a way out of a mess.

References:

Moving From Dissonance to Harmony: Managing Conflict on the Board

Managing Conflict: A Guide for Volunteer Boards