In 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), revising rules on how to account for leases on the balance sheet and financial documents. These changes affect all entities—including nonprofit organizations—that lease office space, vehicles, and equipment such as copiers and phone systems. (more…)
Nonprofit Insights
NextL3C: A Foundation-Business Partnership to Support Nonprofits
Most foundations are required to distribute at least five percent of their assets every year for charitable purposes. While most fulfill this rule with their grants, another type of contribution also satisfies it: a PRI, or program-related investment.
A business can also make such investments, which combine two opportunities in one investment: advancing the company’s social goals while seeking a financial return. Congress has designated several hybrid structures that permit foundations and businesses to partner for program-related investing: (more…)
How Does Your Nonprofit Compare?
By Helena Bouron, CPA, Senior Audit Manager
ASL Nonprofit Group
Nonprofits have a variety of unique aspects that distinguish them from for-profit entities. The nonprofits’ philanthropic and mission based approach combined, with operations that are not focused on earnings and profits, are commonly known as the biggest distinctions between these two types of entities. Every successful business, regardless of the type of entity, needs to capture and maintain meaningful financial and nonfinancial data that will serve as key performance indicators for assessment of the business performance and overall financial health of the entity. This is even more important for nonprofits as the financial information is subject to public disclosures and watchdog agencies, not to mention, donors are using financial information, that is made publicly available, to calculate ratios to assess the overall charity rating. (more…)
To Manage It, Measure It: Analyzing Event ROI: Why and How
Nonprofit revenue is a bit different from manufacturing revenue, but you can learn something important from manufacturing industries, which is the value of carefully evaluating performance.
Today it’s a first principle in virtually every factory in the world: What you can measure, you can manage. (more…)
Proactive, Not Reactive: Board Succession Planning Pays Off
Most nonprofit organizations know they need a succession plan for their executive director, and many have one in place. But managing transition within the board itself is a different challenge, and fewer organizations maintain board succession plans. (more…)
Accounting for Donations of Cryptocurrency
By Josh Cross, CPA, Senior Audit Manager
A growing trend in the nonprofit world, especially those nonprofits associated with the tech industry, is the acceptance of cryptocurrencies as charitable donations. Many individuals have benefited from the increased value of cryptocurrencies over the past few years as they become more widely accepted as a method of acquiring goods (by major companies like Overstock.com and Microsoft), and are now donating them directly to accepting nonprofits. (more…)
Stop, Look, and Listen - How to Invest Wisely in Fundraising Technology
Fundraising tools can greatly streamline your nonprofit operations and help you increase revenue. Most tools support a part of the fundraising funnel—organizing donor information, managing events, improving email engagement, and collecting donations. Some larger tools bundle and integrate these and other features. (more…)
Is Your Nonprofit a “Foreign Agent”?
Foreign interference in U.S. politics has been in the news lately, and the controversy affects nonprofits in one important way.
Congressional efforts are underway to step up application of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA)—a law enacted in 1938 amid war and rumors of war to counter pro-German propaganda. Its broader purpose was to inform the American public about foreign attempts to influence public opinion and policy. (more…)
Who’d Rob a Charity? Cybercrime: Nonprofits in the Crosshairs
Online attacks have nearly tripled in three years, according to the FBI, and hackers are increasingly targeting nonprofits alongside private-sector companies. In this threatening environment, every organization must understand its online risks and basic security requirements. (more…)