Foundations are Required to Give Money Each Year; Are You Receiving Any??

In order to maintain their 501c3 status, Private Foundations are required to give 5% of their Net Assets each year in the form of grants.  They generally consist of an individual or family.  These foundations meet one to four times a year to review applications received from non-profit organizations (mostly) and decide which ones receive funding and for how much.

➡️If you are a non-profit looking for funding for your organization, applying for foundation funding is a great way to fund your projects and services.  Foundations tend to give many in their own communities, so it is a good idea to start applying to your local Foundations first.

➡️Unfortunately, many Foundations do not have websites nor are they on social media, so they can be hard to find.  A listing of Foundations can be found on Candid Foundation Directory.  A membership is required for this directory, however if your organization has a budget of under $1M, then you can obtain a free membership for one year.

#nonprofit #foundations

One Thing That Has Surprised Me in Business

In my short time as a business owner, there is one thing that has surprised me and that has been the fact that not all Executive Directors/Owners know what their bookkeeper is doing.

Generally, owners are so focused on the service and operations portion of their business/organization, that they do not know what is happening on the finance portion.

Most people have a natural trust towards bookkeepers and accountants, and believe they are doing what is right and proper…. until the bookkeeper leaves.  Then they discover things were not properly and sometimes not done at all. ☹️

The treasurer of one client had some bills going directly to her home.  She paid some of the bills and not others.  Eventually services would get disconnected.

If you have someone doing your books, here are 3 things you should expect from that person:

➡️Monthly Financial Statements – This gives you an opportunity to see where your organization is financially every month.

➡️An Understanding of Financials – Once you’ve reviewed the financials, you’ll likely have questions.  Your bookkeeper should be able to answer them.

➡️Process for Paying Bills – This is important to ensure all bills are being paid so services aren’t at risk of being shut off.

#nonprofit #financials

⭐ A Simple Way to Decrease Expenses for Your NonProfit – Final⭐

The last few posts have been focused on simple ways to decrease expenses.  The purpose of those posts was to demonstrate reducing costs does not have to be complicated.

Simple things like reviewing your expenses on a monthly basis and completing a budget can have a huge impact on your bottom line.

Doing these simple things consistently is what makes the difference.  It isn’t the overly complicated analysis and proforma.  It is a good idea to schedule time to review your spending, complete a budget, compare your budget vs actual to see what happened and why.  This will get you more in tune with what is happening in your non-profit financially. 

The Finances of a business is like the engine to a car.  You do simple things like get the oil changed and get a tune up in order for the car to run smoothly.  The engine is hardly ever displayed; however, if you never get the routine maintenance done, it will soon be obvious something is wrong with the car…. then you will be stuck having to pay for costly repairs.  

#nonprofit

Should You Keep Receipts as a Nonprofit?

With so many activities and tasks to keep track of, keeping receipts may be a task you do not feel like doing.  It is something that is easy to do… and easy not to do. 😕

If you are a tax-exempt organization, the IRS requires you to keep receipts and support for any income received. 

There are a few ways you can go about keeping and tracking you’re receipts and supporting documents:

🧾Keep them in a file cabinet.  Yes, this may be the “old fashion way” of tracking, but something is better than nothing!

🧾Attach receipts to transaction in your accounting software.  Most accounting software allow you to attach electronically attach documents to transactions.  This is ideal because you can simply click on the transaction in question and the backup document is attached.

🧾Upload receipts and documents to an expense tracker such as Dext, which will capture and store your documents securely.

Remember, the IRS can come to your organization anytime and inspect your books.  You want to be sure you can backup each transaction in your books!

#nonprofit

⭐ A Simple Way to Decrease Expenses for Your NonProfit – Part 3 ⭐

While having a discussion about Chat GPT, my client told me he was able to purchase the software through Tech Soup.  He then goes on and talks about how much he loves Tech Soup because there are so many discounts for non-profits.

🖲️Nonprofits have been using Tech Soup for years.  It is a membership for nonprofits in which they receive discounts on major brands, software, hardware, and services? 

🖲️TechSoup was founded in 1987 and is specifically for nonprofit organizations.  Much of their products and services are in the IT arena.  Products range from Microsoft, Norton, Adobe, and many more.

🖲️In order to join this membership, you must be a 501c3 and submit your determination letter to Tech Soup and you are a member.  That’s it! 😀

Once you join, look through the products and services to see if there is anything you can save money on. 

#techsoup  #quickbooks #nonprofit

⭐ A Simple Way to Decrease Expenses for Your NonProfit – Part 2 ⭐

I sometimes listen to Dave Ramsey, the radio personality that provides personal financial advice.  One tip he provides is that you can give yourself a 10% raise by putting together a budget. 🤑

This is because putting together a budget forces you to look at your personal spending and you pretty quickly began identifying ways to decrease expenses and increase income.

✏️ The same is also true for your nonprofit.  When you put together a budget, you are forced to review prior spending.  In many cases, you see areas in which you’ve been overspending.  It is often in the small areas such as food, late fees, memberships you forgot you signed up for, etc.

✏️ Once you put together a budget, you will begin to be more mindful of what you are spending money on and make an effort to stay within the boundaries of your budget for each category.

✏️ If you do not have a budget, you can start by putting one together for next month.  It does not have to be elaborate, as long as you have something. 🙂 You can then graduate by putting a six month and one year budget together.

#nonprofit #budget

A Simple Way to Decrease Expenses for Your NonProfit – Part 1

While talking with one of my clients, they told me about how a local pizzeria donated pizza to them once a week during one of their group sessions they had with children.  They explained the pizzeria loved what they were doing for the community and wanted to contribute by donating pizza.  The non-profit was very grateful as it was one less expense they didn’t have to worry about.

There are other businesses who’s willing to do the same, they just need to be aware of your non-profit.  These types of donations are not only limited to food, but they can also be supplies, equipment, and even services.

As a result, businesses feel good knowing they helped the community.  Additionally, when their products and services are used, they have their name on it, providing them with marketing and name recognition.

So, the next time you are making a purchase from a business, tell them about your organization. 🙂

⭐ Using Quickbooks for Non-Profit Organizations ⭐

Quickbooks is one of the most widely used accounting software by businesses…. which includes nonprofit organizations.

In order to use Quickbooks for your non-profit, there are a few things you must understand as it should not be used as a regular for-profit business would use it.

Here are some things you need to know about QBO for non-profits:

 ✅Configure Quickbooks settings for Non-Profits - This will format your QBO account for non- profits and use non-profit verbiage.

 ✅Create Service Lines – Utilizing the Class feature in QBO will enable you to track your financials by service line.

✅ Donor Management – If you do not have a donor management software, you can use QBO as one by tracking each donation by date and donor, then when needed, run reports to view donor information.

 ✅Budgeting – Create and upload your budget and compare it to actual spending.  This will allow you to see what you’ve spent and what you have left to spend.

My hope is that you fully utilize Quickbooks for your nonprofit for your financial health needs. 🙂

How Your Non-Profit Can Get Free Access to Funding Directory

If you are the Executive Directors of a Non-Profit, then you have a need to obtain on-going funding for your non-profit and have limited time to apply for those opportunities. 

One of the most important parts of applying for funding is finding the right opportunities to apply for.  This can be challenging if you are looking on-line and are overwhelmed with funding opportunities. 

To help ease the search, here are two ways you can find funding for free through Foundation Directory.

➡️Visit the Foundation Directory at Candid Learning.  If you are a non-profit and have annual revenue or expenses of $1M or less and update your profile to Gold Seal of Transparency you can receive a free one-year membership to the directory.

➡️You may be able to access it in-person for free at a location near you.  Visit https://learning.candid.org/resources/knowledge-base/free-access-to-foundation-directory/ to find the closest location to you.

With Foundation Directory, you can search for the type of funding you are looking for and gain insight on what the funder is looking to fund and for how much.  This will save you time on your hunt to find funding for your non-profit.

#grantfunding  #foundationfunding

When is a Non-Profit Ready to Apply for Grants?

Many assume that once a non-profit receives 501c3 status, then it they can automatically start applying for grants.  While this is technically true, here are some questions to consider in determining if you are ready to apply for grants.

💰What exactly do you need funding for?  If you’ve not thought about this, figure out what service you need funding for and how much.  Randomly going after grants and hoping to get something will waste a lot of your time.

💰Do you already have a source of funding?  Grantors do not want to be your only source of funding.  They want to see that you have funding from donors and services so that you will be able to sustain once the grant is over.

💰How long have you been in operation?  Your non-profit should be in operation for at least a few years to show the grantor you have stability and staying power.

💰Do you have time allocated to complete grant applications?  Even if you have a grant writer, you need to allocate time for grant application completion.  Depending on what type of grant you are applying for, this step can take a substantial amount of time.

So before diving into grant applications, be sure to ask yourself these questions!