Answers to your most pressing social sector and nonprofit questions.
Showing 22 results for Trust & Transparency
Social enterprise, also known as social entrepreneurship, broadly encompasses ventures of nonprofits, civic-minded individuals, and for-profit businesses that can yield both financial and social returns.
Topic(s) Trust & Transparency Social Enterprise
A payout requirement is the minimum amount that private foundations must spend each year for charitable purposes.
Topic(s) Foundation Giving Trust & Transparency
You can often find Forms 990 from 3-10 years ago online via websites that provide access to these forms.
Topic(s) Trust & Transparency
Sometimes federal and state agencies and/or grantmaking foundations require nonprofits to provide audited financial statements. And sometimes nonprofits choose to undergo an audit to reassure supporters, board members, and other stakeholders that they are financially sound. For smaller nonprofits, a financial review is often enough to satisfy a funder.
Topic(s) Trust & Transparency Finances
It is essential for nonprofits to know about the public support test, because receiving the majority of funding from a single source could change a nonprofit’s IRS status from public charity to private foundation.
Topic(s) Trust & Transparency Starting a Nonprofit
Bylaws are your organization's operating manual. State nonprofit laws usually address nonprofit governance matters. However, you can choose different rules, as long as they don't violate state law and are included in your bylaws.
This article lists resources for researching an organization's individual and foundation donors.
Topic(s) Find Foundation Donors Find Individual Donors Trust & Transparency
There are public sources available to assist in determining whether a specific charity is legitimately registered with the appropriate state and federal agencies.
Topic(s) Trust & Transparency
In most instances, the time between filing Form 990s and posting them on the Center's web site is 5-7 months. We receive the latest Forms 990-PF from the IRS every few weeks and add them to our collection, accessible through our various databases.
Topic(s) Trust & Transparency Forms 990
The old adage holds that, "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." This article has tips to help you avoid scams.
Topic(s) Find Corporate Donors Find Foundation Donors Trust & Transparency Support for Individual Grantseekers
The board acts as trustee of the organization's assets and ensures that the nonprofit is well managed and remains fiscally sound.
Topic(s) Boards Trust & Transparency Management
Successfully raising funds and donations from private institutions, government or individuals requires a certain amount of experience and skill, not the least of which is a firm understanding, and a consistent practice of, raising funds in a responsible ethical manner.
Topic(s) Fundraising Trust & Transparency
The nonprofit annual report, although not a legal requirement, is often a valuable communications tool for nonprofits to get the message out about their activities over the course of the past year or years. It's also a great way to publicly recognize your donors.
IRS regulations prohibit 501(c)(3) public charities from specific types of activities and require certain levels of reporting and public disclosure.
Topic(s) Trust & Transparency
Several online resources can help you research charities and verify their exempt status. Some sites provide detailed descriptive information while others provide only the most basic details.
Topic(s) Trust & Transparency
Here are some ways you can get an organization's tax filings. Please note, there can be a 12-18 month lag period between the end of an organization's fiscal year and when its latest Form 990 is available online.
Topic(s) Fundraising Trust & Transparency Management Forms 990
According to part VI, section B, question 14 of the IRS Form 990 instructions, " document retention and destruction policy identifies the record retention responsibilities of staff, volunteers, board members, and outsiders for maintaining and documenting the storage and destruction of the organization’s documents and records."
Topic(s) Trust & Transparency
In general, according to the IRS, "no organization may qualify for section 501(c)(3) status if a substantial part of its activities is attempting to influence legislation (commonly known as lobbying). A 501(c)(3) organization may engage in some lobbying, but too much lobbying activity risks loss of tax-exempt status."
Topic(s) Trust & Transparency Management Advocacy
Exempt organizations must file some version of Form 990 with the IRS each year to comply with federal regulations. Public charities file Form 990; private foundations file Form 990-PF (PF stands for Private Foundation).
Topic(s) Trust & Transparency Forms 990
Navigating the complicated and constantly evolving post-9/11 legal landscape can be daunting for nonprofit organizations with international programs.
Topic(s) Trust & Transparency
An Employer Identification Number, or EIN, is a unique, nine-digit identification number that the IRS assigns to organizations in order to track their tax accounts and annual returns, much like a Social Security Number is used for individuals.
Topic(s) Trust & Transparency Starting a Nonprofit
Topic(s) Trust & Transparency