Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Common Mistakes When Transitioning to the New Treasurer

Transitioning to the new treasurer is an easy process with Treasurer's Briefcase.  Essentially all you need to do is add a new user to the system, assign them administrative rights and possibly revoke the privileges of the old treasurer.   Here are some things to keep in mind.

Monday, September 26, 2016

How do I record non-cash donations?


Dear Trudy,

We have a parent who is donating a 2 night stay at a hotel with breakfast to our program. We are going to put that and a few things (lotion, candles, etc,) into a basket and sell raffle tickets for a fundraiser. The stuff we buy, I know what to do with, but how do I record the donation? Do I have to?  Just want to be sure that I do this correctly. 


Thanks Trudy!

Thursday, March 24, 2016

17 Top Tools for Small Nonprofits and Volunteers


Gone are the days of costly direct mail, door-to-door fundraising and shoeboxes filled with receipts. There’s a world of helpful nonprofit tools out there, no matter how small your volunteer organization is! As volunteers ourselves, we know you’re busy juggling more than a few balls in the air. That’s why we put together this list of our favorite online tools for volunteers and small nonprofits. This list has everything from text-to-donate to a favorite design tool.

Have a program or software you’d like to suggest to add to the list? Leave a comment!

Small Nonprofit Management



What They Offer: Quickly organize helpers, conferences, potlucks & events without ‘reply-all’ emails, spreadsheets, and paper sign-up sheets that get lost. Make assignments from pre-existing paper lists or for people without email access

Imagine planning without frustrating ‘reply-all’ email chains, clipboards to pass around or spreadsheets to juggle. Just check out the list above for all of the reasons your small nonprofit should be using Volunteer Spot!


What They Offer: Fundraising, emailing, directories, websites and sign ups

Your all-in-one solution for busy PTO’s. Over 1,426 schools served so far! They will even create your organization’s website for you.

Fundraising, Record-Keeping & Treasury




What They Offer: If your donors can send a text message, they can make a donation. And with Txt2Give, they can give from anywhere, at anytime. Whenever generosity strikes.

It's as easy as sending a text message. Donors text the word Give with the amount (e.g. Give 100 for $100) to a number assigned to your organization. After they complete a one-time registration process, the funds are transferred to your bank account. It's that easy.


Crowdrise
What They Offer: Online Fundraising & Crowdfunding


We compared many different fundraising softwares and Crowdrise was one that came out on top. With transaction fees of 3% and just a $50 a month (credit card transaction fees included), it’s ideal for small AND medium nonprofits. Plus, there are no fundraising goal or deadline requirements so you keep what you raise.


What We Offer: Checkbook maintenance & recordkeeping solutions, tax return services, budget & fundraising treasurer reporting and secure document storage in the cloud

Because small non-profit groups often have unique governmental and organizational filing requirements, traditional accounting software is either too complex, too expensive or sometimes just doesn't meet your needs. Treasurer's Briefcase provides a mechanism for organizations to create transparency as well succession planning for treasurers. No longer are cartons of documents or big messy binders passed from one volunteer to another.


What They Offer: Online Fundraising & Crowdfunding

Another crowdfunding software that came out on top was CauseVox. No monthly fees until you raise $5,000 + starter plan is only 2.5% Causvox transaction fee with $0 per month (credit card transaction fees apply)



What They Offer: Crowdfunding, peer-to-peer, event registration & website donations all under one roof.

Classy is the #1 online and mobile fundraising platform. Their starter plan is free and ideal for smaller organizations with single campaigns or events.



What They Offer: A thorough database, comprising more than 140,000 grantmakers, that is updated weekly so you can count on the accuracy of results

\FDO makes it easy to turn foundations into funders. It’s the only resource you need to search for the foundations most likely to give you grants and manage your prospects through to funding.
FDO simplifies and speeds up your process with Multiple filters and an assessment tool help you quickly identify your best potential funding sources AND A prospect management platform that automates much of the grantseeking process and stores your data for you.



What They Offer: A coffee fundraiser fueled by social media

The Javathon Fundraiser is designed specifically to assist nonprofit organizations. Customers looking for premium gourmet coffees will gladly pay higher prices for the best available. Add to that premium teas and beverages and you have tremendous potential for success.  Traditional product fundraisers offering cookie dough, candles, sweets or chocolates can’t make that claim.

Connecting With Volunteers



What They Offer: Volunteers to help with web-based projects

An online portal of volunteers that have signed up to offer small amounts of time to complete Web-based projects requested by nonprofits. Known as micro-volunteers, these individuals offer one or two hours a week to complete “Challenges” in the areas of technology, design, research, etc. Free for nonprofits, it’s an easy way to tap into a skilled volunteer network without committing a lot time to volunteer management.



What They Offer: Matchup with volunteers in your area

VolunteerMatch believes everyone should have the chance to make a difference. That's why they make it easy for good people and good causes to connect. They have connected millions of people with a great place to volunteer and helped tens of thousands of organizations better leverage volunteers to create real impact.


What They Offer: Listings for volunteer positions 

Too many good ideas for making the world a better place go unheard or unrealized, so Idealist is all about connecting idealists - people who want to do good - with opportunities for action and collaboration.

Marketing Tools



What They Offer: Free email newsletter campaigns

If you have 2,000 subscribers or less, Mailchimp is free and very user-friendly. Use it to stay top of mind with your advocates. 



What They Offer: Community-based social media exposure for nonprofit organizations

Harness people’s passion – Ask people to volunteer their social media voice by becoming your supporters with justcoz. It’s free and easy to do. Justcoz provides you with the tools and data to plan your campaign, compose your message and tell the world about your organization. They send your message through your supporters’ personal social media accounts, optimizing your message reach and impact.



What They Offer: Free design program for flyers, social media images, etc.

With simple drag and drop functionality, everyone on your team can create professional graphics that communicate your organization's mission. Apply for your FREE not-for-profit organization subscription to Canva for Work for extra features.


What They Offer: Local nonprofit directory

Your nonprofit listing is populated with stories and reviews are submitted by people who know you best -- your clients, donors, volunteers, and others-- all those who have experienced the impact of nonprofit work up close!




What They Offer: professional looking and comprehensive press pages for your website

Typically, a press page is a place for you to put all the information a reporter needs to write about you. If they’re writing a story about your organization, they’ll often need to use a logo, fact sheet, a photo or two, some video. The problem is this kind of information isn’t available on most websites. Many nonprofit sites aren’t designed with the reporter in mind, and there is much to gain by making it easier for a reporter to cover your news. Totem will build your page for you in 48 hours or less!



Tuesday, June 2, 2015

How Did You Do This Year?

It's transition season.  New boards are being elected, final tally's from your fundraisers are being done and you're spending the last of the money on those projects you planned in September.  How successful were you as an organization?  Did you meet your goals and fulfill your mission?

Friday, May 16, 2014

How to Make the Transition to a New Treasurer in 2 Easy Steps!

I've recently seen some emails from treasurers who are transitioning to a new board and it reminded me to let everyone know again just how easy it is to do that with Treasurer's Briefcase.

Monday, March 10, 2014

Has the IRS revoked your nonprofit status?

Fun or Not So Fun Fact: A review of the February 10, 2014 IRS nonprofit revocation list shows 2,620 names were added this month alone.

The Pension Protection Act of 2006 directed the IRS to revoke the tax exemption of any nonprofit that is required to file an annual information return but failed to do so for three consecutive years. Revocation is automatic and mandatory under the law.
As a result hundreds of thousands of exempt organizations had their tax-exempt status revoked. Many were smaller organizations that were not aware of the 2006 law change that required all exempt organizations (except churches) to file annual returns, regardless of how small their annual receipts may be.

Monday, March 3, 2014

We're small...do the IRS rules apply to us?

The short answer is yes.  The rules apply to all organizations that raise funds from the public.  It just depends on what rules we're talking about.  The amount of revenue your club generates will determine which rules it should follow.

During an appointment with one of my individual tax clients this week I took some time to demonstrate Treasurer’s Briefcase. I explained that, for even his small non-profit, Treasurer's Briefcase would be of tremendous value. Along with all of the other benefits of a cloud based record keeping package, I described how providing a platform that can be handed off from one treasurer to another treasurer helped to provide a consistent repeatable process for the organization would make recruiting treasurers easier and make reporting uniform.

He liked the software but then explained, “We’re a small non-profit so the rules don’t apply to us.” The normal half hour interview turned into an hour so I could answer his questions about nonprofits and correct this common misperception.