Tax, Legal & Compliance

Can Nonprofits Afford to Pay a Living Wage?
October 24, 2016 at 10:22 am

Some Minnesota nonprofits are starting to boost their wages as a moral and economic good. Nonprofit landlord and developer Aeon raised the minimum pay for its workers to $15 this year, $5.50 more than the state’s minimum—ensuring a raise for 34 of its 119 employees. People Serving People, which helps homeless families, has set a…

IT on a Budget: 7 Ways to Secure Your Database and Protect Donor Info
October 21, 2016 at 10:42 am

For nonprofit organizations, finding high-quality, low-cost IT resources can be a challenge. You may not have the budget, or the in-house with a deep enough background in technology to know what the best decisions are. This is especially true when it comes to data protection. Your donors are your greatest asset, and the last thing they want is to have to worry about whether or not you are preventing their personal information from being stolen...

DiCaprio’s Charity to Return Cash Tainted by Corruption Probe
October 20, 2016 at 10:14 am

Leo DiCaprio is cooperating with the feds and plans to return more than $1 million worth of donations tainted by a massive international corruption scandal, according to a statement from his charitable foundation Tuesday. The Oscar-winning actor bowed to increasing public pressure that he make amends for his ties to infamous party animal Jho Low,…

Islamic Woman Sues for $1M After Firing From Nonprofit
October 11, 2016 at 10:30 am

A woman of Islamic faith has filed a $1 million lawsuit against a Portland nonprofit, alleging she was fired because of her religion, national origin and disability of asthma. The lawsuit filed last week by Sharmin Rahman contends she was fired by Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare after wearing a head scarf, asking for prayer breaks and…

Opinion: Accounting Standards Reforms Don't Go Far Enough
October 10, 2016 at 9:47 am

Nonprofit accounting is hardly donor-friendly. Annual ­required disclosures on IRS Form 990 are murky and outdated, and nonprofits use all kinds of tricks to conceal how they’re spending contributions. So relief seemed at hand when the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, the rule-setting body for the accounting profession, recently announced the first major changes…

Charity Navigator Drops Wounded Warrior Project From Watch List
October 4, 2016 at 9:42 am

After eight months of scrutiny, Wounded Warrior Project's effort to rebuild its reputation in the nonprofit community got a big boost when a major charity watchdog group removed the veterans charity from its watch list. Charity Navigator, known for its independent review of nonprofits across the country, added Wounded Warrior Project to its watch list…

Ex-Manager Accused of Bilking $600K From Nonprofit for Troubled Children
September 30, 2016 at 8:00 am

A former manager at a Northwest Philadelphia mental-health treatment facility was accused Tuesday of embezzling more than a half-million dollars in public funds meant to help children suffering from trauma and behavioral disorders. Federal prosecutors say Sonja McQuillar, the former director of health and information management at Northern Children's Services, issued checks through her job…

'Disastrous Consequences': 21 States Sue U.S. Over New Overtime Rule
September 23, 2016 at 10:19 am

A group of 21 states is suing the U.S. over the new overtime rule set to take effect Dec. 1. The attorneys general of Texas and Nevada, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of their states and 19 others, alleged that the rule is unconstitutional and will place too great a burden on businesses, nonprofits and other employers. A coalition of 50 businesses on the same day filed a separate lawsuit seeking to overturn the rule...

Trump Foundation Rigged Charity Golf Tournament to Avoid Paying $1M Hole-in-One Prize
September 21, 2016 at 10:05 am

David Fahrenthold, reporter for The Washington Post, has been hard at work on the Trump Foundation beat, investigating the foundation so doggedly he's become something of a thorn in Trump's side. And his latest story is a big one, detailing the $258,000 the charity spent to settle lawsuits—a violation of regulations against self-dealing. But that's not why we're here. We're here to talk about golf...

Counterpoint: Feasibility Studies and Other Reasons Outside Counsel Can Help Small Nonprofits
September 12, 2016 at 12:13 pm

In the recent article “9 Fundraising Myths Shattered,” published here on NonProfit PRO, one of the myths the author sought to debunk was that you need an outside consultant for your capital campaign. It’s true that not every nonprofit needs to have an outside consultant in order to conduct a successful capital campaign. But many clearly do—and even those who don’t might have good reason to consider using outside counsel...