Turn Your Nonprofit Obstacles Into Opportunities

Nonprofit organizations serve a great purpose and make a significant difference in the community daily. Although the mission of nonprofits is positive, they are faced with various challenges along the way. Each challenge presents it own obstacles but can turn into opportunities for growth and overall victory. Here are some challenges that nonprofit organizations face and how to turn them around to make it work for your organization:

POLITICAL LEADERSHIP CHANGES

Regardless of the political party that you or your team may side with, a level of uncertainty comes with a new direction of local, state, and national governmental leadership. Groups such as nonprofits can be impacted by these changes due to the difficulty in being able to adequately conduct any long-term planning for their organization.

The best way to face this challenge is to sketch out annual objectives and goals for the upcoming year while also including backup plans that will allow you and your group to have another option to fall back on in case you have to derive from your original plan.

ADEQUATE FUNDING

Along with new technology comes new ways that donors can give donations. A way to increase donations for your organization is by having an online portal that accepts donations. By accepting financial donations online, donors will feel that they can give in a more convenient way through their tablet or mobile devices. Also invent in a Square Chip Card Reader, a device which will allow your organization to receive payments through your mobile device or iPad.

LACK OF VOLUNTEERS

In order to reach the goal that your non-profit organization has set, a few extra helping hands may be needed. An easy way to gain these helpers is by reaching out to college clubs and organizations to receive some young, vibrant volunteers. Many college students are interested in lending a helping hand and gaining some community service at the same time. Also, a good bit of college organizations have a community service initiative that they strive to complete each semester. When it comes to community service, “the more, the merrier” is sometimes best.  

It is also important to keep record of any individual or group that volunteers with you, as most will need a signature or some form of verification from a designated leader within your organization validating the time they volunteered.

RETAINING/ENGAGING DONORS

Without donors, nonprofits cannot survive. The organization-to-supporter relationship is very important. Today’s donors do not want to think that all you want from them is their money. Rather than asking for money right away, find ways to engage conversations with supporters and give them an opportunity to get to know your organization and build an emotional attachment to your work and mission. These are some good ways to keep donors invested:

• Keep them engaged and let them know that they are an integral part to the organization.
• Let donors know where their money is going and what it is supporting. Give monthly or quarterly updates via email or newsletter.

INNOVATIVE & EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

Many aspects of today’s communication are focused on digital outlets like social media, text messaging, and mobile app usage. Although the ways of communication have changed, that doesn’t mean that your donors have adapted or changed their preferred type of communication.

Due to this dilemma, organization leaders are having to find new ways to communicate their needs and announcements to various demographics. The best way to tackle this issue is by sending one message but taking an omni-channel approach.

Messages sent through social media would use a more “trendy” approach with non-extensive writing vs. a professional email or phone call that would be more conversational. It is also suggested and very important to survey the key constituents of your organization to see which method they prefer.

FINAL STEPS

By facing these challenges and turning them into opportunities, your organization can have an awesome year of philanthropy and service! As a nonprofit organization, it is crucial that you maintain your tax-exempt status with the IRS. ExpressTaxExempt, the #1 IRS-authorized tax e-filing solution for tax-exempt organizations, allows you to do just that. Providing security, ease, and peace of mind to organizations and its leaders, we respect the services that nonprofit organizations give to communities and are motivated to help with e-filing so you can get back to proudly making a difference in your community. With newly reduced rates, organizations can now save funds annually when e-filing. Pay us a visit at www.expresstaxexempt.com today and begin your e-filing process.

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New Leadership? No Problem: Organizational Leadership Transition Tips

As we ease into the month of July, some organizations are embracing [or planning to elect] new leadership to continue carrying out the work of their group. Good leaders strive to leave their organization in good standing and provide future leaders with ample information to ensure a smooth transition. While some organizations in this predicament may have a transition method in place to train new leaders, there are others that may need or want to implement some useful strategies to ensure the core leadership of their group remains solid.

Major things such as annual tax filing due dates, record keeping, or maintaining tax-exempt status cannot afford to “fall by the wayside” during each transition of leadership.

At ExpressTaxExempt, we realize that your mission is to help others, so now, let us help you! Here are some leadership transition tips that could be beneficial to your organization:

TRANSITION CHECKLIST

Get Organized - Prior to new leaders beginning their term, try your best to make sure things are organized so that leaders can focus on their duties without having to go against any unnecessary roadblocks.

Leadership Transition Binder - A great tool and gift to incoming leaders is to provide them with a binder that has all of the documents they need to be successful in their new leadership role. They will reference these items throughout their tenure, so make sure they are detailed and organized.

• *Each binder should have general “must-haves” like the organization’s bylaws, calendar of events, etc., as well as specific documents that would be helpful to the individual and their position. For example, the organization’s treasurer or director of finance should receive information like previous financial records, state tax forms/info, tax filing information (EIN/Tax ID#, bank account information, pending significant financial transactions, fundraising information) and more.

-Discuss Organization’s Policies & Procedures

-Set realistic goals and objectives for the year
-Go over each leader’s duties in detail. Explain what they are and are not responsible for.  
-Inform New Leaders of Key External Relationships

• *For leadership roles that require working relationships with other leaders outside of the organization, a Contact Sheet should be provided with contact information (name, title, email address, phone number) for each individual. 

With these useful tools and tips, your leadership team should be on the road to success as they continue to carry out the great work that your organization does from day to day. Be sure to keep your tax-exempt status by annually filing with ExpressTaxExempt. Unsure of your filing deadline? We have a Fiscal Tax Year Filing Calendar available for you to take advantage of. Enjoy your summer and feel free to comment with any other leadership transition tips and we’ll add them in!

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The Nonprofit Summer Checklist

Summertime is here! But here in the nonprofit game, that hardly means it’s time for a vacation. You know better than anybody that, even if you’re not actively bringing in donations, doing service work, or holding fundraisers, there’s still plenty of nonprofit work to be done! Liiike…

Boosting Your Social Media Presence
A great time to launch, re-launch, or rebrand yourself on social media is during the summer. School’s out, people are taking more vacations, and with all that extra time, traffic to social media sites increases. So now is the perfect time to put your best virtual face forward!

Developing a Personal Work Plan
You’re a big reason your organization’s charitable work gets done. So it’s especially beneficial to make sure you take some time this summer to review your own personal goals for what you want to achieve during the second half of the year. Think about how you’ll be able to manage your time, workloads, and other specific duties.

Doing Some Summer Cleaning
Like spring cleaning except a season later! Based on everything that’s happened so far this year, you should have an idea of what you’ll need for the second half of 2017. So now’s the time to get organized: sort your inboxes, file donor letters, and update your contributor relationships.

Filing Your Return (If You Need To)
Some of you may have gotten this out of the way in May, but others may have due dates this month! Organizations with certain fiscal tax years will need to file June, July, or August 15 this year for the 2016 tax year. Additionally, if you filed Form 8868 to extend your Form 990 May 15th deadline, you may have until November to actually file, but it wouldn’t hurt to go ahead and get a jump start on it this summer!

Preparing for Fall & Winter 2017
A lot of fundraising is done in the later months of the year and now’s the time to go ahead and plan for that. Get your holiday cards printed, write “Thank You” cards for your guaranteed contributors, and make outlines for any seasonal fundraising campaigns.

Reviewing Your Prospects
Go over your organization’s prospects - maybe pull your top 100, or however many you have. Check to see if you need to remove any of them that happen to have moved beyond consideration. You can also verify which ones have officially been added to your organization.

Taking a Look at Your Yearly Plan
Make sure your organization is on track with its proposed plan for this year. Take notes on whether or not your organization is reaching its goals. Also, pay close attention to your donor investments impact and what needs funding in the upcoming months.

Talking with Your Nonprofit’s Leaders
Don’t forget to keep the lines of communication open with your organization’s board members and principal officers this summer. If necessary, develop a board meeting calendar to confirm everything’s up to date and let them know the organization’s progress and plans for the year.

Updating Your Database
People move, phone numbers change, and the world spins madly on. So take some time this summer to make sure that you’ve got your organization’s contacts up-to-date and in order.



Of course, there are many, many more things you can do this summer to make sure everything for your nonprofit is organized, up-to-date, and readily available when you need it. But this checklist will certainly help get you and your organization on track for a successful second half of 2017!

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