From the President's Office
Dear Friend:
There are less than two weeks left to file your comments with the IRS about the proposed changes to the Form 990.
Here at GuideStar, we are putting the finishing touches on our own comments before submitting them next week. We applaud the IRS for undertaking the difficult task of revamping the 990 and commend the service for the countless hours of work it has put into revising the form. In a sense, this is a historic moment: it is the first time since 1979 that the 990 has been completely overhauled. In the intervening 28 years the sector has changed dramatically. It's much larger, more diverse, under more pressure from clients and supporters, and subject to greater scrutiny from the general public.
We believe the new Form 990 should result in nonprofit reporting that is complete, accurate, and filed in a timely manner. Unfortunately, the current draft would require more information from many organizations filing it, and GuideStar believes it will likely result in more information that is inaccurate and incomplete. The complexity of the new form is likely to result in organizations requesting more extensions to file it and is likely to increase compliance costs for many groups. ... Read more
Top Five Ways to Show Your Board That You Value Them
Showing your board members that you appreciate them is surprisingly easy.
Ask yourself this question in every interaction that you have with each board member: is this how I would treat a major donor whom I was cultivating to ask eventually for a large gift? Here are five ways to show your board members how much you value them:
- Honor their commitment to your mission. Even if you occasionally question their passion for your work, give them the benefit of the doubt. There are plenty of other nonprofit groups that would love to have them on their boards, so if they have chosen to serve on your board, it's pretty safe to assume that at least some part of your organization's mission appeals to them. ... Read more
If You Write It (with Emotion), They Will Give
Help people connect emotionally with your cause, and the gift is yours.
Mostly, people give from the heart. The head is a bit player.
We assume just the opposite. In our post-industrial, technologically enhanced world, we worship reason. We believe that reason, our ability to work our way intellectually through problems, sets us apart as a species and yields huge benefits. And it does. But reason has surprisingly little to do with decision making, neuroscientists now know. ... Read more
How to Deliver a Bad Presentation
Eight techniques you'll want to avoid.
If you've been working at a nonprofit for any period of time, chances are you've endured at least one—and possibly quite a few—boring or irritating presentations. Regardless of whether the presenter mumbled, fidgeted, or simply failed to keep the audience's attention, bad presentations can waste time, cost money, and even damage reputations.
Yet even if you have minimal public-speaking experience, you can still give an effective, interesting presentation. Half the battle is simply not engaging in the behaviors that can turn audiences off. By avoiding the following all-too-common mistakes, you'll be well on your way to a successful, informative presentation. ... Read more
Selecting Accounting Software
How to find the right program to meet your organization's needs.
Whether you're looking to upgrade your current system or to install accounting software for the first time, the steps to a successful transition from what you're doing now to more productive—and fun—days at work are in essence the same: determine what results you'd like to see (commonly called the "needs assessment" phase), research the available software options, and then select the best one that's within your budget.
The ultimate purpose of accounting software is to report information in all the ways you need to see it. Most organizations "make do" at some level with inadequate output; the accountant or bookkeeper spends time at the end of each month and year combing through the general ledger for details or exporting data to Excel in order to create reports that the software can't or won't format properly. ... Read more
Structuring Roles in the Hiring Process
Different hiring processes are appropriate for different organizations. Find out which fit yours.
An important aspect of any effective search strategy is the search structure, which refers to the people who will be involved in each hiring process and the roles that they will play. Developing an appropriate structure for each search will ensure that the hire is made in accordance with the needs, values, and capacity of your organization.
In developing the search structure, you will want to make sure that the following stages in the search process are appropriately designated: ... Read more
GuideStar on the Road
GuideStar staff members will be at the following events this month. Click here to learn more.
- Sept. 10: CNI (Council for Nonprofit Innovation) 2007 Foundation and Nonprofit Performance Conference, Arlington, Va.
- Sept. 15: Craigslist Foundation Nonprofit Boot Camp, Brooklyn, N.Y.
- Sept. 16-19: Council on Foundations Fall Conference for Community Foundations, San Francisco, Calif.
- Sept. 20: GuideStar International Assembly, London, Eng.
- Sept. 20: Chicago Bar Foundation, Chicago, Ill.
- Sept. 24-26: InfoCommerce Conference, Philadelphia, Pa.
- Sept. 25: Nonprofit Center of Northeast Florida, Jacksonville, Fla.
- Sept. 26: Tampa Bay Resource Center, Tampa, Fla.
- Sept. 27: Collier County Community Foundation, Naples, Fla.
In This Issue
Top Five Ways to Show Your Board That You Value Them
If You Write It (with Emotion)), They Will Give
How to Deliver a Bad Presentation
Structuring Roles in the Hiring Process
