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6 Tip for Writing a Winning Crowdfunding Story

By Tammy Bunting
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How you pitch your nonprofit to potential supporters through your crowdfunding page is very important. The right words can bring a surplus of cash or scare investors away. An incoherent pitch that lacks focus can reflect poorly on the leaders of a nonprofit. This guide will help you write a winning  nonprofit crowdfunding  story that’ll help you raise enough funds for your organization.   1. WHAT PROBLEM WILL YOU SOLVE? Do you help feed thousands of people in Rwanda? Or perhaps your organization saves exotic animals from becoming extinct. Regardless of which cause your organization is passionate about, your crowdfunding page should clearly state ...
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When do I send a 1099 to a vendor?

By Shelly Einspahr
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Mid-year is a great time to begin ensuring you will be ready at year-end to distribute 1099’s to vendors. Organizations must send a 1099 for payments made in the course of a trade or business to an individual who is not an employee or payments to an unincorporated business. In order to determine if a 1099 should be sent to a vendor, obtain a W9 from the vendor. Organizations should request a W9 before making any payment to a vendor. This is required because you must do backup withholding if a vendor refuses to provide a W9 when the payment qualifies as a 1099 payment. The W9 must include the vendor name, address, box checked for federal tax classification, ...
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Parking Tax Update – Repeal of Parking Fringes Tax

By Robert Hernandez
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The Economic Mobility Act of 2019 would repeal section 512(a)(7), which imposes a 21 percent tax on expenses incurred by tax-exempt organizations for providing transportation benefits to their employees. The bill was approved by the House Ways and Means Committee on June 20. While there is hope that the bill will clear the House, the repeal provision faces a strong headwind in the Senate in its current form. In a letter dated March 1, 2019, The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) joined a coalition of religious nonprofit organizations renewing the appeal to Congress to fully repeal section 512(a)(7) of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act which places ...
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Nonprofit Budgets Have to Balance: False!

By Sandy McClure
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As nonprofits serving people and communities in these difficult financial times, we don’t expect things to turn around for our communities in the near future. Many of us are wondering: how can we achieve a balanced budget in these times? When is it okay not to have a balanced budget? A potentially harmful habit practiced in many community nonprofits is presuming that a break-even budget is mandatory. Board members and staff may be under the influence of the false but persistent ‘nonprofits can’t make money’ myth as they develop the year’s income and expense plan. Like other conventional wisdom, the balanced budget is based on sound concepts, but can become ...
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6 Skills Every Team Leader Should Master

By Merilee Howell
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Churches use teams in every area of ministry. Think about all of the volunteer groups that make church happen! This is why strong team leadership skills are so important! In addition, internal work teams help to plan and organize. These teams are how work gets done and contribute to the success of the organization. Leadership Influencing a group of people to work together, in harmony is what leadership is all about. Teams should have a designated leader who helps facilitate the team process. The leader is a very important role in a team environment and influences a team’s ability to   accomplish goals . However, ineffective leadership can result ...
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Have a sunnier tax season with these summertime IRS tax tips

By Brenda Jacinto
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— Buying a home? Working a summer job? Volunteering? Activities that are common in the summer often qualify for tax credits or deductions . And, while summertime and part-time workers may not earn enough to owe federal income tax, they should remember to file a return to get a refund for taxes withheld early next year. Here are some summertime tax tips from the IRS that can help taxpayers during tax season next year: Marital tax bliss. Newlyweds should report any name change to the Social Security Administration before filing next year’s tax return. Then, report any address change to the United States Postal Service, employers and the IRS to ensure ...
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The 10 Commandments of Great Customer Service

By Cassy Paredes
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Customer service is an integral part of our job and should not be seen as an external extension of it. A company’s most vital asset is its customers. Without them, we would not and could not exist in business. When you satisfy your customers, they not only help you grow by continuing to do business with you but they will also recommend you to friends and associates. The practice of customer service should be as present on the showroom floor as it is in any other sales functions and pertinent in the overall company environment. The 10 Commandments of Customer Service  Know who is the boss. You are in business to service ...
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Gifts to Employees or Independent Contractors

By Shelly Einspahr
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After my last post about gift cards given to volunteers, I received some questions about gifts given to employees and independent contractors. Let’s discuss that. GIFT CARDS GIVEN TO EMPLOYEES If you give a gift card to an employee to say thank you for a job well done, this is considered compensation and must be added to the employee’s W2 as taxable income. In fact, any gift, cash or non-cash, given to an employee, if not de minimis, must be added to the employee’s W2 as taxable income, including benevolence. De minimis gifts are any gifts so minimal in value that it would be unreasonable or administratively impractical to account for it.  However, ...
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IRS Answers Many Questions on New 21% Executive Compensation Tax

By Brenda Jacinto
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On Dec. 31, 2018, the IRS released Notice 2019-09 (the Notice), providing interim guidance regarding Section 4960 of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code) that was enacted on Dec. 22, 2017, by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the Act). The Notice provides the first guidance on new excise taxes that tax-exempt and governmental entities (and their related for-profit entities) may need to pay on the amount of remuneration in excess of $1 million in compensation and any excess parachute payments paid to a covered employee as early as May 15, 2019 (for calendar year entities). Affected organizations must report and pay the tax on recently updated IRS Form 4720. The 2017 ...
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What Forms Need to Be Updated After a Name Change?

By Robert Hernandez
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Does an I-9 form need to be updated when an employee has a name change? What about other forms?   When an employee changes their legal name, you are not required to update their I-9. However, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recommends maintaining correct information on I-9s. You can easily update an employee’s I-9 by entering their new legal name in Box A of Section 3, and then sign, date and print your name on the final line. You can request documentation of the name change so you can update the I-9, but employees are not required to provide documentation for this purpose. That said, there are a few additional administrative steps ...
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Keep Your A.I. Buzzwords Straight

By Merilee Howell
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Artificial intelligence   is having its moment. Business leaders can’t stop talking about it. New tech products invariably include it. And news headlines incessantly chronicle the buzz around it. But for many people, artificial intelligence remains a mystery. To help, we’ve created a guide that explains some of the key terms associated with the technology, an increasingly useful tool for businesses that improves as it crunches more data. Reinforcement Learning This A.I. technique is like training a dog with treats. The software learns by successfully executing a task and, on the flip side, from failure. This fusion of reinforcement learning with ...
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4 Steps to Church Strategic Planning

By Tammy Bunting
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Church strategic planning is an important part of the creation, development and growth of any ministry. Church ministries that are interested in   growth   are not exempt from planning. Church planning helps the organization map out strategic steps to achieve its   mission and vision . Churches can experience a level of success without a plan, but those who invest the time and resources into developing a specific strategy and plan can achieve success at a much quicker pace. According to   Wikepedia , “Strategic planning is an organization’s process of defining its strategy or direction and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this ...
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'Agile Leadership': 13 Definitions Of A Successful Professional

By Sandy McClure
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This is a great panel by Forbes on leadership: It’s hard to be a leader in the business world and not hear the buzzword “agile leaderhip” a time or two. But what does this industry term really mean for everyday business professionals? As a leader, do you possess agility in your decision-making skills, or are you agile in your ability to manage your team? No matter your skill level or experience, being an agile leader can make a big difference in your flexibility as a manager, as well as your ability to adapt to the business world around you. To better define what “agile leadership” really means, we asked members of   Forbes Coaches Council   to share their ...
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I'm The Pastor, Shouldn't I Do The Search Myself?

By Tammy Bunting
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This is a good article on what we should handle ourselves and when to delegate to others by Joshua Long. It’s in my nature to want to do things myself.  Whether it’s fixing the car, repairing some drywall, laying a tile floor, or even installing a new electrical plug.  Now understand, I’m not an expert in these areas, but I do find satisfaction when a project is complete and I’ve done it all by myself.  However, there have been instances when I have reached a point where my time, energy, or experience brings me to the point where I must call in an expert.  It’s happened with my car, a wall, a floor, an electrical outlet, and countless other home projects. ...
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What happens if someone is misclassified as an independent contractor?

By Robert Hernandez
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There are many potential liabilities resulting from misclassification and they come from several sources: namely, the IRS, unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation, federal wage and hour law, and state wage and hour law. An employer will owe up to three years of back taxes on the misclassified employee’s wages, in addition to fines and interest. They will also owe back unemployment and workers’ compensation insurance. And they may also owe premiums on other state-run insurance programs, such as paid family leave. In addition to money owed to government entities, employers will also owe misclassified workers two to three years of back pay for any work ...
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Gifts to volunteers - what nonprofits need to know

By Shelly Einspahr
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Nonprofit organizations rely on volunteers to do ministry. They often desire to recognize and appreciate volunteers for the valuable services they provide.  However, in doing so, care must be given to ensure they do not become employees or independent contractors in the eyes of the DOL. BACKGROUND ON DOL VIEW OF VOLUNTEERS According to the  U.S. Department of Labor (DOL),  a v olunteer generally will not be considered an employee for FLSA purposes if the individual volunteers freely for public service, religious or humanitarian objectives, and without contemplation or receipt of compensation. As such, volunteers are by definition, unpaid. The DOL ...
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All About The Customer: How To Create A Successful Customer Experience Strategy

By Cassy Paredes
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This is a great post by  Annette Franz on Forbes! There's a lot of talk out there about customer experience transformations   stalling, or worse, failing. And there's a lot of speculation as to why that's happening. From my perspective, the   root cause   lies at the top of the organization. As a coach who specializes in customer experience strategies, I've observed the biggest buzzword that customer experience professionals must endure today is "return on investment," or ROI. When I've polled these leaders at various meetings and events about what they need the most help with, ROI is cited most often. And yet, it's also the thing that is most nebulous ...
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Do You Use Quality Principles in Church Administration?

By Tammy Bunting
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To manage with excellence, there needs to a   church culture   that understands basic quality principles.  These principles determine the level of effort that goes into everything a ministry does. A basic principle of quality looks at how an organization manages itself and understands that in order to ensure quality and excellence – the organization needs to:  Do the   right   things,   right , the   first   time and every time. Let’s ask the question: Are we doing the   right   things? In other words, is our focus on doing those things that get us closer to achieving our mission? Are we doing things the   right   way? Are ...
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Tips for moving between and within line items

By Merilee Howell
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You can save time moving between line items of a JE or a bill without using your mouse and leaving your keyboard. See these time-saving tips. #intaccttip ​
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  Software tips intaccttip

The Power of Testimonials: Inspiring Action For Your Nonprofit

By Cassy Paredes
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The art of persuasion is a science that everyone has the ability to improve upon,   according to psychologist Dr. Robert Cialdini . An important principle of persuasion is “social proof” — that people when faced with a choice they aren’t sure about, look to others around them for guidance, whether consciously or not. Enter the testimonial. As a nonprofit, you can use this concept to your advantage to motivate action for the benefit of your work. Testimonials are highly influential to that end and account for the success of many businesses whose livelihoods rely on consistently positive reviews — found on their own website and materials, as well as on unbiased, ...
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