Losing your nonprofit’s executive director is a lot like losing your trail guide in the middle of the forest – slightly terrifying, completely disorienting and leaving you wishing you’d spent more
To avoid or diminish financial and accounting risks that might threaten the organization’s existence or decrease its effectiveness, the board needs to be aware of proper financial processes and pra
One of the most constructive and proactive ways a board can send a message that its organization is committed to accountability, responsiveness, and stewardship is to draft a code of ethics to guid
One of the legal obligations for board members is a duty of loyalty. One aspect of this duty expects board members to keep confidential issues confidential.
A conflict of interest arises when a board or a staff member is in a situation where his decision making may be impaired by personal, financial, or other busin
Reserves have been a topic long debated amongst management and boards alike. What are reserves? What’s so important about reserves? How much is enough? These are hard questions to answer.
An endowment refers to a fund or funds that are generally kept permanently. Their interest income provides for the overall operations of the organization.
The board must ensure adequate resources to allow the organization to carry on its mandate. Financial resources feed into the health and stability of the organization.
A gift acceptance policy allows the board to define the parameters and guidelines for eliminating controversial or risky donations. Unwelcome donations might include gifts that:
As you work with confidential financial data and personal information performing your daily business tasks, follow these straightforward guidelines to help maintain information security and be a mo
By incorporating your nonprofit you create a legal entity whose primary function is to provide limited personal liability protection to those managing the organization.
Indemnification is the organization’s direct expression of willingness to protect its board members (and its senior staff) from the financial burdens of liability.
To protect the organization, itself, and its members, the board must start by following the legal obligations common to all boards: duty of care, duty of loyalty, and duty of obedience.
Over the last two months, we have explored different ways an organization might define its reserves and the importance of establishing and maintaining those reserves.
