HR Workforce Solutions
By Nonprofits, For Nonprofits
Social media marketing is an impactful—and often, cost-effective—one-to-one relationship-building tool for businesses. While it may allow you to speak to many people at once, it also allows for more of a personalized interaction with your audience or customers. For nonprofits, social media marketing can be just as beneficial as it is for a for-profit business. It’s a great way to build support for your organization, grow your number of volunteers, and increase donations. In order for your social media marketing to thrive, the commutation to your audience must be your top priority.
Engagement is the key element to a functional social platform. While it comes in many forms, communication with your audience is the leading form of engagement. This makes it crucial to respond to those who support you on social media in a timely manner, whether it’s a simple reply to comments or engaging in a particular thread—this is a feature that can be very effective when used on a consistent basis. In turn, anyone who manages the social accounts of your nonprofit must be well-versed and have a firm handle on some of the social media best practices, ensuring that your organization maintains a positive reputation.
As social media marketing evolves, new tools and platforms continue to emerge, along with new improvements to how you can better reach and interact with your audience. Best practices continue to be centered on the human experience.
Here are the top 5 social media DO’s for nonprofits:
Here are the top 5 social media DON’Ts for nonprofits:
Nonprofits who rely on state and other government funding should prepare for a bumpy road ahead in the next couple years says a new report produced by independent philanthropy consulting firm “Changing Our World, Inc.” Although the economy is seeing a shift toward the positive, state tax revenue – and therefore funding for many nonprofits – is nowhere near stable. And while the number of nonprofits has been steadily rising over the past 15 years, charitable giving has dipped significantly and would need an unprecedented rally to make up for the government funding shortfall.
Since World War II, the average recession in America had lasted 10 months. Until Now.”
Unemployment alone has created a crisis in many states. In fact, 44 “crisis states” have significantly reduced spending and are expected to cut spending even more (by $38.5 million) in social services, education and Medicaid says the report. Despite $1.5 trillion of American household wealth lost in just the first three months of the recession, philanthropy on the other hand, has been making modest gains and is expected to slowly trend upward. But the dollars are spread thinner as the number of nonprofits increases and the demand for services explodes. As the Chronicle of Philanthropy put it: “To help nonprofits cover cuts in those services, households in the hardest-hit states would have to step up their giving by 30 percent in 2011 and 60 percent in 2012—an increase the report says would be ‘historically unprecedented.’”
So what’s a nonprofit to do?
The report concludes that a multi-faceted strategy is needed for every nonprofit. Waiting on philanthropy or government funding to recover won’t work. “Philanthropy will be an important, indeed critical piece of that strategy, in part because philanthropy is often flexible and can fill in gaps not financeable through other means. However, the sheer weight of the burden will require that multiple revenue pathways be opened as well as that every managerial option for efficiency be considered.”
For nonprofits looking for a guide to this multi-pronged approach, we gleaned these tips from the report:
• Efficiency – Reach out to unemployed workers to become volunteers, possibly with a stipend. You’ll not only give them a step in the right direction but you’ll receive valuable man-hours.
• Collaboration – Reducing overhead costs is possible through a number of collaborative efforts like merging of back offices, joint purchase of property, combination of nonprofits with similar programs into a single service network, etc.
• Messaging – When asking for donations, emphasize progress instead of crisis. Talk about all the good the organization is doing in the face of the economic crisis, not how it’s struggling.
• Financial Expertise – Learn more about managing cash flow and accounts receivable so you can weather late payments and financial dips. Become your own expert on economic trends. Also think about adding people to the board with financial expertise or government experience.
• Don’t Rely on One Source – No more than 60% of any program’s budget should come from government money.
• Maintain a Reserve – This fund should be triggered only by the Board or the Finance Committee, and saved for lean times.
The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) has issued new standards that may impact your future audit engagement. Statements on Auditing Standards (SAS) Nos. 122–125 (referred to as “Clarified Auditing Standards” or “Clarity Standards”) introduce changes that go into effect for financial statement audits for periods ending on or after December 15, 2012.
For most entities, that means the standards will be effective for the year ending December 31, 2012, or later.
Some changes may affect all audit engagements
Certain changes may only apply in unusual circumstances
Some of the benefits of the clarified auditing standards include enhanced communication between your team and your auditors, improved audit quality and increased confidence in the audited financial statements.
These new standards will require auditors to redo much of the system evaluation work and memorandums that they carry forward from one audit to the next. As such, it’s encouraged that you work closely with your auditor to make these changes as smooth and efficient as possible!
For a more detailed version of this article, refer to Lindquist LLP’s website: http://www.lindquistcpa.com/AICPA-Audit-Clarity-Standards-11092012.htm
Barry T. Omahen , CPA, is Lindquist LLP’s managing partner based in the firm’s San Ramon office. Barry specializes in serving the audit, accounting and reporting needs of not-for-profit organizations and employee benefit plans. He serves as the partner in-charge of the firm’s quality control review and audit and accounting practice. He can be contacted at (925) 498-1546 or bomahen@lindquistcpa.com .
As a nonprofit manager, it is important to be able to give constructive feedback effectively to your employees. Being able to share and receive feedback is vital to self- improvement. Examples of how to give constructive feedback include, discussing appropriate behaviors, asking questions, creating an action plan together and building trust, just to name a few. On the other hand, there are a number of ways that your feedback could end up causing more damage than doing any good.
Listed below are five bad habits your nonprofit organization should avoid when giving constructive feedback:
1) Waiting for the annual performance review to give feedback– This method can cause confusion and make things more challenging to work through. Waiting too long to provide feedback could make people feel caught off guard or defensive, rather than being open to having a productive conversation.
2) Not providing specific examples –Concepts like “be more of a team player,” “be more professional” and “show more initiative” don’t typically sink in without the use of specific examples to illustrate them. Labels without examples can leave people feeling at a loss of how to go about making changes because they are unsure of what you’re looking for. Make sure to be specific with your feedback.
3) Lack of preparation – Making an assessment or judgment call prior to gathering all the facts and examining the logic of your assessment, can lead to a very negative outcome. Situations like these could lead to resentment or lose of respect for the manager.
4) Making an assumption of how to praise an employee– A natural tactic is to praise an employee the same way you like to be praised. However, what may work for one type of person or personality may not have the same impact on another. This is one of the many areas of managing where learning personality styles can be extremely useful.
5) Only giving corrective feedback without any positive feedback – If the only time you give feedback is to say something negative, employees will inevitably develop an automatic defensive reaction the moment you try to give them any type of feedback, whether it be positive or negative. Such conditions could be deemed hazardous for a constructive conversation and effect the overall culture of the workplace.
One of the most important concepts to understand when running a nonprofit is being able to see the bigger picture, such as key trends in corporate philanthropy. This allows your nonprofit to differentiate and grow it’s business while benefiting the community at the same time. Giving to others leads to growth and the more strategic you are, the more you, your company and your community will grow and thrive.
As a nonprofit leader, you run into many challenges, ranging from low funding to a limited number of employees that you’re able to keep on staff. Regardless of these daily hurdles, there are a number of ways to capitalize on the use of your current resources from a more creative yet strategic perspective to enhance your communication strategies.
Let’s dive into a few different approaches that your nonprofit can take to branch out on communications and other marketing efforts:
1) Utilize a variety of resources to nurture relationships with your partners. The most important resource any nonprofit has is their contacts. Ensuring that you’re using the organization’s lists of contacts (partners, media contacts, members etc.) and nurturing them through each marketing channel is key and one of the most important resources for any nonprofit. This creates more of an awareness and community around your mission and allows for continual growth with these relationships.
2) Be authentic and create original content. Since you are the biggest advocate of your organization and the mission behind it, use your knowledge and passion to create content that will allow others to connect with your brand. The use of owned media is a great way to communicate with your audience using existing channels—a monthly blog, testimonials or case studies about your members. You can also create original content to offer other shared channels—such as a guest blog article and creating this content will only require your time and will be no expense to you.
3) Gather insight from your sponsors to create relatable content. Sponsors can offer great insight when it comes to your marketing efforts and in turn can help to keep your messaging authentic—allowing you to connect with the audience you want to engage. Creating a consistent message across all marketing materials is important for your brand, your mission and to help you stand out amongst all the noise.
Nonprofits offer a sense of community for their many volunteers, donors, and members. These are the individuals that are the passion behind an organization and want to see your nonprofit succeed. The use of your resources will help you ensure that your current marketing efforts and communications are providing optimal return and are reaching the audiences you want to connect with.
First introduced in the early 1990’s the term “employment branding” refers to the whole of an organization’s efforts to communicate what makes it a desirable place to work. Typified by national companies like NPR, Google, Zappos, REI and local companies unique to every community, the importance of employment branding is staging a revolution.
Driven in large part by the mainstreaming of social media recruitment channels and word of mouth job hunting, employer branding lends itself easily to nonprofits.
Don’t believe me? Well, because values are often the underlying structure for an organization’s reputation (aka branding), many nonprofits can easily incorporate their pre-established mission into their employment brand. By doing what you love, and what you believe in, you (and your employees) have probably already worked toward creating a strong employment brand.
Research backs the importance of successful employment branding. Over and over again workers report that starting salary is less important than their perception of the organization and the satisfaction that they receive from the employer’s culture.
So what can you do to build a powerful employer brand?
SUMMARY: The proposed FUTA taxable wage base increase would have a heavy impact on employer rates, reports the Unemployment Services Trust.
Santa Barbara, CA (PRWEB) November 10, 2011 — With most state unemployment funds now defunct after being depleted faster than they could be replenished during the recent recession, many states have found themselves with deficits that are growing as time passes. The United States unemployment tax system is in need of some serious restructuring, and it appears that the road out of the red is not a pretty one. Now, it’s ‘all eyes ahead’ through the thick of high unemployment, increased tax rates and special assessments. But, looking ahead to 2014, the proposed increase in the FUTA (Federal Unemployment Tax Act) taxable wage base from the current $7,000 to more than double at $15,000, could be devastating to employers if the proposal goes through, reports the Unemployment Services Trust (UST).
The proposal also includes a cut to the net FUTA tax rate from 0.80% to 0.38%, reducing the percentage by more than half. With the FUTA tax currently set at $56 per employee per year (0.008 x $7,000 = $56), and the proposed tax to be set at $57 per employee per year (0.0038 x $15,000 = $57), at first glance the change may seem trivial. The federal level, though, is not where employers would feel the pinch.
The pinch is found in the fact that states will have to match or exceed the FUTA $15,000 wage base, or face substantially higher FUTA rates. Thirty-two states (as well as Washington D.C . and Puerto Rico) would need to increase their unemployment taxable wage bases. There are currently 20 states with taxable wage bases of $10,000 or lower. The last time that the UI wage base increased was in 1983, so the increase is long overdue. However, it is expected that employers in these states will likely pay fifty percent more state UI taxes beginning in 2014 if the proposal is enacted.
Employers in states like California, who currently have a taxable wage base of $7,000, and for example, have an unemployment tax rate of 4.0%, will see their cost per employee increase from $280 to $600 annually. An increase this large (114%) would be detrimental to many employers, but especially nonprofit organizations, which typically have a tough time raising funds to cover operational expenses to begin with.
For 501(c)(3) organizations, federal law allows organizations to opt out of the state unemployment tax system and instead reimburse the state only for their own workers’ unemployment claims, dollar-for-dollar. When paying into the unemployment tax system, companies across the U.S. pay an average $2.00 for every $1.00 paid out in benefits, and these dollar amounts will likely grow where taxable wage bases will be increasing.
It should be noted, however, that nonprofits may find opting out of the state unemployment tax system to be burdensome on their HR department since they must monitor unemployment claims more closely, both to make sure they are not paying for unwarranted claims and also to ensure they have the funds on hand whenever a claim is filed. Some nonprofits have chosen to join an unemployment trust to help monitor claims, set aside funds in an account, and get support for their human resources department. For more information about joining an unemployment trust, visit http://www.ChooseUST.org.
Because nonprofits tend to have limited resources accompanied by greater demands, employees often face higher stress levels and workloads. Such unrelenting demands can weaken internal morale. And, with a deteriorating organizational foundation, mission advancement becomes much harder to achieve.
Developing a consistent and efficient morale “check-in” system can be an effective tool in maintaining a pleasant work atmosphere and satisfied employees. One of the best ways to fully realize this internal bliss is to cater towards employee wants and needs; often accomplished through relationship development and positive reinforcement.
Here are a few tips on how to better identify and improve morale:
The only way to advance your nonprofit’s mission is through employee support and their dedicated work efforts. Taking time to focus on morale improvement can make a huge difference in your organization’s success.
Read more tips on how to improve internal morale here.
Though prioritizing leadership development is a step in the right direction, nonprofits must simultaneously analyze and define both strategy and leadership development procedures in order to transform goals into achieved reality.
Nonprofits often lose momentum and general direction after failing to go over the specifics. More often than not, leadership development procedures fall into generalized categories. Because no one strategy or goal is alike, it’s important to identify the specific skills required for every set objective.
When looking at future development plans, your organization must develop a consensus around what skills your employees, leaders, and future leaders currently possess, and what behaviors will be required for future endeavors. Identifying the gap between present and future skill sets will better allow you to create a plan of action to achieve such skills.
Bridgespan created a process to help organizations both analyze potential changes in business strategy, and create a leadership development plan to address these organizational shifts.
When looking to the future, ask yourself these questions:
Overall, you must think of strategy and leadership development as a package deal. Greatly affecting one another, strategy and leadership development must consistently be analyzed side by side.
By closely monitoring your organization and its future leadership training process, you can decide what’s effective and what still requires improvement. Attention to detail is the key ingredient to identifying potential weaknesses, harnessing current strengths, and bridging the organizational gaps.
Learn more about linking leadership development and strategy here.
UST maintains a secure site. This means that information we obtain from you in the process of enrolling is protected and cannot be viewed by others. Information about your agency is provided to our various service providers once you enroll in UST for the purpose of providing you with the best possible service. Your information will never be sold or rented to other entities that are not affiliated with UST. Agencies that are actively enrolled in UST are listed for review by other agencies, UST’s sponsors and potential participants, but no information specific to your agency can be reviewed by anyone not affiliated with UST and not otherwise engaged in providing services to you except as required by law or valid legal process.
Your use of this site and the provision of basic information constitute your consent for UST to use the information supplied.
UST may collect generic information about overall website traffic, and use other analytical information and tools to help us improve our website and provide the best possible information and service. As you browse UST’s website, cookies may also be placed on your computer so that we can better understand what information our visitors are most interested in, and to help direct you to other relevant information. These cookies do not collect personal information such as your name, email, postal address or phone number. To opt out of some of these cookies, click here. If you are a Twitter user, and prefer not to have Twitter ad content tailored to you, learn more here.
Further, our website may contain links to other sites. Anytime you connect to another website, their respective privacy policy will apply and UST is not responsible for the privacy practices of others.
This Privacy Policy and the Terms of Use for our site is subject to change.
UST maintains a secure site. This means that information we obtain from you in the process of enrolling is protected and cannot be viewed by others. Information about your agency is provided to our various service providers once you enroll in UST for the purpose of providing you with the best possible service. Your information will never be sold or rented to other entities that are not affiliated with UST. Agencies that are actively enrolled in UST are listed for review by other agencies, UST’s sponsors and potential participants, but no information specific to your agency can be reviewed by anyone not affiliated with UST and not otherwise engaged in providing services to you except as required by law or valid legal process.
Your use of this site and the provision of basic information constitute your consent for UST to use the information supplied.
UST may collect generic information about overall website traffic, and use other analytical information and tools to help us improve our website and provide the best possible information and service. As you browse UST’s website, cookies may also be placed on your computer so that we can better understand what information our visitors are most interested in, and to help direct you to other relevant information. These cookies do not collect personal information such as your name, email, postal address or phone number. To opt out of some of these cookies, click here. If you are a Twitter user, and prefer not to have Twitter ad content tailored to you, learn more here.
Further, our website may contain links to other sites. Anytime you connect to another website, their respective privacy policy will apply and UST is not responsible for the privacy practices of others.
This Privacy Policy and the Terms of Use for our site is subject to change.
When a nonprofit charges a fee for service, or even sells product(s) as an ongoing activity directly related to its founding mission, it is considered a related business activity because it furthers the nonprofits mission. For example, if a nonprofit animal shelter charges a fee to allow a family to adopt a new puppy, it would be a related business activity.
The fee furthers the shelters mission to provide loving homes for animals in its care.
But not all business activities—or profits for that matter—are protected by a nonprofit’s tax-exempt status. So where does the line get crossed? And how can a nonprofit keep from accidentally conducting taxable business?
What is “Unrelated Business Activity”?
The simplest definition of unrelated business activity is that it is taxable profit a nonprofit earns through actions not directly related to its founding mission. But that doesn’t really mean much in the scope of things, so let’s back up and delve a little deeper.
If a business activity is not related to the organization’s tax-exempt purpose, then any profits would be considered “unrelated” and subject to the Unrelated Business Income Tax (UBIT), as applied when gross income from the unrelated business is $1,000 or more.
So, if a nonprofit animal clinic were to also run an exclusive dog breeding program—where the work is not only not performed by volunteers, but also doesn’t coincide with the founding mission of the shelter—then it’s possible that the gross income from this business venture could be considered unrelated.
In fact, it’s highly probable it would be considered unrelated.
Under IRS regulations, a nonprofit can risk losing its tax-exemption if a “substantial” portion of the organizations total activities are unrelated to its mission. When applied by the IRS, the word “substantial” is interpreted to be in effect when the unrelated business activity grows to 25% or more of the nonprofit organization’s activity.
And although the IRS does make certain standard exceptions, an activity is almost also considered to be unrelated if all three of the following are present:
– It is a trade or business
– It is regularly carried on
– It is not substantially related to furthering the exempt purpose of the organization
Although a nonprofit can engage in some unrelated business activity and pay taxes on the profit, it’s always best to be careful. If you think it may be possible that your nonprofit could be gaining 25% or more of your profits through an unrelated business venture, a lawyer well-versed in UBIT and other nonprofit tax/legal implications can help you determine how to keep your 501(c)(3) status and avoid the pitfalls of losing your tax-exempt status.