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7 Things To Consider For Your D&O
Policy
Times are tough and budgets are
tight, but if you think you’ll save a few bucks by cutting
Directors and Officers (D&O) liability insurance, you might
want to think again.
Though D&O insurance might
make up a large percentage of a small nonprofit’s budget,
an organization would find it difficult to attract board members
without it, according to Katherine Berkman, chairman of San
Francisco-based Calender-Robinson Co. “It’s hard to
get qualified board members to sit on your board (without
D&O insurance),” she said.
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Finance ...
Top 10
considerations for the new Form 990
Attempts to comply with the new Internal Revenue Service
(IRS) Form 990 requests for information have many nonprofit
managers and financial officers in a dither.
The old Form was complicated and the new one no less so.
In that complexity lurks the very real possibility of getting
something wrong while trying to do it all exactly
right.
At the AICPA Not-For-Profit Executives Forum in Anaheim,
Mary E. Rauschenberg of Deloitte Tax LLP and Diane Cornwell of
Starfish Consulting offered their Top 10 Considerations for
dealing with the redesigned form 990.
They give the list in reverse order, starting with Number
10.
10. The scope of the redesigned Form 990. It’s
not simply a tax return.
9. Compensation information.
Disclosures are not done on a calendar-year basis.
8.
Governance, management and disclosure. There are numerous places
in the core Form and attached Schedules where there are
governance-type questions.
7. Specific activity reporting.
This includes, for example, foreign activities and tax-exempt
bonds.
6. Industry reporting. Schools and hospitals, for
instance, have specific areas to address.
5. Other
disclosures. These include joint venture disclosures and related
organizations/unrelated partnerships.
4. Planning for data
gathering. Significantly more information will be
required.
3. Prepare a mock return.
2. Address the
gaps.
And finally,
1. Educate, educate,
educate.
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Management ...
Merger myths: It’s not
really on the truck
As interest in nonprofit
mergers grows, so do the myths surrounding them. Streetsmart
nonprofit manager columnist Thomas McLaughlin reminds
organizations that these shaky economic times provide a good
time to examine some of the more persistent ideas about mergers
within the sector.
The economy also provides for
an increase in mergers. Although it is logical to associate the
increase in mergers with an economic downturn, the fact is that
nonprofit resources are often locked in outdated corporate
structures and aging program models. While the downturn is
making mergers seem like a logical choice, it is only a
catalyzing agent for trends that were already
underway.
-
We’ll save
administrative costs. It is possible, but not always. It’s
better to have a lofty strategic goal and be realistic about
administrative savings.
-
There will be massive job
cuts. This is largely a carry over from mergers in the
for-profit sector. There might be incidental job losses, but any
major level of job loss that occurs during a nonprofit merger
was likely to happen anyway. A merger could actually reduce the
amount of those job losses if it promotes more efficient service
delivery models.
-
We’ll lose our
identity. For practical purposes, “identity” means
“brand,” and managing a brand is one of the things
that the nonprofit sector is just beginning to master. The
decision to merge corporate structures is not the same thing as
the decision to merge brands.
-
Let’s figure out the
structure first. Form should follow function. Decide what you
want to accomplish and be clear about your shared desires and
assessments of the merger.
-
Shhhh. Don’t tell
anyone. In the case of for-profit mergers, secrecy is necessary,
but not so for nonprofit mergers. It is best for nonprofit
mergers to be decided from the top down and implemented from the
bottom up.
-
Only failing organizations
merge. The first wave of mergers in a given area tends to be
stronger organizations taking over weaker ones. The most
constructive use of a merger is not to rescue an organization,
but to strengthen community capacity by building nonprofit
organizational strength.
Mergers are just another
leadership tool. It is time to lighten the baggage of mythology
and move forward despite economic struggles. |
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Technology ...
Generating income from
Google
You try to improve your direct
mail performance – so why wouldn’t you do the same
for your Google Grants AdWords?
Optimizing your AdWords can
boost Web traffic according to Kristie Ferketich, Google Grants
senior strategist. Ferketich explained at NTEN’s 2009
Nonprofit Technology Conference that making sure your AdWords
stay effective will be an ongoing process -- but one worth
undertaking.
Here’s what you should
keep in mind:
-
Think like a user. See what
ads catch your attention the next time you use Google
search.
-
Use variations and common
misspellings. Google will usually correct someone – but
the AdWord will show for the search anyway.
-
Include negative keywords.
This eliminates your ads from popping up for certain searches,
cutting down on unwanted impressions.
-
Look at the stats. Analyze
the cost and impressions for each AdWord you use. Are you
hitting your goals? Is it costing too much to run some words?
-
Optimize keyword-matching
options. Certain punctuation around search terms will bring up
different options. For example, your search results for [animal
adoption] would bring up results only for that exact term. A
search with “animal adoption” would bring up for
that phrase, even if other terms were included in the search.
Learn how the search punctuation can help, or hinder, your
goals.
-
Test, test, test. And for
good measure -- test again. Search terms for your AdWords may
work one month and sag the
next. |
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