All posts by Tony Martignetti

IRS “Dirty 320,000” List Coming

GuideStar advised in an email yesterday that IRS will soon release its “Nonfiler Revocation List.”  The Service says the same in a February article.

According to GuideStar, the list contains “as many as 321,000 nonprofits.”  That’s one-quarter of all the public charities in the United States.  The New York Times had the same estimate in coverage last April, ahead of the May 15 filing deadline that caused the loss of tax-exempt status for so many.  Failure to file form 990 with IRS for three consecutive years lands you on the list.

From the IRS article: “Loss of exempt status means an organization must file income tax returns and pay income tax, and its contributors will not be able to deduct their donations.”

And from a July, 2010 IRS press release: “If an organization loses its exemption, it will have to reapply with the IRS to regain its tax-exempt status. Any income received between the revocation date and renewed exemption may be taxable.”

You know I’m big on compliance issues.  CEOs and boards have got to step-up to their fiduciary duties to the charity and stop ignoring legal requirements.

The regulatory environment is only going to get more hostile to scofflaw nonprofits.  This applies to tax code requirements, governance issues, and state laws, like charity solicitation registration filings.  The days of mom-and-pop boards “doing good” are long over.

This filing requirement was heavily publicized by IRS last year ahead of the deadline, and the agency extended the deadline to October for small charities.  It was covered by mass media.  There’s just no excuse if your charity is an active organization.  File your delinquent returns.  If the organization has terminated activity–or merged with another nonprofit–you need to disclose that to IRS on a final form 990.

4 Reasons Planned Giving Is A Jealous Mistress

Bambulka courtesy of M.A.R.I.O.N, on Flickr
Planned Giving does not like to share its affection with other fundraising work. This job post from Twitter reminds me it troubles me to see Planned Giving as part of a split-job responsibility:

NEW JOB!! Development Assoc-Corp/Fdn Rltns & Planned Giving, XXXXX University, Somewhere, USA (bit.ly link omitted)

I’ve got 4 reasons why pairing Planned Giving with other fundraising responsibilities hurts your PG program:

  1. The “other” has shorter deadlines. Whatever it’s paired with, the other fundraising responsibility will have more immediate deadlines, like in the example above. That means PG doesn’t get the attention it needs. Promotion is ignored and relationships aren’t cultivated. The worst combination I’ve seen is with annual fund. In the fourth quarter, the goals are weekly. How much PG do you think gets done in those three months–and the hectic planning leading up to them?
  2. The “other” yields cash sooner. A planned gift nearly always means cash to your nonprofit at the death of the donor. The exceptions are IRA rollovers and the rare charitable lead trust. Take the annual fund pairing. Cash comes in the door often within weeks of a solicitation, and certainly that year. You can wait decades for money to come from the planned gift. If the fundraiser is evaluated on money raised in the year, will PG get much attention? The answer to this is balanced and sophisticated performance evaluation criteria. I haven’t seen it for split-job fundraisers.
  3. The administration deceives itself. Having declared Planned Giving to be in someone’s title, the administration and board are satisfied they’ve “got Planned Giving covered.” But because it gets short shrift (see 1 and 2 above), PG isn’t covered. It’s largely ignored.
  4. PG never gets its equivalent share of the title. If it’s half the title, as in Director of Major and Planned Gifts, it won’t get 50% of the fundraiser’s attention and time. I once saw “Director of Annual Fund, Foundation Relations and Planned Giving” at a college. That’s silly, for the reasons above.

I don’t presume every organization can afford an employee devoted to Planned Giving. Such a presumption would also be silly. But expectations must align with reality. I see gross misalignment, because administrators and boards don’t recognize the jealous side of Planned Giving.

Nonprofit Radio for April 15, 2011: All About Awesome Auctions and SAASy

Big Nonprofit Ideas for the Other 95%

You can subscribe on iTunes and listen anytime, anyplace on the device of your choice.

Tony’s Guests:

All About Awesome Auctions: Roger Devine of SchoolAuction.net tells us all about online, silent and gala auctions.

  • How much staff time and expertise are required?
  • Which kind of auction makes the most money?
  • Do you know what a paddle raise is?


I’d love to get your feedback on these questions before Friday’s show:

  1. Have you done auctions?
  2. What worked or didn’t?
  3. Was it what you expected?
  4. Did you make your goal?

You can answer in the comments or on Facebook at this link. Thanks!

If you listen, your next auction won’t be a spanking.

SAASy:
Software as a Service (SaaS) is gaining popularity among nonprofits.

Our regular tech contributor and editor of Nonprofit Technology News, Scott Koegler, explains the money-saving trend and whether your office should be part of it.

 
Top Trends. Sound Advice. Lively Conversation.

You’re on the air and on target as I delve into the big issues facing your nonprofit—and your career.

If you have big dreams but an average budget, tune in to Tony Martignetti Nonprofit Radio.

I interview the best in the business on every topic from board relations, fundraising, social media and compliance, to technology, accounting, volunteer management, finance, marketing and beyond. Always with you in mind.

When and where: Talking Alternative Radio, Fridays, 1-2PM Eastern

Sign-up for show alerts!

“Like” the show’s Facebook page.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the show’s podcast on iTunes. Download and listen whenever and wherever you want.

Here is a link to the podcast: 037: All About Awesome Auctions and SAASy.
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Philanthropy 100 Years Ago

The New York Times of January 1, 1911, featured a review of the largest gifts within the $163 million dollars given to charity the year before. Take a stroll with me through 1910’s large-gift philanthropy.

  • The article presumes the largest gifts were made “with no purpose on the part of the possessors of wealth beyond a desire to relieve and uplift the condition of those less fortunate than themselves.” Well, there are a few counterexamples to the pure altruism theory and I mention them below.
  • Education got 46% of the total giving and 19% went to religion. That’s very different than today. In 2008, Giving USA says religious charities received 35% of total giving compared to 13% for education. Religion has gotten the lion’s share of charitable gifts for many years running.
  • There is speculation about how much John D. Rockefeller would contribute to his foundation the following year, with anticipation that a majority of his wealth would be directed there.
  • There are multiple references to “returning wealth to the people,” as if wealth were a loan with expectation of repayment. That’s quite interesting.
  • The wealthy who give anonymously are especially admired.
  • Andrew Carnegie donated $3.5 million to Carnegie Technology Schools (now, Carnegie Mellon University, my alma mater), bringing to $23.5 million his total contribution to the college. That’s roughly $450 million in present value, inflation adjusted money.
  • The largest charitable gift by will in 1910, Isaac Wyman’s $10 million bequest to Princeton, put the university “near the front of American universities in point of wealth.” It’s at or near the front today.
  • Ten thousand acres on the Hudson River in New York from Mary Harriman created a family-named state park, which features prominently in my high school year book. It seems everybody but me enjoyed something “memorable” there.
  • Separately, to receive a gift of $31,000 for a new train station, Turner, NY had to change its name to Harriman. That’s a little less than altruistic. The town acceded. How would that go over today? Bloomberg, NY?
  • In another show of ego, James Scott willed $500,000 to Detrioit for a fountain, on the condition that it include a life size statue of him. Or was he modest, not insisting on a larger-than-life representation?
  • Mrs. Mary Baker G. Eddy is the founder of Christian Science and willed $1 million in furtherance of the church.
  • Here’s an unfortunate cultural insight: it is considered “remarkable” that an “invalid,” Miss Martha R. Hunt, could have sufficient savvy to quadruple the wealth that her father left her. Miss Hunt’s will left gifts to religion, hospitals and social services.

The Times says, “America’s men and women do not build for themselves . . .” That was mostly true in 1910 and I think–wealthy or modest–it’s mostly true today.

(I didn’t find this myself. I owe someone credit for bringing it to my attention, but I don’t remember who. Thank you, good person.)

Nonprofit Radio for April 8, 2011: Excel in Email Execution

Big Nonprofit Ideas for the Other 95%

You can subscribe on iTunes and listen anytime, anyplace on the device of your choice.

I’ve posted some questions about this topic on the show’s Facebook page. Click over and give me and my guests some insight and direction on what you need to know regarding email marketing and execution.

Tony’s Guests:

Dave Poulos, Principal of Granite Partners, will share 5 Elements of Effective Email Marketing and have tips for list hygiene.

  • Are you getting the most out of email?
  • Is your list hygienic and only engaging in safe practices?


 
Claire Meyerhoff is Editorial Director at The Planned Giving Company. She will reveal how to write for email fundraising, so your messages get opened, read and responded to.

 

Top Trends. Sound Advice. Lively Conversation.

You’re on the air and on target as I delve into the big issues facing your nonprofit—and your career.

If you have big dreams but an average budget, tune in to Tony Martignetti Nonprofit Radio.

I interview the best in the business on every topic from board relations, fundraising, social media and compliance, to technology, accounting, volunteer management, finance, marketing and beyond. Always with you in mind.

When and where: Talking Alternative Radio, Fridays, 1-2PM Eastern

Sign-up for show alerts!

“Like” the show’s Facebook page.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the show’s podcast on iTunes. Download and listen whenever and wherever you want.

Here is a link to the podcast: 036: Excel in Email Execution.
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