Sometimes doing nothing is better than doing something, like not stepping on a landmine. But usually taking some level of action in the right direction is far more preferable, especially when the IRS examines a nonprofit organization’s activities for whether…
How has the number of tax-exempt nonprofit organizations changed over the past decade? According to IRS data released [in 2018], significant shifts have occurred for Section 501(c)(3) and Section 501(c)(4) organizations, in large part due to new “auto-revocation” consequences for…
To what extent can a state attorney general control a nonprofit organization? The answer may be surprising – quite extensively! Under many states’ charitable trust and fundraising laws, a state AG may remove a nonprofit leader, deny fundraising opportunities, and…
Featured Article by: Larry F. Johnston, PhD Okay. It's time for a personal confession I loathe waste. Inefficiency bothers me. And not being strategic just drives me up the wall. It’s conceivably little more than some personal biases, but I…
Featured Article by: Larry F. Johnston, PhD If I had all the money wasted by nonprofit organizations because of the costs of poor segmentation, I’d be very wealthy. I would have started a foundation long ago and would be spending…
Featured Article by: Larry F. Johnston, PhD For many years I’ve been asked, generally by younger staff at client organizations or by people attending my seminars who are contemplating a career in the field of development, “What’s the most valuable…
Featured Article by: Larry F. Johnston, PhD As someone who has helped nonprofit organizations with strategic planning and strategic management for decades, I find it painful that some organizations can be so... well, non-strategic. Truth be told, much of what…
Featured Article by: Larry F. Johnston, PhD Seasoned managers know the Principle of Inspection intimately: “You get what you inspect, not what you expect.” A close companion principle for managers, The Measurement Principle, states “What gets measured gets done.” Although…
Featured Article by: Larry F. Johnston, PhD In seminars I teach at conferences, I’ll frequently ask participants, “What is the primary purpose of development?” Answers will vary, but they tend to predictively cluster in several areas like raising funds, building…
Nonprofits are increasingly going paperless with their documentation, and all organizations should have protocols for addressing document management, retention, and destruction. So how should responsible nonprofit organizations develop new document retention policies or upgrade their old policies, in light of technological…
