Comments | amenirdis: The Life of a Nonprofit

amenirdis

The Life of a Nonprofit

Nov 13, 2011 08:18

I thought now might be a good time to share some observations about the life cycles of nonprofits from the perspective of someone who spent fifteen years working in nonprofits large and small, including three years' work for a "troubleshooter", a consultant hired to help small nonprofits with their crises ( Read more... )

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kynical November 13 2011, 19:10:35 UTC

I'm assuming this was prompted by the OTW debacle--and yes there is no other word for it. I'd like to say I can't imagine such a toxic enviroment that makes it okay for volunteers like Lim to fall on their swords. However, I've seen this plenty in congregations and non-profits I've been involved with.

Sorry to veer a bit off topic and be a bit ranty....but good grief some of the OTW folks really need to go back to remedial non-profit school.

amenirdis November 13 2011, 20:57:51 UTC

Seriously toxic. Yes ( ... )

kynical November 13 2011, 21:36:03 UTC

Good grief. I know there are penalties involved and major issues but didn't quite know the scope. I generally leave that to our accountant\finance board. So it sounds like OTW is taking some major major risks.

amenirdis November 13 2011, 22:32:01 UTC

It is a major risk!

The key issues for a small nonprofit, whether c3 or church, are twofold -- the value of the professional service, and the monetary value of the creation.

If, for example, you have volunteers make flyers about a music program at church and pass them out, no reporting is necessary. Making flyers is not a professional skill, and the flyers themselves have no monetary value. If you have someone donate their bookkeeping services to the church, you must report as that's a professional skill even if nothing of monetary value is produced. If you have volunteers restore a classic car which is then auctioned off, you have to report because the restored car has monetary value. And if you have someone design software worth thousands of dollars, you doubly have to report! 0_0

kynical November 17 2011, 02:38:46 UTC

ext_884981 November 17 2011, 02:45:06 UTC

Sorry about the borked html; apparently logging in through Facebook has its costs. I hope the message was clear in any event.

ext_884981 November 17 2011, 03:45:59 UTC

Hmm. Trying again without any html; links on request. You appear to be under the misconception that the OTW must report the value of volunteer time to the IRS ( ... )

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