The Life of a Nonprofit

[amenirdis]

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

Comments

[ext_884981]

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.

As our annual report indicates, our revenues are relatively small; we could file with the IRS on an e-postcard. We are required to keep track of our gross receipts. Gross receipts do not include in-kind service donations. There are reporting requirements for noncash contributions, but "Noncash contributions do not include volunteer services performed for the reporting organization or donated use of materials, facilities or equipment." Indeed, the IRS further specifies: "No, volunteer time cannot be reported as contributions in line 1 of Parts II or III of Schedule A. It may be described in Form 990, Part III, Statement of Program Service Accomplishments."

It appears that you may be confusing IRS requirements with accounting on financial statements; we may well want to track and value volunteer time for the latter purposes, but it’s misleading (especially to people who are involved in other nonprofits who might take this advice elsewhere) to state that the IRS requires it when, in fact, the IRS does not want in-kind services reported as contributions.

I hope you'll correct this misinformation in any future discussions.