On Friday, August 29, 2014, the Council on Financial Assistance Reform (COFAR) released the second set of FAQs related to understanding and applying the new Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards, otherwise known as the Supercircular. Over two hundred questions and comments have been received from grantors, grant [...]

Having a strategic plan is essential to ensure a nonprofit’s vision and mission are fulfilled. Not every plan is a strategic plan though, and too often strategic plans collect dust on a shelf, rather than being a living and breathing document. TCC Group’s "Ten Keys to Successful Strategic Planning for Nonprofit and Foundation Leaders" is a great resource for Board’s a [...]

Fraud not only hurts a nonprofit organization financially, it hurts the people it serves and the community that supports it. Due to the negative publicity that can result, it is often kept quiet. But management and Boards of nonprofit organizations need to be aware of the risks and ensure appropriate internal controls are in place. Setting the right "tone at the top" [...]

One of the basic responsibilities of a Board is to ensure there are adequate financial resources for the organization to fulfill its mission. Striving for the desired three-to-six months of operating cash reserves is never easy, and we continue to see nonprofits struggle with limited cash operating reserves. Not having sufficient cash reserves makes it difficult to de [...]

By: Margaret Karren A Board self-assessment is a great tool to use to help improve your Board members' understanding of their roles and responsibilities. Boards that do an assessment are rated as being more effective. A good time to do this is before retreats or strategic planning meetings. An assessment should be done at least every two years. Some sample questions t [...]

By: Margaret Karren I often hear Executive Directors say that they have board members who aren’t living up to their expectations or they are having trouble recruiting new members. If this sounds like your organization consider forming a Governance Committee. The core responsibilities of this committee are board development issues. Their responsibilities include: Di [...]

By: Pratish Patel On Tuesday, February 18, I had the privilege of attending the workshop “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: The Path to a High-Performing Board,” which was hosted by my very own firm GHJ. I am an Audit Associate at GHJ and have been with the firm for just over a year now. In the past year, I have learned a lot and have had many unique opportunities both [...]

Yesterday’s panel discussion on best Board practices explored some interesting ideas around Board engagement and fundraising. We will continue the discussion through upcoming blog postings. A few tips for making Board meetings more effective were mentioned yesterday, and as a reminder: The most important items should be first on the agenda, allowing sufficient time f [...]

On Tuesday, February 18, we will kick off the first of our quarterly nonprofit workshop series for 2014 with " The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: The Path to a High-Performing Board," which will include a panel discussion on best Board practices. Why is an effective Board so critical? Well, in the words of a major philanthropic funder in Southern California, Weingart Fo [...]

Last April, I blogged about the value of volunteers from a financial statement standpoint, and there is no doubt that volunteer engagement is crucial to most nonprofit organizations. Volunteers increase capacity, are cost effective and extend a nonprofit’s reach by getting the word out, engaging their networks and becoming advocates. And of course volunteers are more [...]