In the middle of this unusually seasonable California winter, a little heat might be welcome. But we would probably prefer that it come from somewhere besides the California Attorney General. As of Jan. 1, 2016, the AG’s Office finalized amendments to regulations that clarify the specific actions they can undertake in enforcing the state’s charitable regulations. The [...]

By: Ritchie Geisel (Guest blogger, Bienvenidos Children’s Center) Southern California nonprofit social service agencies have faced many challenges in recent years, beginning with funding cuts resulting from the Great Recession and California’s budget crisis — many of which have yet to be restored. In addition, an increasingly onerous regulatory environment, with seemi [...]

At our recent 2015 Nonprofit Conference we decided to do things a little differently and scheduled two concurrent breakout sessions. I had the pleasure of attending the Messaging and Storytelling for Impact Giving workshop and introducing the presenter, Terrence McNally, a strategic communications consultant and a workshop leader for The Goodman Center, a nonprofit le [...]

By Jennifer Shen (Partner and Co-Founder, Blue Garnet) How many times have you heard the word “impact” or “outcomes” this week? We’re betting quite a few — we’d even say they’re buzzwords of the year. In fact, at the recent 2015 GHJ Nonprofit Conference, the discussion touched on these themes. We heard, “data is king and exceptional leaders are always looking 3-5 ye [...]

At our nonprofit conference last week, themed “The nonprofit leaders’ journey from ordinary to extraordinary: Tell me something I don’t know,” Pegine Grayson, vice president of Philanthropic Services at Whittier Trust, was one of our panelists. After the conference I asked Pegine if I could capture some of her insightful reflections. Donella: When asked to describe a [...]

By Margaret Karren On April 22 the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued an exposure draft which would significantly change the existing not-for-profit financial reporting model. Comments are due by August 20, 2015. I decided to try making a comment to see how the process worked. I went on to the FASB.org website; it took a couple of tries to get to the [...]

And By: Andrew Bird (Marketing and Communications Consultant) (Excerpt from their book, Putting the Profit in Nonprofit! 5 Power Success Strategies for Nonprofits) Donors can’t give you money if they don’t understand who you are and who you help. They also can’t give you money if YOU can’t effectively explain who you are and who you help! Why does your organization e [...]

By Margaret Karren The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has issued an exposure draft for the presentation of financial statements of not-for-profit entities. The comment period ends on August 20, 2015, public roundtables will occur in September and October 2015, and the FASB board re-deliberations would start in October 2015. The FASB states that this is p [...]

In my last blog posting I mentioned reading BoardSource’s 2015 Leading with Intent. The report is a comprehensive review of nonprofit board practices, policies and performance and builds on data that BoardSource has collected and analyzed for over 20 years. One of the takeaways for me was that board members need to raise their collective voices as committed and infor [...]

By: Anthony Perez I’ve worked as an auditor for over seven years and have specialized in working with nonprofit organizations. I’ve moved up from a staff auditor who vouched checks and invoices to a senior auditor who reviewed a multitude of contracts and grants and now to a manager presenting some of our findings from the past year’s audit to client management and a [...]