With most of us looking forward to a day of over-indulgence with friends and family at the dinner table tomorrow, there are many who will be visiting community kitchens and missions for a donated meal, or sadly, even going hungry. On November 1, 2013, food stamp benefits were cut to more than 47 million Americans on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) [...]

Yesterday, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released for public inspection the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards. The intention of this 758 page document is to streamline Federal grants rules and procedures. The new requirements apply to continuing awards as of the start of the 2014/2015 fiscal year [...]

At a recent Finance Committee meeting of one of my clients, a question was raised about appropriate check signing levels. While every organization is different, the following three part signing resolution can be considered a guide for medium-sized organizations: Up to $10,000, any one officer or director. Up to $50,000, any two officers or directors. Over $50,000, [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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" [...]

This past February, we kicked off our 2014 nonprofit workshop season with a panel discussion on Board governance – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: The Path to a High-Performing Board. One of the questions we heard from the audience was "Should our Board have a giving requirement, and if so, how much?" Personal giving is an essential part of a Board’s commitment to fun [...]

By: Karen Baker (Chief Service Officer, State of California and CaliforniaVolunteers) Volunteers are a great resource of additional people that can help a nonprofit fulfill its mission — they represent time, talent, and treasure. When I recently spoke at the GHJ 2015 Nonprofit Conference, I described five “secrets” I’ve identified over my career in the nonprofit ar [...]