(From the site)  “This site combines in one place a broad menu of legal information prepared by leading law firms and lawyers specifically tailored to the needs of social entrepreneurs and innovators, social enterprises, charities, community organizations,  philanthropies, faith-based organizations and all manner of nonprofit organizations (collectively referred to as “social sector organizations”).”

This is a very comprehensive website from the legal end – a good tool for nonprofit attorneys.

Law for Change

05-24-10 IRS 990 Notice

Note that for this particular nonprofit, the year end in question was September, 2008, so they are technically 20 months delinquent in filing the 990N (as opposed to anyone that missed the recent May 17 deadline).  While this should give small nonprofit some relief, don’t expect a long cycle before your number comes up.

Also note that the IRS is giving nonprofits “one last chance” to comply with the filing requirements – presumably, your nonprofit won’t receive a “you are revoked” letter without prior notice.  Check out this information from the IRS website about what the IRS will do to help small nonprofits maintain their status:

Statement from IRS Commissioner

The IRS 990N website was clogged for the few days before, and the day of, the deadline.  If you couldn’t get online during that time, or if you forgot, entirely, or if you were living under a rock for the past few weeks, all is not lost.  Here are a few tips to protect your nonprofits exempt status:

1.  File NOW.  Do it.  Really – right now!  Don’t read any further in this post, just click on the link below and submit the 990N (if you qualify – only nonprofits earning less than $25K per year are eligible to file the 990N).   File even if you are late – as long as the IRS website will accept your information, you aren’t too late (you might get a letter assessing penalties for late filing, but that’s better than losing exempt status).

IRS 990N Portal

2.  Did you do it?  Good.  Now – make sure all your other reporting requirements are current.  In Indiana, there is an NP-20 form that also is required by May 17, this year.  Here’s a link:

Indiana NP-20

3.  Monitor your status.  The IRS has a searchable database of all current exempt corporations.  You can access it, here:

Search for Charities

4.  Also, you can check out the IRS list of recent exempt status revocations.  Search here to see whether your nonprofit is listed:

IRS Recent Revocations

5.  Check your mailbox! The IRS may send you a notice of revocation of exempt status.  Many nonprofits don’t regularly check their PO Box (if they have one), or they don’t know what address is on the “official records.”  If you have an incorrect address on record, change it – but monitor both the old and new addresses for correspondence from the IRS.

Form 8822 Change of Address (PDF file)

6.  Follow up promptly.  If you learn that your nonprofit has lost its exempt status, take action immediately.  The sooner you respond, the less hassle you will endure to get reinstated.  However, if you find that your organization is outside an “appeal” window, you will have to start over to apply for IRS exemption.

While there is no guarantee that these tips will keep a delinquent nonprofit from losing tax exempt status, prompt action following this path should give you the best chance to save your nonprofit from the “List of Lost Exemptions.”

What are the rules for charitable deductions?  The IRS has a nice “Ten Tips” article that provides plain guidance.   Here’s a very quick and abbreviated summary – for more information check out the link to the article, below:

1.    ONLY qualified charities
2.    NOT time or services
3.    NOT tickets or merchandise for fund-raisers
4.    Fair-market value = deduction amount
5.    Donated items must be usable
6.    Must have documentation
7.    > $250 must have better documentation
8.    Noncash donations > $500 require separate tax form
9.    Noncash donations > $5000 require appraisal
10.    Must be able to itemize (Schedule A) to deduct

Ten Tips for Deducting Charitable Contributions

Check it out:

5 Trends That Will Affect Online Fund Raising in 2010

Lately, I’ve had inquiries about how folks can protect their creative works from being used (or abused) through the Internet.  While I’m not sure that you can completely prevent your content from being used without your permission, you can find unauthorized use on the Internet, through the use of a few good search tools:

Copyscape- checks URL (websites) for plagiarism (text).

Tineye – allows you to upload an image to search against.

There are a number of image search engines that allow you to search for images by words and phrases – here are two to get you started:

PicSearch

Google Image Search

(PS – all the images I use on my website are either free, licensed, or created by me.  Just so you know.)

UPDATE – February 3, 2009

Today’s issue of Blue Avocado has a great article about copyright protection – for more information, check it out:

Nonprofits and Copyright – What You Need to Know

USA Weekend Make a Difference Day

Volunteer Match

While USA Weekend touts October 24 as Make a Difference Day, the United States officially observes National Volunteer Week in April

Presidential Proclamation

The point, however, is not to merely observe the “official” day for volunteering.  The point is to volunteer as a part of your lifestyle.  What do you do to “give back” to your community?  How do you spend your time making your world a better place?  How do you “count” in the world?

What you do doesn’t matter – what matters is that you “do work”  in your community in a way that is personally meaningful to you.  So…

Go – Do – Make a Difference

There is some concern that this may affect property tax revenues – will we see landlords rushing to the county auditor’s office to file for a property tax exemption, thus lowering the amount of county property tax revenue?  Maybe over time, but there would have to be a fair net benefit to the landlord:  rental income at less than fair market value + reduction (savings) on property tax exemption.

Check out the Indy star article:  Indiana Tax Court Ruling

Link to the Tax Court Ruling:  Oaken Bucket Partners – Heartland Church

I can think of several “down sides” to this new trend – the volunteer isn’t truly connected to the cause, the volunteer is given a false sense of “making an impact,” and goes away thinking that they have “done their duty” toward mankind (or animal kind, or whatever), the nonprofit may get a minute’s worth of value from the volunteer, but doesn’t accomplish a lot in the grand scheme of things.

Of course, the website boasts a number of “up sides” to the concept. See what you think:

NPR Article: The Extraordinaries and Micro-volunteering

The Extraordinaries Website

Nonprofit Urban Legends