Tag Archive for: mission

A Founder’s Story: High School Student turned CNN Hero

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Zachary Wigal is an avid gamer, hard rock devotee, traveler, sporadic bookworm, and racing enthusiast from southeast Michigan. And now, as the founder of Gamers Outreach Foundation, his life is split between Ann Arbor and Los Angeles.

His nonprofit organization helps kids cope with long-term medical treatment by providing gaming hardware and software to hospitals. From a bunch of high school kids with an interest in hosting video game tournaments, to helping thousands of children per year in hospitals, Gamers Outreach has evolved since its founding. The organization’s vision has since evolved to ensure children in hospitals everywhere have access to relief and activities.

LISTEN TO ZACHARY WIGAL AND TOSHA ANDERSON ON A MODERN NONPROFIT PODCAST HERE! 

Zachary’s vision and unique nonprofit experience is what prompted Tosha Anderson, founder & CEO of The Charity CFO, to join her on A Modern Nonprofit Podcast. In the latest episode of this widely-informative series, the two discuss:

  • How to target unique donors and volunteers
  • The power of social media and marketing for nonprofits
  • Changing leadership styles of nonprofit founders and enthusiasts
  • Hacks to effectively managing a small team
  • Advice to newbie nonprofits
  • And more!

If you’re looking for a compelling story and want to be inspired to achieve more with your not-for-profit organization, then you’re in luck! Don’t forget to subscribe to A Modern Nonprofit Podcast for more content, stories and insight.

Additional Notes for Listeners

Interested in helping others level up? You can make a difference for your fellow hospitalized gamers too. Join Zachary’s quest to provide kids in hospitals with access to play through the power of video games by visiting the Gamers Outreach webpage. You can also follow Zachary and the entire Gamers Outreach crew on Twitter.

And if you’re looking to maximize your nonprofit’s mission as it relates to improving your accounting and bookkeeping, then you are in luck. Tosha and her team of expert accountants at The Charity CFO provide specialized bookkeeping services for nonprofits of all shapes and sizes. Visit our website to learn more about the unique opportunity to walk alongside our boutique, nonprofit-centered accounting firm.

Using Nonprofit Accounting Services to Help with Payroll Management

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Having a hard time managing your payroll?

This problem is much more common if you’re a nonprofit organization. Whether you’re a public charity, private foundation, or civic leagues, the special rules on nonprofit payrolls can be taxing. You have varying HR elements, from volunteers and contractors to board members.

However, a simple solution is to hire nonprofit accounting services. Excited to overhaul your payroll management? Read on and learn these impressive facts about outsourcing accounting services:

1. Payroll Services Remedy Mistakes

Mistakes can lead to law-imposed penalties. If you’re losing money because of payroll errors, outsource your accounting services. These professionals are vigilant and can resolve them before they become troublesome.

Nonprofit accountants use automated audit software to verify each payroll. They’re proactive in letting you know when they encounter errors. It paves the way to corrections before processing the payroll.

You’ll get the accuracy nonprofit payroll software offers. These professionals check your work constantly. They help you avoid mistakes while giving you ample opportunities to learn.

Getting help means familiarizing your accounting department with the rules. It prevents complicated situations from happening. It allows you to be more decisive and have more confidence with how to go from there.

You need not take your chances when you have payroll experts. They will address various issues to ensure you’re following the law. You’ll get a provider that caters to your nonprofit accounting needs.

The software these companies use is complex and specialized. It aids with every step of the process when checking for accuracy. It saves lots of time since you need not retype information across reports.

2. Payroll Services Eases the Process

Nonprofit organizations often put too many roles on their HR and accounting departments. If it’s your situation, hiring an accounting company is beneficial. It allows you to focus more on other issues like finding proper connections to grow your donations.

A payroll service offsets the hours spent reviewing and verifying payroll data in-house. It’s more efficient and can eliminate the risks of underpayments and late payments. It simplifies the process for your HR or accounting teams.

It’s also worth noting that the sooner you process payroll, the faster the payments are. It’s an important asset especially when your paid employees have limited budgets. With more steps eliminated, you won’t have to worry about low morale.

3. Payroll Services Enable Paperless Processing

Paperless payroll systems save more money while staying environment-friendly. Whether you’re looking for more efficiency or care about the environment, payroll services fulfill both. An online nonprofit payroll system streamlines the process across various departments and roles.

It also means you’re riding the wave of the future with paperless payroll. With enough expertise, you can collaborate with your accounting service. It helps you shift from paper to mobile payroll apps and document storage online.

You’ll have more functionalities with your payroll system. Employees can look at their payroll data in real-time. Your accounting department can change security levels to keep sensitive data from getting compromised.

4. Payroll Services Enable Real-Time Tracking

Things are easier when everyone gets quick information access. When professionals track your payroll system, you’ll know when problems happen. It means making timely changes to correct these issues.

It allows you to get closer to a hassle-free payroll process. You’ll always be on time, ensuring everyone’s satisfaction. This process becomes even better when using an integrated system.

You’ll always have an idea about the current labor costs situation. It allows your nonprofit to make more financially-sound decisions. It ensures everything is up-to-date and adherent to your cause.

Why Nonprofit Accounting is More Difficult

Without professional help on accounting for nonprofit organizations, you’ll encounter some hardships. The following are unique challenges for nonprofit payroll accounting. Use them to inspire your organization to outsource:

1. Financial Inexperience

Your board members are accomplished professionals. They have lots of useful skill sets that bring benefits to your organization. However, it’s uncommon for them to come from financial backgrounds.

Your organization must have a higher level of financial transparency. It gives your organization the right information for decision-making. Understanding the nonprofit’s financial aspects is necessary to help the board focus on a higher-level view.

Never let financial bookkeeping distract your leadership from the mission. Outsource professionals that specialize in nonprofit organizations. It maximizes your organization’s greatest potential.

2. Donor Expectations

As a nonprofit, your donor expectations are one of your priorities. Entities donate funds because they believe in your cause. Your funds must go to where your donors expect them, like programs that further your mission.

Your organization must do it without overspending. It means smart budgeting on administrations, expenses, and fundraisers. Keep your donors updated on your expenses to help build their trust.

3. Strict Audit Requirements

Nonprofit organizations have stricter audit requirements. People expect your reporting and internal control standards to be better. Most states require audits if you get at least $500,000 in donations.

This standard is necessary because the funding comes from public donations. It means everyone must know where the money goes. Your organization is accountable to use the funds correctly and advance your mission.

4. Public Trust

As said above, your funding comes from various public entities. It places the burden of public trust upon your organization. These people expect you to have an effective and efficient operation.

Often, they hold your organization to higher standards compared to for-profit businesses. Some organizations serve as watchdogs. They track your financial activities to ensure you’re using your funds as intended.

 

The same applies to your payroll management processes. To avoid discrepancies, invest in nonprofit technology. It can help you further your cause, helping you establish your local presence.

Hire Nonprofit Accounting Services Today!

Never let the lack of financial expertise ruin your nonprofit organization. Outsource nonprofit accounting services to take the burden off your shoulders. It allows you to focus on more important matters for the greater good.

Need a hand with accounting? Use our contact form and request a meeting with us today.

How Nonprofit Technology Can Further Your Cause

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Are you the proud owner of a nonprofit that’s looking to take your organization to the next level? Are you curious to learn about different things you can integrate to give yourself an edge? If so, then you need to learn more about how nonprofit technology can streamline your organization.

Doing so can help turn your nonprofit’s greatest weakness into a strength. For example, with the right accounting services, you’ll be more in-tune with the donations that you receive.

See below for an in-depth guide highlighting the benefits of nonprofit technology and how it can help your organization thrive moving forward.

1. Well-Oiled Machine

Nonprofits are like fish, they can only grow to the size of the pond they live in. If you don’t take the time to organize your business model, it will stunt the growth of your organization moving forward.

Not to mention the fact that if you make a mistake such as losing funds that were donated to you, you could be charged with the misappropriation of funds.

Despite your best effort, you might find it difficult to balance your organization’s need for things like event planning, bookkeeping, production, communications, marketing, and so on.

This is where nonprofit technology can be of tremendous help. For example, you could use event planning software to organize every event or gathering you have from this day forward.

It can help you get a proper headcount, see who is bringing what (EX: tents, food platters, etc.), and where your volunteers will be assigned that day.

This software can also help you control your budget. If you know the exact number of people attending, then things like calculating food serving sizes become that much easier. Stick with the one-pound rule: cater one pound of food for every adult in attendance, as well as 1/2 pound for every child.

2. Optimize Communication With Your Donors

Every successful nonprofit has a group of advocates. These are what’s known in the industry as “supporters”. However, a constructive nonprofit doesn’t wait for the supporters to take action, they’re proactive in keeping their supporters engaged.

Nonprofit technology has made it easier for organizations to keep their most active followers engaged. You can streamline communications with them and maximize each supporter that you have.

For example, you can use your best judgment to invite the right supporters to events they’ll be interested in. This defeats the traditional “email blast” method, which can quickly cause them to lose interest.

It can also help you keep in constant communication with them. You can use technology such as Slack, Zoom, etc. to discuss your nonprofit initiatives with them in their preferred method of communication.

Nonprofit technology can also make it just as easy to talk to your entire support network as it is to talk to one individual.

Let’s say you want to alert everyone to an upcoming event, but wanted to provide more insight to certain individuals. If so, you could use Slack to send a message to the entire group, then direct message those that you had extra insight for.

3. Better Understanding of Your Donors

First and foremost, if you’re struggling with balancing your organization’s finances, don’t leave that to chance. Hire a nonprofit accounting service to get everything back on track.

To ensure financial security for your nonprofit in the future, you have to gain a better understanding of your donor base. The more you know about them, the more engaged they will become.

There is nonprofit-focused CRM (customer relationship management) software that can help you:

  • Track all donations on an account by account basis.
  • Connect your donors/supporters with other like-minded supporters in your database (to form a community).
  • Track the events that each donor attends on an account by account basis.
  • Understand the best forms of communication with each donor.
  • Organize all of the contact information for each donor in their accounts.

Without a CRM system, a person might attend one event, donate $25, then slip through the cracks of your nonprofit’s outreach capabilities. Make sure that no donor is ever left out. It’s how you grow the community surrounding your organization.

4. Increases Your Revenue

Say no more, right? If there’s a way to increase your organization’s revenue, you’re in! Nonprofit technology has proven to do just that for those that take advantage of it.

By integrating nonprofit technology, you can offer ways for your donors to donate online. They simply enter in their card information as they would when they online shop.

This makes it incredibly easy for you and your donors. You can also offer them a way to set up monthly or bi-weekly withdrawals from their account, so they don’t even have to think about it anymore.

5. Optimize Your Website

Do you wonder why it seems as if your site visitors are landing on your site, then navigating away from it without clicking on any other page? This is what’s known as a bounce rate.

Nonprofit technology can help you assess what issues your site has that are harming the site user experience (in other words: what’s scaring them away). This can help you lower your bounce rate and capitalize on those that come across your site.

The more site visitors you capture, the more donors you have for your nonprofit organization. Then you can use your CRM software to build meaningful relationships with each of them!

Take Advantage of Nonprofit Technology Today

Now that you have seen several ways that you can take advantage of nonprofit technology for your organization, it’s time to take action!

Be sure to visit this page to listen to our podcast, the Modern Nonprofit Podcast, to learn more about streamlining your organization.

For more inquiries, please be sure to reach out via our contact us page and we will be happy to assist you further.

The Insider’s Guide to Bookkeeping Services For Nonprofit Organizations

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Bookkeeping includes invoicing, employee payroll, financial reporting, and more. Is your nonprofit interested in using bookkeeping services? You’re in the right place.

Affordable bookkeeping services for nonprofits are crucial for ensuring financial stability and accuracy. Keep reading to learn exactly how nonprofits can benefit from outsourcing bookkeeping.

What Are Bookkeeping Services?

Bookkeeping and Accounting may be used interchangeably, but they’re very different. Bookkeeping is focused on cash flow for an institution while accounting is basically analyzing all of that data. This helps assess the overall financial health of the organization.

Nonprofit organizations have many financial needs like any business. They have to file complicated taxes, certify for tax-exemption status, and report out. They also have to track donations! This can be a lot for a small staff to handle.

Bookkeeping services are handled by a team of professionals who have experience in the field with nonprofits. Many of these experts have worked with religious organizations, foundations, and even museums. They use software and knowledge of financial trends to help your nonprofit succeed.

Why Should I Use Bookkeeping Services?

There are many reasons to outsource bookkeeping. In addition to being safer and more secure, it enables you to focus on your organization’s mission.

Get Auditing Assistance

Nonprofits typically undergo an annual audit, unlike many other industries. This is time-consuming for the bookkeepers and accountants at the institution.

Save time and money by using bookkeeping services. These services can ensure that your organization is reporting accurate information to the Internal Revenue Service. They can also ensure that your institution is in a state of financial health.

Auditing involves a complex analysis. It also involves finding records of all transactions and donations for an organization. Some nonprofits choose not to do this because of the workload. However, completing annual audits shows donors that your staff is committed to transparency. This can help secure future funds and help with grant applications.

Avoid Fraud

No one wants to talk about the possibility of fraud, but it can happen within the nonprofit world. Embezzlement is also a risk, especially with multiple employees in the finance department. If there aren’t checks and balances in place, tracing money can be difficult.

Luckily, outsourcing bookkeeping services can ensure integrity for your nonprofit. These highly-skilled bookkeepers know exactly what to look for to avoid fraud and can easily identify issues. That way, the issues are caught before they become harmful to the organization.

For example, bookkeepers can see double payments or cash from a new vendor. Maybe they see a sudden increase in payments. They can even comb through documents that appear to be backdated or have questionable signatures. These can be indicators that something fishy is going on at the organization.

Since they manage all documents, data, and cash flow, professional bookkeepers add a level of security to the institution. As a third-party entity, bookkeepers can help your organization stay safe. This ensures security for your nonprofit.

The typical organization loses 5% of it’s annual revenue to fraud. That can be a lot if your organization is a multi-national nonprofit. Avoid lost revenue by using an outsourced bookkeeper.

Get Tax Filing Assistance

For nonprofits to earn their 501(c)(3) status and tax exemption, they have to be transparent. This means complete accuracy with the IRS on all financial matters. This includes strategic and accurate bookkeeping to provide easy filing when it is needed.

Nonprofits can have many revenue streams, including tax-deductible donations, membership dues, and even ticket admissions. Getting everything organized for tax season can be really complicated.

Bookkeeping services are useful because they use software that organizes all records perfectly. These professionals can also help identify areas to lower expenses for your organization. That way, you can reap the most benefits of the money your organization receives.

Using a dedicated bookkeeper absolutely makes this a seamless experience. This reduces stress during tax time for the nonprofit staff. Instead, it gives you the time to work on your mission and serve the community.

Save Time and Money

Instead of spending time organizing receipts, invoices, and payroll, handoff those duties to an expert. Your staff can then spend more time executing your mission.

In 2013, nonprofits paid $634 billion in wages. Hiring and training new employees, even if they’re very talented bookkeepers and accountants, can take a lot of time and energy. Instead, spend that manpower and resources on finding an outsourced financial services business.

Once your outsourced bookkeeper is set up, it requires very little management on the nonprofit’s side.

Bookkeeping Software Is More Accurate

Your organization might not have the funds to have a full-time bookkeeper and bookkeeping software. Luckily, an outsourced bookkeeping service has those resources for you to benefit from.

Bookkeeping software makes everything much more accurate. There is so much room for error when a team handles financials by hand or in a simple Excel sheet.

Avoid that hassle by investing in affordable financial services.

Ready to Outsource Bookkeeping Services?

Now that you know the many benefits of using an outside service, request a meeting with us to get started.

Pretty soon, your nonprofit’s bookkeeping services will be a breeze.

Our dedicated and experienced team works with an array of nonprofits. Many of our clients have been able to expand their impact on the community due to our financial help.

Check out our blog for more information on how our nonprofit financial services could work for your organization.