The Smarter Giving Guy » 990

Charity conflict of interest policy sample

SG Guy — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 00:15:04 +0000

Does your favorite charity have a written conflict of interest policy?

IRS Form 990 asks charities whether they have such a policy. While having one isn’t required by the Internal Revenue Code, the Form 990 question is a pretty strong suggestion that a charity have such a policy in place. We agree wholeheartedly with the suggestion.

The IRS has gone so far as to include a sample policy in Appendix A to Form 1023 (application for tax exemption). IRS Sample Conflicts Policy

We’ve also attached a sample policy we created — feel free to use it, subject to the caveats included at the top. SGG sample Conflicts of Interest Policy

Read the IRS website comment on conflict of interest policies.

Nonprofits to Lose Tax Exemptions May 15

SG Guy — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 14:52:33 +0000

Is your charity or other nonprofit about to lose its tax-exemption? If it hasn’t been keeping up on filing its annual returns with the IRS, its tax-exemption is in jeopardy. Being “tax-exempt” basically means that a nonprofit doesn’t pay federal income taxes on income related to its core purpose.

The New York Times yesterday reported that as many as 400,000 nonprofits are headed toward losing their tax-exemption on May 15 this year. The reason? Failure to keep current with the IRS by filing a Form 990, Form 990-EZ or Form 990-N. The filing rules apply to organizations that wish to be tax-exempt, even those who receive less than $25,000 in annual income (they used to be exempt from filing).

Read the story (free registration at the NYT site may be required)

IRS issues reminders about charities and other tax-exempt organizations

SG Guy — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 20:41:14 +0000

The IRS issued Tax Tip 2010-59 today, providing good reminders for donors about charities and other tax-exempt organizations. The reminders include public availability of IRS information returns and donor lists, finding organizations, sorting out where donations are deductible (or not deductible) as charitable contributions, and reporting of inappropriate activities by organizations.

Read the full IRS release.

Find an Organization’s Form 990

SG Guy — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:55:02 +0000

A wealth of information is available from an charity’s most recent IRS information return (Form 990 or Form 990-EZ).

See the SeriousGivers.org Find a 990 page for a quick route to charity 990s and 990-EZs.

Happy searching!

IRS posts 2009 Form 990 and Form 990-EZ

SG Guy — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:19:25 +0000

The Internal Revenue Service has posted the 2009 Form 990 and Form 990-EZ (plus instructions and related schedules) on the IRS website. The instructions list changes from the 2008 forms. See our quick links below. In general, an organization must file by the 15th day of the 5th month after the organization’s accounting period ends (May 15th for a calendar-year filer).

Link to 2009 Form 990.

Link to 2009 Form 990 Instructions.

Link to 2009 Form 990-EZ.

Link to 2009 Form 990-EZ Instructions.

Question: Where Can I Find Charity Ratings Online?

SG Guy — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 02:57:47 +0000

Answer: Few organizations provide ratings of charities, and their coverage is very limited (especially when you consider that there are more than 1 million charities operating in the U.S.). The two most prominent are:

CharityNavigator.org describes itself as “America’s Largest Charity Evaluator” and provides “star” ratings (0 to 4 stars) on roughly 5,400 larger charities. Roughly one-third of covered charities receive a 4-star (exceptional) rating, roughly one-third receive a 3-star (good) rating, and the remainder receive 0, 1 or 2 stars (exceptionally poor, poor and needs improvement, respectively).
The American Institute of Philanthropy, through its charitywatch.org website, publishes a list of its top rated charities. Paid subscribers can obtain the full list of the 500 or so charities is has rated. 35% to 40% of covered charities receive A (includes A+ and A-) ratings.

Other organizations provide charity data. See our Charity Data & Ratings list in the right hand column.

It’s clear, from the published ratings, that some charities do solid work with the dollars entrusted to them; and others do not – just compare a 4-star charity to a 0-star charity at CharityNavigator.org.

What it boils down to is that

donors need to distinguish strong from weak charities and,
for the most part, donors need to be their own charity rating agencies.

To help you be your own charity rating agency, see the www.SeriousGivers.org website.

The Smarter Giving Guide to Finding Key Charity Information

SG Guy — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 00:03:49 +0000

2012 UPDATE: All versions of The Smarter Giving Guide are now out of print. The core concepts of the Guide have been incorporated into the free www.SeriousGivers.org website.

Charities publish an immense amount of data in their IRS Form 990 returns each year. The giver’s challenge has been to find and evaluate the key information tucked away in those returns. We’ve created a new guide to help givers meet that challenge.

The Smarter Giving Guide to Finding Key Charity Information helps you find a charity’s Form 990 and navigate your way to crucial performance indicators such as

The focus of the charity’s programs
Spending on programs, fundraising and administration
Financial reserves available to the charity
Staff, board and contractor compensation levels
Fundraising efficiency

The Guide includes performance ratios and indicators, road-map guides to key information, and complete copies of IRS Form 990, Form 990-EZ and Schedule A for both 2008 and 2007.

Look inside (it’ll take a moment to open the Guide): Table of Contents — Surprise Me! — Back Cover

Money Back Guarantee: Follow the guide and screen just one local charity’s Form 990 data and if you honestly don’t believe think you’ve found crucial information about the charity, then simply give us a call and we’ll cheerfully refund your entire purchase price.

Print edition: 8.5″ x 11″, soft cover, 72 pages, ISBN 978-0-9842528. Also available on CD, with live links.

Sorting Out the IRS 990s

SG Guy — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:12:06 +0000

An IRS “990″ is an annual return to be filed by a charity or other organization that is exempt from Federal income taxes. There are four different IRS forms bearing a “990″ designation. Here’s a short guide to help you sort it out:

Form 990
In general, organizations exempt under Internal Revenue Code section 501, 527, and 4947, other than private foundations, must file their annual information return on Form 990 or Form 990-EZ.

Form 990-N
Organizations that normally have annual gross receipts of less than $25,000 are not required to file Form 990 or 990-EZ. These small organizations may be required to file an annual electronic notice – e-Postcard (Form 990-N) for tax periods beginning after December 31, 2006.

Form 990-EZ
This is a shortened version of Form 990. It is designed for use by small exempt organizations and nonexempt charitable trusts. An organization may file Form 990-EZ, instead of Form 990, if it meets threshholds for both its gross receipts and total assets during the year. See Filing Phase-In for more information about these threshholds. If your organization does not meet either of these conditions, it cannot file Form 990-EZ. Instead the organization must file Form 990.

Form 990-PF
All private foundations exempt under section 501(c)(3) must file Form 990-PF.

Source: IRS website on August 11, 2009

Find an organization’s Form 990 or 990-EZ.

Red Light: They Won’t Give Me Their Form 990

SG Guy — Thu, 28 May 2009 17:24:16 +0000

Don’t donate to an organization that refuses to provide its Form 990 — it either doesn’t want your support or has something to hide. And in either case, it is likely breaking the law.

A wealth of information is available from an organization’s most recent IRS tax return (Form 990, for example). In addition to telling you a lot about how the organization spends the moneys entrusted to them, it will tell you about programs, people involved, cash reserves and debts.

Federal law requires tax-exempt organizations to make their Federal information (tax) returns publicly available. They can do so (i) by giving or mailing you a copy or (ii) by making them available on their own websites or on a site like guidestar.org. See Code of Federal Regulations 26 CFR Section 301.6104(d)-1 and 26 CFR Section 301.6104(d)-2 for the details.

Find a Form 990 on-line.

More information on our Red Light warning system.

Create Your Charity Scout Report

SG Guy — Fri, 01 May 2009 16:18:57 +0000

Use our free Charity Scout Report form to track your charity scouting work. A few tips about using the form:

Organization names are often similar. Obtaining its employer identification number (EIN) can help you be sure you’re focused on the right organization.
Publication 78 is available on-line.
Nonprofits (other than churches and government agencies) raising funds in California are required to register with the CA Registry of Charitable Trusts.
A wealth of information is available from an organization’s most recent IRS tax return (Form 990, for example).

Note: we’re focusing on Internal Revenue Code §501(c)(3) charities; churches, government agencies and other §501 organizations require different scouting approaches.

Print out the Charity Scout Report form (PDF).