Charity Therapy

Where there are people, there are people problems. And in voting member nonprofits, you've got a lot of people. So in this episode, we tackle listener questions about members and the issues that can come from the voting membership. What do you do when you have one member that causes a ruckus? Or what if you want to get rid of your voting members? Tune in to find out!

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April showers bring… May tax returns. That doesn't quite have the same ring to it, huh? But it's true – we're coming up on tax season! So while nonprofits rush to prepare their Form 990s, I'm answering listener questions about them. What do you do if a donor accuses you of filling out the 990 wrong? Or, what happens if you (or your CPA) drops the ball and files nothing at all? Tune in to find out!

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When you're running a nonprofit, you're tasked with making the RIGHT decisions for the organization – even in the face of unexpected challenges (hello, global pandemic!). There's no one-size-fits-all approach to deal with a crisis, so making those decisions is tough. In today's episode, we're answering questions from folks making some big, unplanned changes for their organization.

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Lots of nonprofit boards use Robert's Rules to run their board meetings – but should they? Robert's Rules is a parliamentary procedure that's meant to keep things orderly and make it easier to make group decisions. But sometimes, the rules make things harder, not easier. Tune in to this episode to hear some listener questions about what to do when Robert's Rules go off the rails.

Go to www.birkenlaw.com/board-survival to get a copy of my Nonprofit Board Meeting Survival Guide.

Check out this resource from Guidestar about an alternative to Robert's Rules: https://trust.guidestar.org/going-for-consensus-not-roberts-rules.

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Nonprofit dissolution is a difficult decision, no matter your mission. But once you make that decision, do you really know what it means to dissolve your nonprofit? Today, we answer the big questions from listeners in that exact situation: How do you know when it's time to call it a day and close down? And when it is time to close, what steps do you have to take? Tune in to find out!

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• Check out my DIY Nonprofit Dissolution course

Related: Treat Your Nonprofit Idea Like Your Wedding

Not everyone who works in nonprofits is an expert in handling nonprofit funds - and that's okay! If you're getting a gut feeling that something just isn't right (or maybe your nonprofit treasurer is...), you should listen.

This episode is a throwback to March of 2020 when hosts Jess and Meghan were joined by Jim Hall to talk through some tricky nonprofit questions.

• What happens to leftover money when a nonprofit organization closes its doors?
• What happens when you have a funder that's making things difficult?
• Are nonprofit organizations allowed to give money to for-profits?

Listen in to get the answers to these questions and more!

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Nonprofits are only as good as the people who run them. So what happens if you can't find talented, dedicated people? Or if the awesome people you find keep leaving? Jason Viana, Executive Director of The Open Door, joins me for this conversation about finding, and keeping, great employees.

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It's the end of a tough year, and nonprofits have been hit hard. Year-end giving is more important than ever. But how do you know who is a good charity to give to? Tune into this episode, revived from 2019, to find out the best (and worst!) ways to decide who deserves your donation.

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Charles McDonald, Executive Director of Community Engagement Partners, joins us for another round of listener questions! If you lose your tax exempt status, can you just switch to a for-profit? Or, how open do nonprofits have to be about who is on their board of directors? Can you hire employees...but not pay them? Get the answers to these questions and more in this week's episode!

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• Check out Founder's Roadmap online course

Are your nonprofit board meetings productive as they can be? Or do you walk away feeling like you wasted time and didn't get much done? It doesn't have to be that way! Matt Homann from Filament joined me to answer some burning nonprofit questions about how to hold a better meeting. Get Matt's meeting planning tool here.

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