Introduction 1 About This Book 1 Foolish Assumptions 2 Icons Used in This Book 3 Beyond the Book 3 Where to Go from Here 4 Part 1: Getting Familiar with the Nonprofit Framework 5 Chapter 1: Journeying into the World of Nonprofit Organizations 7 What is a Nonprofit Organization? 8 Comparing for-profits to nonprofits 9 Introducing the coveted 501(c)(3) status for nonprofits 9 Knowing Your Mission Before Entering the Nonprofit World 11 Setting up a nonprofit 11 Making plans and being flexible 12 Embracing and Sharing Your Inspiration 13 Finding the Resources to Do the Job 14 Who is giving to nonprofit organizations? 15 Supporting your mission with fundraising 15 Chapter 2: Understanding What It Takes to Start a Nonprofit 17 Weighing the Pros and Cons of Starting a Nonprofit 18 Doing Your Homework First 19 Analyzing the competition 20 Identifying the right people to help you 20 Figuring out how you''ll survive financially 21 Acknowledging the reality of what''s ahead 22 Planning, plotting, and projecting 23 Understanding Nonprofit Ownership 24 Benefiting the public for the greater good 24 Being accountable and transparent 25 Looking at the Many Varieties of Nonprofits 26 Identifying nonprofits by their numbers 27 Adding rules and regulations to add to your file 28 Comparing Nonprofits and For-Profits 31 How they''re alike 31 How they differ 32 Using a Fiscal Sponsor: An Alternative Approach 34 Examining common details of a fiscal sponsorship relationship 35 Finding a fiscal sponsor 36 Chapter 3: Prioritizing Building Your Board of Directors 37 Appreciating the Duties of a Nonprofit Board of Directors 38 Primary role: Preserving public trust 39 Secondary role: Dealing with planning, hiring, and other board tasks 41 Sharing responsibilities among the board, staff, and volunteers 42 Recruiting the Right People for Your Board 43 Incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion in the board''s composition 44 Keeping it fresh: Terms of service 46 Big boards or little boards 47 Choosing officers and committees 48 Introducing new and prospective members to the board and the organization 50 Putting Staff Members on Your Board 51 Using Your Board to Full Capacity 52 Encouraging commitment from board members 52 Holding effective board meetings 53 Chapter 4: Creating Your Mission Statement and Vision Statement 57 Honing Your Mission Statement 58 Keeping your mission statement short and sweet 60 Stating your mission -- the goal for services 60 Specifying who will be served by the nonprofit 61 Explaining how you''ll accomplish your mission 61 Incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) into your mission statement 62 Imagining Your Future with a Vision Statement 63 Capturing your vision statement 63 Asking "Where are we going?" and "Why?" 65 Inviting Stakeholders to the Planning Table 66 Encouraging and embracing stakeholder input 67 Working together to finalize your statements 68 Living by Your Mission and Staying Fixed on the Vision 69 Chapter 5: Incorporating and Applying for Tax- Exemption Status 71 Creating a New Entity: The Nonprofit Corporation 72 Following your state''s or territory''s laws 73 Understanding the required governing documents 73 Deciding whether to have members in your corporation 74 Finding the best name 75 Writing the Articles of Incorporation 76 Crafting a heading 76 Article I 76 Article II 77 Article III 77 Article IV 78 Article V 78 Article VI 78 Article VII 78 Article VIII 79 Signed, sealed, and delivered 79 Securing Your Employer Identification Number (EIN) 80 Writing Your Organization''s Bylaws 81 Holding Your First Board Meeting 82 Applying for Tax Exemption 82 Tackling Form 1023 online 83 Discerning between public charities and private foundations 85 Establishing public charity status 85 Describing your activities 86 Reporting salaries and conflicts of interest 88 Dealing with financial information 88 Collecting the other materials 89 Paying the fee 90 Navigating possible contribution barriers until tax-exemption status is approved 90 Chapter 6: Adhering to Nonprofit Status Requirements 91 Disclosing What You Need to Disclose 92 What you do need to show 92 What you don''t need to show 93 Using the web to satisfy disclosure requirements 94 Avoiding Excessive Payments and Politicking 95 Determining reasonable pay and benefits 95 Using caution when getting involved in politics 96 Why all the fuss? Understanding the increased scrutiny by the IRS 97 Reporting to the IRS 98 Filing Form 990-N 99Taking it easy with the Form 990-EZ return 100 Tackling the long Form 990 104 Getting your Form 990 to the IRS 106 Reporting to Your State, Territory, and Local Governments 107 Part 2: Bringing Your A-Game to Nonprofit Management 109 Chapter 7: From the Top: Examining the Nonprofit Management Structure 111 Managing a Nonprofit: A Bird''s-Eye View 112 Appreciating the Governing Board''s Role and Responsibilities 113 Understanding the board''s management oversight duties 113 Protecting your board from liability 115 Redefining the Nonprofit Founder''s Role 116 Adding an Advisory Board 117 Expanding to Take On an Executive Director 118 Chapter 8: Strategic Planning: Embracing the Ongoing Process 121 Understanding the Importance of Planning 122 Making Your Organization''s Strategic Plan 122 Getting ready 123 Working with your nonprofit''s mission and vision statements 124 Hearing from all your stakeholders 124 Surveying the external situation 126 Looking at the internal situation 127 Calling in the SWOT team 128 Putting the plan in writing 132 Adjusting your strategic plan when necessary 134 Putting Plans into Action 134 Defining and setting goals, objectives, strategies, and outcomes 134 Creating a work plan 136 Planning for Programs 137 Working as a team 137 Assessing needs 138 Brainstorming the resources needed to implement new programs 140 Facility Planning: Finding a Place to Do Your Work 142 How much space and of what kind? 142 Location, location, location 142 Owning, leasing, or taking a free ride 143 Making a move 145 Deciding to take on a capital project 145 Chapter 9: Evaluating Your Work: Are You Meeting Your Goals? 147 Knowing the Importance of Evaluation 148 Working Through the Evaluation Process 149 Selecting the right kind of evaluation 149 Planning for evaluation 152 Crafting valuable questions 153 Choosing evaluators: Inside or outside? 154 Conducting Your Evaluation 155 Analyzing Results and Putting Them to Work 156 Interpreting results 156 Using your evaluation to strengthen your work 158 Telling the truth 158 Sharing the evaluation results with your stakeholders 159 Chapter 10: You Can Count on Me! Working with Volunteers 161 Knowing Why People Volunteer 162 Designing a Volunteer Program 163 Considering a volunteer coordinator 165 Determining your need for volunteers 165 Writing volunteer job descriptions 166 Organizing volunteers 167 Hunting for Volunteers 169 Getting the word out 169 Looking for volunteers at other organizations 171 Finding volunteers with special skills 172 Hiring interns 172 Interviewing and Screening Volunteers 173 Managing Your Volunteers 175 Providing adequate training 175 Keeping good records 176 Insuring your volunteers 176 Saying farewell to bad volunteers 177 Showing Appreciation for Your Volunteers 177 Chapter 11: Working with Paid Staff and Contractors 179 Determining Your Staffing Needs 180 Getting Your Nonprofit Ready for Paid Employees 181 Developing your personnel policies 181 Exploring payroll setup options 184 Providing benefits and perquisites 184 Preparing to Hire 185 Composing a job description 185 Considering necessary qualifications 186 Establishing nonprofit salary levels 187 Announcing the position 188 Making the Hire 189 Looking at résumés 189 Interviewing candidates 190 Digging deeper with references 192 Making your decision 193 Onboarding a New Hire 193 Confirming employment terms in writing 193 Getting your new hire started on the job 194 Evaluating your new hire''s progress 195 Looking to the future: Creating a professional development plan 195 Managing Employees 196 Recognizing what a manager or supervisor does 197 Clarifying the lines of communication 197 Following the reprimand-and-dismissal process 199 Working with Independent Contractors 200 Differentiating an independent contractor from an employee 201 Establishing the roles for independent contractors 202 Fin.