The New 990: Getting Ready for Those Nosey Governance Questions!
IRS has completely revised the Form 990 for years beginning in 2008 – have you taken a look at it yet? If you have, you’ll probably agree that the biggest changes to the form are in the non-financial parts. The Service has decided to gather more information than before about how exempt and charitable organizations are governed. Many of my professional colleagues are uncomfortable with that change, but I think it’s where the agitation in Congress for more oversight – and some highly publicized cases of severe abuse of tax exempt status – pushed IRS to go.
Whether you agree that it’s a positive change or think that it’s none of IRS’ business, you’ll be preparing the form – or helping your accountant prepare it – soon enough. In order to do that efficiently, you’ll need to understand thoroughly the structure and authority of your organization’s board and its committees as well as its policies in more depth than you may have had to so far.
If your organization hasn’t completely achieved good governance yet, completing the new 990 will be more challenging. Do you know where the board policies are? The best answer would be yes, they’re collected safely in a binder that’s kept in the office and given to each new board member. On top of that, they are recorded digitally. Has your board passed a conflict of interest policy or a whistleblower policy? Does each board position have a job description?
If you know your organization isn’t completely up to date, here’s a resource you may want to consult. Randa Cleaves and Jonathon Abramson are partners in Avenue2possibilities LLP. They provide planning, development and training services to non-profit organizations. This fall, they compiled a workbook and checklist of actions to help you “ensure that your nonprofit organization will be ready” for the revised the 990. The workbook is available at no cost on their website. This link www.accga2p.com/materials will take you directly to the page you’ll want.
“IRS Form 990 Revisions Made Easy” will lead you through those tasks you may have been putting off for months, such as finding the version of your mission statement that was submitted to the IRS with your application and making sure it’s up-to-date, or drafting a record retention policy for your board to pass. Each section discusses an issue thoroughly, giving background and a description of what IRS believes constitutes good governance, and then poses questions, suggests actions, and makes related recommendations.
The guide includes sections on organizational documents, the governing body, policies for governance and management, investments, fundraising, conflicts of interest, and so on. Randa and Jon have footnoted all their sources so you can find the original material if you care to.
In searching the internet, I haven’t found another website with as many practical resources for building good governance in one place as this. If you need language to start with in crafting policies for your organization on fundraising, whistleblower protection, document retention and destruction, or others, look here first. You may save yourself hours of valuable time.
Filed under: Business