NJ City Asks Nonprofits For Revenue

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The City Council of Lawrence, N.J. is asking nonprofits to "voluntarily" contribute 25 percent of what they would pay in property taxes, in an attempt to generate revenue for the town.

Nonprofits hold more than 90 plots of land in Lawrence Township and account for $287 million of its assessed property value, according to a report in The Times of Trenton. Two of the largest organizations in the town, Lawrenceville School and Rider University, are already making payments to the town, but those fall short of what is now requested.

If the two schools were to agree to a 25 percent contribution, Lawrenceville would have to pay more than $217,852, and Rider University would have to contribute around $141,470. They gave $35,000 and $65,000, respectively, during the last budget year.

"The time has come that we not only seek financial support from Rider University and The Lawrenceville School for voluntary contributions, but, as a matter of equity, we request a voluntary contribution from all tax-exempt organizations in Lawrence Township," said Councilman Greg Puliti in a statement announcing the plan.

While the Lawrence council's plan is voluntary, some experts believe that organizations will see the move as a threat. Linda Czipo, executive director of New Brunswick, N.J.-based Center for Nonprofits, wondered aloud to The Times what will happen when cash-strapped organizations decline to make the payments.

Lawrence is certainly not the first U.S. city to make such a request to local nonprofits. Brown University in Providence, R.I. recently agreed to double its payments to the city, and the Memphis, Tenn. City Council approved a new payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT) program in the beginning of July.

You can read the full story about Lawrence's payment request in The Times of Trenton.

Choosing Your Nonprofit's Fiscal Year

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The words "fiscal year" always seem to make an appearance when reading reports about nonprofit finance or accounting. Contrary to popular belief, a fiscal year doesn't just begin when the new year starts; it begins whenever the nonprofit wants it to.

Well, almost.

As explained by Thomas Wolf in "Managing a Nonprofit Organization," a nonprofit's fiscal year can begin at any point during the year as long as its end date is specified in the documents in which it is mentioned. These dates are usually not chosen at random. Whether it's to honor the organization's anniversary or the birthday of a high level executive, fiscal years can have a lot of meaning. As such, great care should be taken in choosing a date.

What makes a good beginning and end to a fiscal year? Wolf laid out three considerations to keep in mind:

• It should roughly parallel the organization’s program year. That is, one year’s program activities should not fall into two fiscal years.
• The fiscal year should end, whenever possible, just before a period of relative inactivity.
• The fiscal year-end may be chosen to coincide with a primary funder’s fiscal year-end and resulting reporting requirements. For example, if a major portion of an organization’s support is from the state government, the nonprofit may select the same fiscal year-end as the state to simplify reporting on state grants.

California Considers Nonprofit Mismanagement Bill

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The California state Legislature is considering a bill that would give the state attorney general's office more power to crack down on nonprofits that are found to be mismanaging charitable funds.

California Watch reported today that a bill by Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-West Hollywood) would give the attorney general the ability to take legal action against a charity or fundraiser if it fails to provide the required documents or makes a false statement in application or report. Current law requires the state to prove that there was intent to deceive before taking action.

Organizations would be given a penalty of up to $1,000 per violation after a five days' notice. The bill passed the Assembly, and will be heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee today.

According to analysis by staff from the Assembly Judiciary Committee, the attorney general's office is unable to prevent fraud from occurring with its current powers. The report claimed that this is the case even in instances when concerns are raised about a nonprofit before charitable donations are lost.

The state of California has dealt with many cases of alleged fraud in recent years. In 2010, the attorney general's office reached a settlement with the Association for Firefighters and Paramedics Inc. The state accused the Santa Ana-based organization of spending thousands of dollars meant for burn victims on a Caribbean cruise, trips to resorts, and other personal expenses. The nonprofit denied any wrongdoing in the case.

Bill AB 2327 is very similar to laws that are already in place in other states. The one difference is that the law, if passed, would require fiscal sponsors of charities to have directors' and officers' insurance in case they lose the money the are managing.

You can read the full story in California Watch.

Featured Nonprofit Job: Publications And Communications Manager

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Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda (FBLA-PBL) in Reston, Va., is looking to hire a Publications and Communications Manager. Think you have what it takes to be successful at this job? Read on for more details.

The chosen candidate for this position will manage and coordinate all aspects of publications and communications. This includes writing, editing, and distributing student and teacher magazines, eNewsletters, press releases, speeches, brochures, and other materials.

In addition to writing and editing skills, applicants must also be proficient in technology. Specifically, the successful candidate must have knowledge of web site content management systems, cloud technologies, and all aspects of social networking. Other requirements for the job include knowledge of production and printing processes, budget management, and expertise in InDesign/QuarkXPress.

If you are interested in this position, head to our career center for instructions on how to apply.

12 Hiring Tips

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Making crucial decisions based on a "gut feeling" is a time-honored tradition that is used in many different fields. Whether it's a baseball manager making a pitching change because he "likes the match-up" or choosing an ice cream flavor based on what it looks like, many people make gut-based decisions.

When it comes to hiring an employee, however, it's best to be a little more careful.
In their book "Being Buddha at Work," Franz Metcalf and B.J. Gallagher wrote that hiring managers pay too little attention to a job applicant's work history, ability to learn and grow, and ability to work well with others. In addition to these skills, Metcalf and Gallagher suggest 12 other tips to enhance your hiring process:

• Don’t limit your search to obvious candidates.
• Be clear about what is required in the job.
• Consider what it takes to be successful in your particular organization and/or department.
• Involve many people in the interview process.
• Ask behavioral questions. The best predictor of future performance is past performance. 
• Don’t use hypothetical questions.
• Hiring is a two-way process. Make sure the candidate has an opportunity to ask lots of questions.
• Don’t be in a hurry to hire. Haste in the beginning can be costly later.
• Use job tests when you can, whether it’s a typing test, a computer simulation, or a role-playing scenario.
• Be sure to consider the candidate’s future potential.
• Be honest with the candidate about the nature of the job as well as future growth potential.
• Look especially careful at someone who interviews well or tries to get away with glib answers to questions. This individual may be good at interviewing, but make sure he/she has other skills to back up those interviewing skills.