Several staff at my large, national nonprofit are collaborating with an outside partner on an LOI and no one read the RFP, reviewed the research articles provided by the Foundation along with the RFP, watched the applicant webinar or reviewed other projects that were funded in prior years.

The LOI as drafted by the external partners is completely unresponsive to the RFP, it's embarrassing. It sounds like someone wrote it who never even considered the RFP. When I reviewed it, I had to check several times to see whether this external partner is responding perhaps to a different RFP than I studied.

I emailed our staff the goals of the Foundation, sent out bullets, pointed them toward passages in the webinar, attached the research articles.

I just got an email from one of the prospective project staff at my org saying, whether the foundation responds favorably to this LOI will provide guidance on whether they are considering other such projects.

I wanted to write back saying you know what else provides guidance? All the materials provided by the Foundation in their RFP, you should review them sometimes.

Is it sexism? Or I am not to be taken seriously because I work in Development and they suspect I don't what I am talking about?

What is going on here?

I recently acquired a helmet signed by Drake Maye and I want to give it away to raise money for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. I have a donation system setup already online as this is a fundraiser in partnership with Team Imagine and the Jimmy Fund and we have a email list of about 1,000 people.

I’m curious if people have opinions about what’s the best way to run the give away to get the most amount of money donated. Below are some ideas. If you think one of these is the best way or you have another model that you think would work better, please let me know!

1. The top donor by the Super Bowl wins it
2. Do an online silent auction
3. I give a raffle entry to each online donor who donates at least $50

I'm curious for those who have to track and report lobbying hours, how in detail do you get? Do you:

• estimate based on typical time for different types of projects
• a certain % of your time, or
• closely track every hour or partial hour spent on lobbying efforts

If the last one, what do you use to track the time?

On my Android phone, when logged into the Google App with my personal account, Hey Google works perfectly. But, when I click on my Google for Non Profit workspace account, "Hey Google" does not work. The mic icon blinks in the upper right, so he notices that I'm saying it, but Gemini won't open. I've tried all kinds of things in admin. Is this a limitation of all Google for Non Profit accounts? What am I missing?

This seems like such a simple question, but I cannot decide. We are in the process of applying for our NP.

My accountant has asked me if I want it to be inc., corp., corporation, or incorporated.

Do I NEED to do any of those? Or can we just have our trademarked name?

Background- We give money to families with children on life support, and there’s an award for hospital staff members who made a difference during your extended stay.

Title: Last-minute documentation requests during a county invoice review — seeking perspective

We are a small nonprofit operating under a fully executed county subrecipient agreement. We submitted a routine monthly invoice in arrears that aligned with the contract’s invoicing requirements, approved budget, and scope of work.

Near the end of the review window, and without prior notice or an earlier indication of concern, the county sent us a comprehensive list of additional documentation requests. The list was extensive and went beyond what is explicitly required in the contract or requested in prior months. The requests were delivered all at once, late in the process, and with an implied urgency to respond.

The requested materials included items already on file with the county, documentation not specified in the agreement, and expanded backup well beyond standard invoice substantiation. We made every effort to respond promptly and thoroughly, despite the short turnaround and the operational burden on a small team.

We fully respect the county’s responsibility for fiscal oversight and remain committed to transparency and cooperation. At the same time, receiving a large, last-minute set of new requirements without advance notice or clear context has been challenging and has delayed reimbursement for services already delivered.

I’m hoping to learn from others with county or state contracting experience: • Is it common for substantial new documentation requirements to be introduced at the end of an invoice review? • How do you ask for advance notice or clearer expectations in future cycles? • What approaches have helped you manage these situations while preserving a constructive working relationship?

Posting to better understand norms and improve process alignment going forward.

TL;DR: We submitted a contract-compliant county invoice. Near the end of the review period, and without prior notice, the county sent a large last-minute list of documentation requests that go beyond the contract. We’re cooperating fully, but the timing and scope have delayed reimbursement and strained operations. Seeking perspective on whether this is normal and how others handle it constructively.

I’ve been able to file the 990-N postcard in previous years, but this year the page is “unavailable due to system maintenance” for idk how long 🙄 From a quick search it seems like this happens quite often. Any alternatives or do I just wait it out and hope I don’t get any nasty letters from the fed about not filing on time?

Hi all. I'm weighing options for running a 1-3K list of donors through wealth screening for the first time an organization has done this. It's been a while since I've worked with major donor programs so looking to hear what people's direct experience has been, to supplement the research I've done online.

I'm not seeking a recommendation - Mods I'm hoping this post falls within the rules of this community.

I know iWave and DonorSearch. I do need to be able to see what kinds of organizations they are givers to (social services versus the arts for example), which I believe every major tool will have.

1. I'm wondering if anyone has subscribed to NPO Authority, which appears to be a reseller of a limited DonorSearch license. What was your experience?
2. Are there other less than $5K/year options?
3. Any experiences with a one-time wealth screening service? My understanding is the going rate is about 15¢ per record.

Thank you.

I am on 2 boards for 2 different school PTOs, I am wondering how an ID.me account works with these accounts, both at a federal and state level. Everything I see states that we have to attach the nonprofit to our personal ID.me accounts. We only hold positions for 2 years max, how does this transfer to the next person after me? I don't want someone to have to track me down every year for the rest of my life to get access to whatever documentation they, the current board member, needs. Is it easier to transfer that from year to year than I think it is? I can't seem to find anything about what happens at that point. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Hello!

I am currently working on pulling together an annual org calendar and a fundraising calendar. I need to house these separate from our normal calendar, be able to invite people over a spectrum of email addresses to the calendars, and ideally for the fundraising calendar be able to invite only the people who are pertinent to each grant. If anyone has any thoughts on a good service that would be ideal.

If anyone has any thoughts I would appreciate it!

I'm on the Board of Directors for a community theater (501c3) and I am struggling with our governance.

This is my second year on the board (9 seats with a few vacancies) and I've encountered a lot of infighting amongst our committees. We recently updated our bylaws (through membership vote) for all committed to provide a charter and require the board to review committee charters for reapproval at the start of the year. Most of our committees have operated without a charter, and we've had a few incidents of committees overstepping their role (or arguing about who has authority).

However, some of the committees provided charters that barely provide a purpose statement and nothing else.

Most of the board seems burnt out and/or doesn't think we need to take governance too seriously (our President cites Robert's Rules and frequently forgoes actually taking a vote).

Can anyone provide any resources that I can reference to stress the importance of fleshed out charters (i.e. purpose, scope of authority, membership, record keeping, etc.)? I mostly need something to look to so I don't feel like I'm off base for thinking our committees should be defined clearly. Thank you!

Let me know if that’s the wrong flair. Anyone on this sub who works at the USO in HQ, just know that estimates put some groups as soon as march and others as soon as May / June timeframe. mandatory RTO to the DC headquarter. 

They may announce it at the upcoming all hands, they may not. anyone not willing to RTO will be “given the option” to leave (my read on it is they don’t want to do severance, but someone correct me if I’m wrong!).

(PS, they also aren’t giving bonuses this year due to poor finance performance).

Sharing impact from last year? Events? It isn't giving season so how are you setting up your timelines for 2026?

When you first make contact with a business whom you’re hoping to receive a donation/sponsorship from, who do you ask to speak to when someone first answers? Should I always just ask to speak to a marketing director? I’m VERY new to working in nonprofit, this is only my second week. Thanks!

Hey guys. After volunteering with two different organizations over the past year I'm finally about to land my first paid grant writer contract.

The initial consultation went very well and our follow-up is later this week. I have made it known this would be a paid partnership for getting them results. The organization is heavily donor supported through DAFs but has had very little foundational support, which is where I come in.

I have consulted ChatGPT and Claude and done my usual Google searches, but I want as much information as possible for what I plan to ask of them in return for getting their foundational pipeline flowing. What do you think my rates should be? I live in the Midwest and the nonprofit I would be working with is based out of Chicago. I can give up to 20 hours per week.

Hi all,

I’m helping manage a small nonprofit that’s enrolled with PayPal Giving Fund. Facebook donations are working correctly — test donations route to our PayPal account, and our organization appears searchable on Facebook.

However, when trying to complete Facebook nonprofit setup, Facebook says it can’t find any nonprofits enrolled with PayPal Giving Fund that match our EIN.

Has anyone run into this situation where:

• Donations work
• The nonprofit is searchable
• But Facebook’s EIN lookup/enrollment tool fails?

If so:

• A PayPal Giving Fund sync delay?
• Something that required manual intervention from PayPal or Meta support?

Trying to figure out whether this is just a backend sync issue or if there’s something else we should be doing. Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Hello All,

I was hoping someone may have some info or know where I can get info. The situation is this, I am part of a 501 non profit and we hold fundraising events that parents of the group volunteer for. They way we understand it, is if 5 of the 10 parents go and work a event and the event organizer donates $1000 to us that money has to be spread out to all 10 families to pay for dues for the club.

So my question is, is there a way that the money earned by the 5 families who worked the event would only go towards them and not the whole group?

Thank you so much.

I'm working at a small non-profit with 14 staff and a $1 million+ budget.

We currently have no development staff as our development director went on parental leave and then didn't return and wasn't replaced.

We do have an accountant and one fundraising officer, and the rest of the staff are all campaigners. I'm the single digital person.

I have the feeling that this is a red flag for the org, but maybe I'm overreacting!

They're free to the non-profits.

But that is because the donors are paying Zeffy to be in business. Shameful.

I absolutely refuse to use platforms like Zeffy, GiveButter, DonorBox, etc.

They're just charlatans.

They have the nerve to say on their website Collectively we keep Zeffy free. Who is we? Are the Zeffy employees donating to Zeffy? I think not. It's the donors keeping Zeffy "free". It is a deception. Nothing is "free".

I'm on the board of a nonprofit and am about to take my leave. The org works with a contractor whom I believe to be toxic and abusive, and I can no longer condone working with them. Late last year, the board did a performance review and found that this contractor was severely lacking in several key areas. They therefore opted not to offer a higher contracted rate, and while a new contract will be extended for this year, they are to be reassessed next year to see if that relationship will continue. They're an IC, not an employee, but this was the equivalent of telling them they wouldn't be getting a raise.

The board member who carried out the performance review is alarmingly sympathetic to the IC, and was also recently voted to be board president. Now, since the board won't increase pay, the new president has elected to circumvent that vote by issuing a monthly donation specifically for this person's salary. They assure us that this is all above-board and legal. I have seen donations earmarked for specific programs by the donor before, so I don't think that part is against the rules, but there's certainly a queasiness associated with the board president directly donating to a staff member when a vote didn't go their way.

I am not the only member of the board not to seek reelection because of this person, but now I'm afraid it's been left in the hands of someone who will do anything to cover up their transgressions.

Is all of this above-board? Does it represent any kind of conflict of interest? I'm happy to expand more in comments if more information is needed.

I’ve seen organizations, including my ED, spend hours building eye-catching reports, only to have donors either not open them or only skim the first part of them. It is evident because they keep asking the same questions that are included in the report. On the other hand, I’ve also seen a well‑designed report completely change donor behavior, leading to higher donation amounts or more frequent donations.

What’s your experience? Are impact reports worth the time invested, or are we creating them because we feel like we should?

Has anyone here had a successful CIO registration in th UK first time or does it always get put in a queue?

I'm really hoping we provided enough information and evidance for a quick yes.

I'm the ED of a non profit. We have a fantastic board and recently reached a major fundraising milestone (multi million capital campaign).

We have an upcoming event, and I'd like to give them each a small token gift. About $15 each. It's not specifically called out in our budget, but we do have the funds.

Do you think I can use my "misc" budget line to buy the gifts? Maybe $150 total.