990 Resources - On-line courses

The IRS recently posted new mini-courses on a number of topics. They are really quite helpful and free! There are a few 990 preparatory courses that have good detail. Most are less than or around half an hour.

They may not be "better than Cats" but I just might watch them again and again.

990 Trainings from MCN!

Do not miss these 990 trainings from the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits. They are all over the state, please forward them to your contacts statewide. They are presented by Eve Borenstein who is a fount of 990 knowledge. She makes this exciting topic even better with sample 990s that are as instructional as they are funny. These half day or longer trainings provide a great amount of detail and will really help your organization use the form 990 that meets both compliance needs and tells the public about the good work your nonprofit does.

In the past few weeks I have presented to people in Alexandria, Fergus Falls, Marshall, and Willmar. I will also be in St. Cloud on November 25th. These sessions have been generously hosted by the Bremer Bank nonprofit resource specialists. If you will be in St. Cloud on November 25th, contact Kathy Grochow for details about a two hour 990 training. Here are the details:

Tuesday, November 25th, 2008
Networking 8:30 – 9:00 am
Program 9:00 - 11:00 am
St. Cloud Public Library, in the Bremer Community Room1
300 West St. Germain Street
St. Cloud MN 56301

This session will provide an overview of the structure of the form and the newest features, including the new governance section. Learn about existing resources to prepare your organization to review and file the new form. The session is free, but pre-registration is required by November 24th. Please RSVP: Kathy Grochow, Bremer, 320-255-7137 or kdgrochow@bremer.com.

IRS Form 990 - Ready?

We just posted two articles to help you prepare to use the new IRS Form 990. They are intended to help you begin to understand how to best complete the form - in the spirit of compliance and to help build public trust.

Here is what you need to know --> There are steps you must take this year in order to be ready to use the form next year. Do not wait until next year to have your auditor tell what you should have done this year.

Get started by reading the articles posted on smartgivers.org or by registering for a 990 webinar. We have also posted two new model policies you might need - a whisteblower policy and a document retention policy. We already have a conflict of interest policy with an annual witten disclosure for download. You can also sign up for a webinar on 10/27.

What else do you want to know about the new 990? Let me know by emailing me. If someone else is providing training we will direct you to them or we might design a bit of future help for you. If you have training available let me know and I will post it here.

I will also post after attending sessions at this week's MCN conference. Stay tuned, we might actually be blogging regularly.