Free Wizard Webinar - May 5th

I'd like to introduce myself. I'm Martin Wera, and I recently started at the Charities Review Council as the Nonprofit Services Manager. I’m here, along with the rest of the Council staff, to provide accountability-related technical assistance to nonprofits participating in the Accountability Wizard and ensure the fair and consistent application of the Council’s standards in the review process.

Speaking of the Accountability Wizard, I'm hosting my very first webinar for nonprofits thinking about going through the review process. For those interested, here are the details:

Details:
Accountability Wizard Webinar - Free
Tuesday, May 5th
2:00 - 3:00 pm CT

You can sign up for the webinar on our website at http://www.smartgivers.org/Webinar1.html.

Twittering

The Charities Review Council has joined twitterverse. Hope you'll follow along: http://twitter.com/smartgivers

Sweat the Fundamentals

Check out Rich Cowles' guest posting on Nonprofit SOS blog. This week, Rich talks about how sweating out the small stuff such as maintaining and practicing a conflict of interest policy can keep your organization out of an uncomfortable spotlight.

Tips for Nonprofits on Being More Transparent

Check out Rich Cowles' guest posting on Nonprofit SOS blog featuring tips for nonprofits on being more transparent.

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.

Economic Effects on Philanthropy

Techsoup has posted a nice compilation of articles and blog posts on the economy and philanthropy.

http://blog.techsoup.org/trackback/555

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.