NONPROFITS - BEST PRACTICES AND POLICIES

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By Christopher Breslin, MBA, CPA, CFE - Manager

All organizations need to establish certain policies and procedures to govern their day to day operations, their mission and objectives, their accounting and finances, grant compliance and reporting, and overall governance. These needs apply to not-for-profits as much as they do for the corporate world, and while many of the larger, well-known organizations have the personnel, training, and access to highly qualified board members and volunteers to assist with these items, smaller not-for-profits may not have the same abilities. What resources are available to assist not-for-profits to learn about and apply best practices and policies to their organizations?

INDIANA

In Indiana, nonprofit organizations can find needed help from the Indiana Nonprofit Resource Network (www.inrn.org). The Indiana Nonprofit Resource Network is organized into five regions based on the county where the nonprofit is located and includes an events calendar that lists workshops available throughout the state as well as variety of suggested resources. The Network works as a team with Indiana United Ways and many other nonprofit partners to meet nonprofit training and development needs and implement innovative programs. Popular training topics include community building, fund development, financial management, and nonprofit management skills.

KENTUCKY

In Kentucky, two available resources are the Kentucky Nonprofit Network (www.kynonprofits.org) and the Center for Nonprofit Excellence (www.cnpe.org). In 2011, the Kentucky Nonprofit Network published a guidebook entitled "Principles & Practices for Nonprofit Excellence in Kentucky" which addresses a wide variety of issues that nonprofits face including governance, planning, transparency and accountability, financial management, information and technology, strategic alliances, risk management, and evaluation of results. Although there is some Kentucky-specific content, the guidebook offers advice that any nonprofit organization can use. You can download it free of charge by following this link https://kynonprofits.org/learn/principles-practices/principles-practices-guide.

OHIO

The Ohio Association of Nonprofit Organizations (www.oano.org) is a good source of assistance to nonprofit organizations in that state. The OANO is a statewide membership association of more than 500 nonprofit organizations whose mission is to provide leadership, education, and advocacy to enhance the ability of Ohio's nonprofit organizations to serve their communities. The Ohio Association of Nonprofit Organizations offers a variety of programs, including a webinar titled "Embracing Best Practices: OANO's Standards of Excellence".