Blogs

Nonprofit/ Exempt Organizations

What Is Worrying Our Nonprofit Clients – Part V: Political Risk and the Nonprofit Mission

Political pressures can create operational, employment, funding, and governance risks for nonprofits. This final installment explores practical steps organizations can take to manage workplace expression, social media, federal grants, advocacy, and board oversight while staying mission-focused.

October 19, 2026

Nonprofit/ Exempt Organizations

What Is Worrying Our Nonprofit Clients – Part IV: When Cybersecurity Risks Become Mission Risks

As part four of our series on what keeps our nonprofit clients up at night, we turn to security and operational risk. For nonprofits operating with limited resources, stretched staff, and lean administrative teams, a cyber incident can quickly become much more than an IT problem. A serious data or cyber breach can interrupt services, expose sensitive information, drain financial resources, damage donor confidence, and consume management attention at the worst possible time.

September 28, 2026

Nonprofit/ Exempt Organizations

When Can Nonprofit Employees Volunteer for Their Employer?

Nonprofit employees are often deeply committed to the mission of the organizations they serve. That commitment sometimes leads an employee to offer to help at a fundraising event, participate in a weekend program, or perform other services without pay. The offer may be entirely sincere. It also may create an unexpected wage-and-hour problem for your nonprofit organization.

September 28, 2026

Nonprofit/ Exempt Organizations

The IRS May Redraw the Tax-Exemption Line for Private Schools

The federal government is now approaching tax-exempt status for private schools from a different direction. Rather than treating Section 501(c)(3) status as federal financial assistance, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service have proposed regulations that would condition the exemption itself on a broad prohibition against race-based policies and practices.

September 28, 2026

Nonprofit/ Exempt Organizations

What is Worrying Our Nonprofit Clients – Part III: Staffing and Talent

As part three of our series, we turn to people. Money may be the traditional first and most accurate answer when asking what is worrying nonprofit leaders; however, staffing and talent are close behind. In most organizations, these two topics are really the same issue. Nonprofits do not execute their missions in the abstract. They…

June 25, 2026

Business and Financial Services

What is Worrying Our Nonprofit Clients – Part II: Funding and Economics

As part two of our series, it is perhaps a truism that the first answer would always be money. The need for consistent and appropriate resources to execute on mission is a constant drumbeat for nonprofits. What is new is the pace of change, rapid shifts in sources of funds, changes in demand for services,…

May 11, 2026

Nonprofit/ Exempt Organizations

What Happens When a Donation to Your Nonprofit Goes Bad

In 2012, financier and Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick made a transformative donation to his alma mater, Haverford College, a small liberal arts school in Pennsylvania. Over time, Lutnick’s contributions — reportedly totaling roughly $65 million — helped fund major campus initiatives, including the college’s library, which now bears his name. More than a decade…

March 27, 2026

Business and Financial Services

Why Board Members Must Review and Understand Form 990

For many nonprofit organizations, the annual Form 990 is treated as a routine accounting exercise. It is prepared by staff or outside advisors, perhaps reviewed briefly (if at all), and hopefully filed to satisfy minimum IRS requirements. In practice, however, Form 990 functions as something far more consequential for nonprofits. It is a public-facing document…

February 2, 2026

Business and Financial Services

What is Worrying Our Nonprofit Clients – Part 1: Repetitive Risk Issues

We have spent an intense year helping our nonprofit clients through a wide variety of threats and risks. During that time, we have seen and heard many repetitive concerns and worries expressed across a wide variety of organizations. Rather than siloing this information, we wanted to start a conversation around sharing best practices and approaches…

January 23, 2026

Business and Financial Services

Finding True North in Turbulent Times: Insights into Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Boards

In today’s environment of economic uncertainty, social transformation, and technological disruption, nonprofit boards must take a proactive and legally informed approach to strategic planning. Strategic oversight is a core governance function that directly affects mission fulfillment, legal compliance, and organizational sustainability. Boards need to actively engage on these topics or risk obsolescence. As outside legal…

November 24, 2025