I have a non-profit, now what?

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Posted on by Xarzu

I have a non-profit, now what?

One of the points of having a non-profit is to accept donations and the donors have the benefit of knowing that their donations are tax deductible. How, exactly, do I convey this fact to potential donors online? I imagine that there should be some sort of link to an official page with the IRS that is associated with my ID.

I have gotten an official congratulations letter from the IRS that I my organisation is now an official 502c3 but I have not been given directions on how to get donations or advertise my organisation or its educational products. So I have gone online and I my search for forums has led me here. Please help.

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You are over-thinking it, but your journey has just begun. The simple answer is you tell your donors their donation is tax deductible, and after they donate, you provide them with a receipt (date, amount, name & address). Now for the rest of the story...

You should get a CPA that has experience with non-profit accounting to get your accounting system (and governance) set up. You are going to need records of all your donations and an air-tight paper trail so that if/when you are audited, you can demonstrate that the donations are legitimate, and where did you spend the money, for example, how much went to support the program, vs how much did you spend to keep the lights turned on). You should collect key data along the way to demonstrate to your ability to manage your programs. I recommend you check out the BBB Wise Giving Alliance (www.give.org/.../bbb-standards-for-charity-accountability) which will give you some idea about the metrics you should be prepared to report on. The BBBWGA provides a public website (https://www.give.org/) that tells donors how your non-profit compares to others. You can go through their certification process which lends credibility to your fundraising (aka "development") efforts.

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