The Nonprofit Challenge: Stretch YOUR Dollar

If you as a person were a nonprofit, here's what you could expect to deal with on a daily basis.

• Being paid when others feel like giving you money out of the goodness of their hearts
• Having the opportunity to apply for more income only when it's convenient for corporations, foundations, or sponsors
• Begging - sometimes on hands and knees - for cash
• Having to prove to people you're using their money to get results
• Working on a budget that is not guaranteed
• Running your coffee grounds through the coffee machine twice
• Using every last bit of toilet paper, toothpaste, and soap in order to avoid buying more
• Going grocery shopping only when you've used up the very last of everything in your refrigerator, including the ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, and that package of cheese that has black spots on it
• Eating every last leftover scrap in that Chinese takeout box
• Going on a day trip to a local state park for "a vacation"
• Asking everyone you meet to buy coffee, go get a spa treatment, or buy a ticket for an event so you can get 10% to keep yourself financially afloat

This is the reality for me (on a larger scale) as a nonprofit Executive Director. We do everything (and I do mean everything) on a shoestring budget, often buying only the necessities at the very last second. We reuse file folders three and four times, we keep all of our scrap paper (use both sides), we use an RFP process for almost all of our print jobs and we ask for revised proposals every year (ask our printers), and nothing, nothing, nothing, gets wasted. In fact, we even borrow the darn newspaper from our landlords from time to time. (Shhh.)

What does this mean for the people we serve? When it comes to our programs, we can't scrimp. We work hard to get sponsors and contributors for our programs so that we're able to maximize the impact their money has on our constituents. We have to put our best foot forward to ensure they know we care about them.  

So, my office has a hodgepodge of donated furniture, my interior decorating looks like it was done by a drunken chimp (no offense intended), and my desk, which is covered in paper, is half of a real computer desk that was salvaged from God knows where. I use a cereal bowl to hold my phone messages and all of my office supplies have vendor logos on them because they were either giveaways or samples. But if I've saved an extra dollar to pay an Elvis impersonator a significantly reduced rate to entertain brain injury survivors at our Snow Ball Banquet, it's worth it.

We are not in business to make ourselves look good. We are in business to help people. We use your money the best way we know how, and we work hard to maximize the money you entrust to us.

Money? Who needs it?

Working in the nonprofit field doesn't have a lot of monetary perks. Most of us live in poverty right alongside the people for whom we advocate. I haven't had a raise since I was hired in 2008, but I've never asked for one. I've got $200 in my bank account right now, and I'm still better off than most of the people I serve. In a few months, when my divorce is finalized, I won't have health insurance, and then we'll be even.

No biggie.

There are certain benefits that my employer, the Brain Injury Association of Delaware (BIAD), couldn't buy from a health or life insurance company. They couldn't list these benefits on a job advertisement. They couldn't even say for sure that I'd receive them. That's because the benefits I'm talking about are not monetary, but they are invaluable and life-changing.

I recently sat in on a meeting with several executive directors who were talking about - among other things - employee recruitment. One man told about receiving a resume from an M.I.T. graduate who had all sorts of experience and - he thought - would expect a very high salary. Upon calling the applicant and asking her if she was sure she had meant to apply to his nonprofit, and telling her that he knew he couldn't afford to employ her, she said, "I just want to work for [your organization]. I don't care about the pay. I want to believe in my work." Flabbergasted, the executive director arranged for an interview and hired her - at an extraordinarily low rate - on the spot. She's still employed there, and is one of his best employees.

Two months ago, I took a call from an anonymous out-of-state woman who suspected she sustained a brain injury after being beaten repeatedly by her husband. I listened and cried with her, felt her fear and anguish, and begged her to have the courage to leave. Just before that, a man called me in utter confusion because he couldn't figure out how to request his military records in order to apply for a TBI reassessment. I spent ten minutes on the phone with him, filling out online forms, and talking him through the process. The challenge of trying to meet their needs makes me bust my ass, stretch myself, and ultimately, grow.

Although I am fairly certain I won't retire a wealthy woman, I'm aware that the long-term benefits of serving my community will enhance my life to the point that I won't care. I've worked for BIAD for the past three years, and I've seen myself develop beyond my own expectations. I've embraced and adopted aspects of my own character that I put to use to advocate for people who are lost or scared or hurt. And I wouldn't change it for the world. I actually feel bad for people who chase "the almighty buck" every day and don't even know what they're missing.

Money is great, but it's not the reason I'm committed to BIAD, and to valuable local nonprofits. Self-discovery and self-awareness are the payoff. And by working within this field, I've discovered a stronger, resourceful side of myself that will get me through the rest of my life just fine.

The Magic Number: 501(c)(3)

You may have seen the number 501(c)(3) and wondered, "What does that really mean?"

All of the charities featured on this blog are 501(c) nonprofit agencies, which means that donations to them are tax deductible (you can claim them on your tax return). There are many types of 501(c) nonprofits, ranging from 501(c)(1) (corporations organized under act of congress) to 501(c)(28) (National Railroad Retirement Investment Trust). Most of the charities profiled on this blog are neatly categorized as 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations.

The 501(c)(3) category denotes that the organization is based on religious, educational, charitable, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, to foster national or international amateur sports competition, or prevention of cruelty to children or animals.

501(c)(3) status means that the nonprofit has been incorporated and certified with the IRS as tax-exempt, in other words, the organization does not pay taxes on the contributions it receives from the general public. Furthermore, the 501(c)(3) status also means that the nonprofit has filed a recent 990 or 990-N with the IRS, an annual filing much like your 1040 or 1040-EZ. In 2010, the IRS decided that any organization that didn't file its 990 or 990-N would lose their 501(c)(3) status. (You should have seen how many emails and phone calls I got about this. No worries: BIAD files its 990 annually without fail.) 501(c)(3) status also requires a certain level of compliance with government regulations, including proper acceptance of contributions and documentation thereof. These nonprofits are also limited in their ability to lobby government officials, as well as limiting their support of one political candidate or another. The challenge for nonprofits is to maintain its good standing with the community, its consumers, and the IRS.

For nonprofits, the 501(c)(3) status is a validation for its corporate sponsorships, foundations, and other sources of funding. Effectively, 501(c)(3) status is much like a key that opens many doors. Without this IRS determination, it would be fairly difficult for a nonprofit to conduct business at its fullest capacity. Usually, unless I can prove my charity's nonprofit status, I can't even fill out an application for funding.

More information on charity tax-exemptions can be found at http://www.irs.gov/charities/content/0,,id=125361,00.html.