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Sponsor Insight

Apr 18

6 Ways to Boost Employee Engagement and Retention

By Sponsor Insight

Submitted by Purple Ink

Employee engagement and retention are top of mind these days as “The Great Resignation” rages on. Workers are becoming less willing to accept policies they don’t agree with, treatment they don’t deserve, and negative impacts on their mental health. They’re leaving organizations that don’t meet their needs and searching for ones that do – and with so many positions opening up, they’ve got plenty of options to choose from!

If you’re looking to avoid the fallout from “The Great Resignation” (or recover from it!), we’re here to help. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution, but these are some areas you should consider.

  1. Rethink Compensation
    Engagement is not all about money, but it is important. It’s hard to stay positive and productive if you’re having trouble paying your bills. A compensation analysis can help you find out whether you’re offering competitive pay.
  2. Change your policies
    Are your policies and practices working for your team? Take a look at things like flexible work schedules, PTO, benefits, parental resources, etc. Accommodating your team’s needs may be the support they need to stay onboard. Don’t make assumptions, though! Not everyone wants the same things. Ask your team what they want and offer options that will meet different workers’ needs where possible.
  3. Invest in your people
    People stay longer at companies that give them opportunities for growth. Offering more development to your team may help you build loyalty. The good news is there are lots of different ways to do this. You can sign them up for a training series, send them to workshops and webinars, host training sessions in-house, set them up with a coach…the list goes on!
  4. Hire the right fit
    One often-overlooked way to improve retention is to hire the right person off the bat. If you can identify someone who’s going to be a great fit, not only for the role, but also for your organization, you’ve got a better chance of them sticking around for a while.
  5. Treat exiting employees right
    Unfortunately, sometimes you have to make the difficult decision to let employees go. When you do, offering them outplacement is a great choice, not only for your organization and the exiting employees, but also for the remaining employees’ morale. They’ll see you treating their departing coworkers respectfully and with compassion, leading to increased job satisfaction, productivity, and engagement.
  6. Think about workload
    If your team’s getting burned out from overwork, it might be a good idea to outsource some of that workload to someone else. An outsourced consultant can take on a project for you or take care of some day-to-day tasks to free up time for your team.

If your team is not engaged and turnover is high, it’s time to think about making some changes. Not everyone wants the same things, so the important thing is talking to your team and finding out what they’re looking for in the workplace.

And if all this seems daunting, don’t worry – Purple Ink can help with any of the items listed above and more. Reach out to us to talk about what HR solutions might be right for your team.

Apr 04

8 reasons to meet with a financial expert at tax time

By Sponsor Insight

by Dave Voris, vice president, regional treasury management officer, Horizon Bank

No matter your income as a nonprofit employee, tax time is a great time to meet with a financial services expert.

As all necessary tax information is gathered for income taxes, it is also valuable information for your trusted financial services specialist, who can guide you on the best financial products to meet your goals or your current needs.

When it comes to wealth creation, it can be difficult to keep track of all your sources of revenue and manage your money effectively to hit the short- and long-term financial goals you have identified.

To make wealth creation a smoother process for you and your family, developing a custom financial plan tailored to your situation and needs is vital. Below are some of the reasons to create a financial plan, if you haven’t done so already:

  1. Develop a values-based, multi-generational financial plan
  2. Analyze your entire financial picture for missed resources and opportunities
  3. Benefit from sensible advice from financial advisors, legal counsel, and tax accountants of your choosing
  4. Ensure that your goals and dreams for you and your children will be reached
  5. Reassure you and your family that your financial future is in good hands
  6. Determine your personal and financial retirement goals
  7. Learn how to protect your assets for future financial stability
  8. Discover retirement planning opportunities such as 401(k) plans, IRAs, or potential future inheritances

Think of your financial plan as a road map, of sorts, to help guide you towards your goals. A good plan should be centered on your specific needs, adaptable, trackable, and able to be modified. It should be reviewed and updated during your formal reviews.

Mar 21

Dashboard reports improves teams’ ability to analyze results

By Sponsor Insight

by Mike Staton, chief financial officer, Alerding

Data, data, data! Nonprofits and for-profits alike have more data than ever to track, understand and utilize in carrying out their goals. It’s easy to quickly become overwhelmed.

To help get the process started, consider creating dashboards.

Dashboards are short (normally one page) graphical representations of data that can provide the key measurements to make informed decisions. They can show program results, financial results, or any other data that needs to be communicated to a group, and they can be helpful internally for staff uses as well as higher level use by a board of directors or finance committee.

One way to use a financial dashboard like the one shown above is to include it as the cover page in the financial packet when sending monthly financial statements to your finance committee. Dashboards are relatively quick to update once they are created, and they can accomplish the following:

  1. Easier to understand for those that are not experienced in reading financial statements. Many members of your board of directors and finance committee may not fully understand how to read financial statements. A dashboard provides them the opportunity to see trends and benchmarks that they would otherwise miss.
  2. Quicker to understand than the full financial statements.
  3. Provides a frame of reference for reading the financial statements. Once individuals look at the dashboard, they have a basic understanding of how well the organization is performing. This helps put the financial statements into perspective as they are reviewed in detail.

The benefits of financial dashboards described above can also be achieved through program dashboards. The format of these can vary greatly from one organization to the next, since programs and outcomes vary, but the basic process is the same. Management must first identify what information is relevant to them and will help in running the organization. Next, goals must be set so that management has something to compare with the actual results. After that, the dashboard can be created and updated periodically with the most recent program accomplishments.

In today’s environment, finding efficiencies and cutting out non-critical tasks is key to running effective programs. If utilized properly, dashboards can be very beneficial in helping focus efforts and leading to well-informed decisions. To find out how a dashboard can benefit your company or organization, contact Alerding CPA Group at 317-569-4181 or www.alerdingcpagroup.com.

Mar 21

The impact of IT on employee retention

By Sponsor Insight

by Cody Lents, partner and customer steward, COVI, Inc.

As business leaders, we have a lot on our plates to accommodate a new worldview and attract the next generation of talent. Decent pay and a job are no longer enough to lure prospective employees, at least not the ones we want. Businesses must stay informed and honestly care about our people and the issues they face daily. To retain our employees, we must guide them to a better future at home and work.

The future of IT is more than just using technology to automate, streamline, and manage operations as much as possible. It’s aligning it to enhance the employee and customer experience, increasing internal cultural, and external delivery demands. The problem is that the more tech we use, the more tech we must end up managing. This requires expensive skill sets and nuanced management skills. Leaders have been quick to adopt expensive skill sets; however, quality management is lacking.

Few companies are equipped with the technology to accommodate both the older and younger generations. Millennials will make up about 75% of the workforce by 2025. Gen Z has spent most of their lives with fast and efficient internet access, along with smart and portable devices that are constantly connecting each other to the world at large. 91% of Gen Z employees say the company’s technological sophistication impacts their decision to work there. 10% of employees (no matter the generation) have walked away from a job due to technological frustrations. And the complication doesn’t end with office tech. After all, 37% of millennials say working with multiple devices is challenging and stressful, and they don’t want to switch from a computer or phone for work and life activities.

It’s true that the older the generation – the less likely they are to adapt to ever-changing technology. There is a common stereotype that veteran employees resist technology and new workflows because it will require too much stress and a departure from the way they’ve been operating for decades. In reality, many of these people have seen several changes. From typewriters to computers, from mail to fax to email, older generations have continued to adjust their workflows and are much more adaptable to technology changes than many realize.

Simply put, old technology solutions do not allow companies to keep up with many current-day issues, including employee retention. Additionally, poorly implemented new tech won’t deliver solutions to these issues either. Technological choices and implementation can largely impact your company and your employees’ success, culture, productivity, happiness, and of course, loyalty. This directly correlates to what your customer’s experience.

Unfortunately, IT teams often have their hands tied when it comes to keeping up with modern tech because of the amount of time it takes to maintain old technology and security needs. We must make tech training beneficial, entertaining, and easy to keep individuals of all generations engaged. This starts by, fully explaining the company’s values, making the technology and process easy to understand, and investing in a multi-faceted approach to implementing new tech. There also must be a designated place for employees to get answers and present questions for any tech-related concerns. These tactics ensure that IT teams have the time, process, and tools they need to successfully support the company culture. It’s more than just tech. It’s people.

We can eliminate employee turnover issues. We can attract top talent. But to do so, we must evolve.

Mar 14

Achieve better board engagement through training

By Sponsor Insight

by Jodi Snell, senior consultant, Hedges

The most common pain point we’re hearing about from the nonprofit community is how to increase board engagement. Despite good intentions, some board members are struggling to make in-person meetings work with their back-to-the office schedules, others turn off their video and multi-task during board meetings, and yet others have a hard time following-through with assigned tasks. In a world where there is never enough time, and we all have competing priorities, the need to focus on what is essential has never seemed more important.

So, the question isn’t just how do we engage our board, but how do we engage our board in its most essential functions? At Hedges, we have found the key to engaging board members in the ways they’re needed most comes through effective training and setting clear expectations. If board members don’t know their responsibilities or how to execute those responsibilities, then successfully engaging as a board member will be quite the challenge.

When we onboard new staff, we are mindful of making sure that expectations are clearly communicated and that staff are adequately trained to meet those expectations. The same should be true for board members of our organizations. Based on our experience in educating board members through our work with nonprofit organizations and in our Lead with Purpose Board Training Series, we find the following three items to be at the core of successful nonprofit board education:

  1. Prioritize board training and onboarding. Prioritizing board training and onboarding is as important as prioritizing the training and onboarding of your staff members. This prioritization can happen in different ways. The first way to prioritize board training is to instill a culture of learning for the organization, including the board. This culture gives board members permission to seek information, not have all the answers, and know they will have access to the information necessary for them to engage in their key responsibilities. The second way is to allocate appropriate financial resources to provide initial and ongoing education opportunities for board members. Whether those resources are used for individual members to attend different workshops in the community or to bring in a third-party to provide training to the full board, prioritizing financial resources will be important to ensuring access to the best practice knowledge they need. The third way to prioritize board training is to allow realistic time for members to be trained and onboarded. Often board onboarding is done over one short meeting or even a document provided electronically via email. Whether it’s setting aside a full day, a couple of hours, or part of a board meeting, providing time for board members to receive training is key to successfully educating the board.
  2. Create a partnership between the Board and the Executive Director. The misconception that the board should be managing the Executive Director creates a tenacious power dynamic. When the board is trained and onboarded in a way that helps them to understand their valuable and distinct role as a board member, it is much easier to build a productive partnership between the Executive Director and board. This partnership can be built on shared leadership and learning where the Executive Director and the board lead together and learn from each other. In this shared leadership and learning, meaningful conversations and trust build making it easier to operationalize board governance best practices. Additionally, a board that is trained and that doesn’t have to be managed empowers the Executive Director to focus on their unique role in leading the organization to success rather than spending time “managing up.”
  3. Continually assess the board to understand their strengths and needs. Just like professional development for our staff members is ongoing process, learning for our board members should be continuous. Board training is not just a one-time event, but an ongoing component of healthy governance. As a start, it is good practice to train new board members during board orientation as they join your organization. In addition, it is good to provide the opportunity for board members to assess themselves and identify areas for continued learning. This can happen through a formal board self-assessment, a simple board survey, or a conversation between the Executive Director and board members to understand:
  • How well do they think they are executing their responsibilities as individual board members and as a full board?
  • What needs or questions do they have about their role as a board member?
  • Do they feel they have received enough training to engage in an effective way?
  • Do they find this experience to be meaningful to them and what could make it more meaningful?

By understanding these things, continual education can be provided to the board in the topics where they need the most support. Fundamentally, board members should receive consistent training and “refreshers” on general information about the organization, like your vision and goals; the basic responsibilities of board membership; how to best engage in fundraising; how to recruit, onboard, and offboard members; and the purpose of committees, and what it means to keep committees active and effective. However, having the board assess itself regularly creates time for reflection and gives board members an opportunity to identify where they might need to focus individually and as a board to maximize their efforts for the organization.

In our 20 years of experience in nonprofit advising, our team at Hedges has learned that board engagement is critical to an organization’s success. An engaged board is a trained board, and board training is a constant, ongoing process. If you’re spinning your wheels wondering: “Why is my board struggling to engage in its essential functions?” consider implementing the three steps we’ve outlined above.

Want additional support? Encourage your Board members to join our next Lead with Purpose Series, offered from August through November 2022. For more information visit: https://www.hellohedges.com/training/.

Jodi Snell is Senior Consultant at Hedges and a BoardSource Certified Consultant who loves to empower board members on how to be most effective in their roles. With a passion for educating and training, Jodi works closely with organizations to lend her expertise related to board governance, fundraising, and strategic planning.

Mar 07

Nonprofit expo returns in person to connect organizations with students

By Sponsor Insight

by Leslie Wells, assistant director of communications, Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IUPUI

Nonprofits across the nation are rebuilding, working to recover from the job losses that swept through the sector during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dozens of them are now preparing to connect with college students at the 2022 IUPUI Nonprofit Expo in hopes of recruiting new talent for their organizations.

Updated reports released earlier this year found that — as of the end of 2021 — nearly 72 percent of the estimated 1.64 million nonprofit jobs lost during the pandemic had been recovered. But that still leaves hundreds of thousands of positions unfilled across the country.

IUPUI’s Nonprofit Expo will help organizations fill some of those vacancies by serving as a bridge between nonprofit, government, and community organizations and local college students.

“This isn’t a standard career fair,” explains Kerry Lay, a career advisor with the O’Neill School at IUPUI. “It allows nonprofits to connect with large numbers of students in one place and specifically targets those who are interested in working in the nonprofit sector.”

The pandemic canceled the 2020 Expo and forced the 2021 event to be virtual. But students and organizations will meet again in person on March 23 from 1- 4 p.m. in the IUPUI Campus Center. Employers can register for the event until March 21.

The Jewish Community Center is returning to the Nonprofit Expo this year. The JCC provides inclusive experiences that aim to help people grow and build communities through preschool, after-school, fitness, and arts programming.

“The Expo is specific to nonprofit employers and attracts students who want to do meaningful, mission-based work,” says JCC Director of Human Resources Nancy Riddle-Mills. “These are qualities we look for in all our employees, whether they’re full-time, part-time, or seasonal staff.”

The Expo allows organizations to see what’s coming down the talent pipeline and gives smaller nonprofits the chance to build name recognition and recruit new volunteers, interns, and employees. The trade-off for students is invaluable hands-on experience for those who want to work in the nonprofit sector.

Quinlin Malloy, a Sustainable Management and Policy major at O’Neill, attended the 2021 virtual Nonprofit Expo. She met with three organizations and was offered an internship at Camptown, an Indianapolis-based nonprofit focused on connecting kids with nature through educational learning experiences.

“Going to these types of fairs allows you to actually talk with a potential employer in a field you’re interested in before agreeing to an internship or a job,” Malloy says. “That’s a much better approach than trying to search around and hopefully find someone.”

Prior to the Expo, Malloy had never heard of Camptown. But after meeting with the organization, she was selected for an internship in late spring of 2021. And she’s been there ever since. In January, they offered her the opportunity to join their team as a full-fledged staff member.

“Without the Nonprofit Expo, I probably would have ended up in an internship that wasn’t nearly as interesting as what I was doing and it may not have turned into a job,” she says.

Thanks to the Expo, Malloy has a guaranteed job when she graduates in the fall, and Camptown has filled a position that will help them advance their organization’s mission and help education and empower more young people around Indianapolis.

The Nonprofit Expo is a collaboration between the O’Neill School, the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI, IU School of Social Work, the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, the School of Health and Human Services, the Center for Transfer and Adult Students, IUPUI’s Center for Service and Learning, and the IUPUI Office of Student Employment. Employers can register for the event until March 21.

Feb 28

Going All IN: United Way event connects hundreds for day of community service

By Sponsor Insight

United Way of Central Indiana will host its second Go All IN Day June 24 across the region

By Margaret Matray, communications manager, United Way of Central Indiana

In the September sun, volunteers armed with flyers and trash grabbers fanned out across the 900 block of North Delaware Street in Indianapolis.

They passed out snacks to neighbors and told them about the services offered at Recovery Café Indy. They spread the word about the cafe’s upcoming anniversary barbecue. And they plucked garbage from bushes, curbs and fences.

Recovery Café Indy was one of several dozen organizations that participated last year in United Way of Central Indiana’s first Go All IN Day, an organized day of volunteering and community service across the region. More than 500 volunteers tackled over 70 projects, including assembling care kits for seniors, mulching playgrounds, planting community gardens and stocking food pantries.

As a result of the event, Recovery Café recruited a handful of new long-term volunteers, and nearly 80 people attend its anniversary celebration, said Aubre Jean, the cafe’s program manager. Go All IN Day also helped the cafe’s members connect with new people and feel supported, she said.

“It felt like we were coming together as a community to do something important, to help maintain the neighborhood and to share the word,” Jean said. “It was awesome because it was not just our organization doing this – the whole entire Indianapolis community was doing something to give back.”

United Way will host this year’s Go All IN Day on June 24 and hopes to grow the event in its second year – with more volunteers and more projects across Boone, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Marion, Morgan and Putnam counties. The nonprofit is currently recruiting interested volunteers, nonprofits, community groups and grassroots organizations at uwci.org/go-all-in-day.

In the coming months, organizations with an annual operating budget of $1 million or less will be able to apply for small grants to fund their projects. And United Way will help connect volunteers to projects leading up to the event.

For last year project, Recovery Café received a $500 micro-grant that went toward supplies for the neighborhood clean-up and refreshments for volunteers to enjoy while networking after.

Jean saw Go All IN Day as a way to bring together different organizations that share a common goal of helping others. The event also built on the cafe’s efforts to get members walking outside and keep the block clean, as Recovery Café had “adopted” its street through Keep Indianapolis Beautiful.

Recovery Café operates under the nonprofit We Bloom and is part of a network of cafes across the country. It launched out of a space at Horizon House several years ago and is now located inside the Unity of Indianapolis building.

The cafe serves people in recovery – not solely from substance use but also from domestic violence, trauma, mental health struggles, homelessness and other challenges. It offers programs, connects people to services and hosts recovery circles facilitated by trained peer recovery coaches.

Jean said the cafe provides a loving environment. Many members attend daily because it’s their community — a place to belong. There, they can share a cup of coffee or a meal from the nonprofit Second Helpings.

For Go All IN Day, Jean set a goal of recruiting 25 volunteers but exceeded that with nearly 40. Top leaders from United Way and volunteers from Keep Indianapolis Beautiful and First Financial Bank, which helps fund the cafe, all participated – along with cafe members and staff.

Peter Hanscom, United Way’s vice president of marketing and digital engagement, had often driven by the cafe but didn’t know what it did. Hanscom and his family have places where they normally volunteer and give back, but Go All IN Day gave him an opportunity to get out of that comfortable pattern and meet new people and organizations.

After handing out flyers about the cafe that day, Hanscom and the other volunteers toured the facility, learned about its mission and talked with members about their recovery stories.

“The sacrifice of just one day gave me an appetite to stay involved outside of the ways I normally would have,” Hanscom said.

Jean said Recovery Café is still working on its plans for this year’s Go All IN Day. But she’s already reserved a spot online.

The event gives organizations a chance to connect, be creative and recruit more volunteers than they normally would to finish a project.

“It felt amazing to have people from these organizations come and support,” Jean said. “And what it showed is that we are supported and we are seen for the work that we do.

“For any organization who wants to feel connected to that bigger picture and give back in any way – it’s an opportunity to do so.”
To learn more about Recovery Café Indy, go to www.recoverycafeindy.org.

Volunteers and organizations interested in participating in this year’s Go All IN Day can learn more and sign up at uwci.org/go-all-in-day.

Feb 21

Employee retention tax credit: Refund potential for organizations big and small

By Sponsor Insight

by Ryan Lauer, author, Barnes Dennig

Passed as part of the CARES Act at the onset of COVID-19 in the spring of 2020, the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) Program, in very simple terms, is a credit for continuing to pay employees during the pandemic if certain tests are met.

While the name suggests it’s related to tax, it’s an actual cash refund if you qualify. The credit is driven off of headcount and can add up to a significant sum depending on your total headcount and payroll. It can add up quickly, even for small organizations, as the credit could be up to $5,000 per employee in calendar year 2020 and up to $21,000 per employee in calendar year 2021. If your organization experienced either a gross receipts decline or more than a nominal portion of your business was suspended in 2020 or 2021 because of a government order, you may qualify.

The ERTC did not garner the media attention the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) did when the CARES Act first went into effect because, at that time, businesses and organizations were only allowed to pursue one program – and the vast majority chose the PPP route. However, the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) passed in late 2020 reversed course and allowed taxpayers to pursue ERTC even if they took a PPP loan. Overnight, the number of organizations that could qualify exploded and has resulted in significant cash refunds for thousands of organizations.

The ERTC program is in place for wages paid between March 13, 2020, and Sept. 30, 2021. President Biden signed the Infrastructure Innovation and Jobs Act back in November 2021, sunsetting the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) program one quarter early (with some exceptions for recovery startups). This early “cut-off” eliminated the 4th quarter of 2021 as a qualifying quarter for the credit – but it doesn’t preclude taxpayers from still claiming the credit for prior eligible quarters.

Qualification: Gross receipts method

To qualify under the gross receipts method, your organization must have experienced a 50% decline in gross receipts during a calendar quarter in 2020 as compared to the same calendar quarter in 2019. To quality in 2021, the threshold is lowered to only a 20% decline in gross receipts as compared to the same calendar quarter in 2019. PPP loan proceeds (when received or when forgiven) are not included as a gross receipt for purposes of this test. While the 50% decline to qualify in 2020 is a steep mark to hit, the reduction to 20% in 2021 results in many more organizations qualifying for the credit. Having said that, the gross receipts method is not the only way to qualify for the credit.

Qualification: Government suspension of operations/partial suspension

Didn’t meet the gross receipts decline test or have a full business shutdown as a result of a government order? There’s still a chance organizations that operated as essential businesses could qualify for the Employee Retention Tax Credit. To qualify under a partial government shutdown, a business unit or program that comprised at least 10% of the gross receipts in the same quarter in 2019 and was suspended from operations (as a result of a COVID-19 government shutdown order), would qualify the entire organization.

For example, if Business Unit A (or Program A) was shut down for a period of time at the onset of COVID-19, and the unit generated 15% of 2nd Quarter revenue in 2019, that could potentially qualify the overall business for the ERTC during the 2020 shutdown period.

Furthermore, in this example, it’s not only Business Unit A that has qualifying wages for the credit: all wages of all business units of the company would qualify during this period of time. Thus, as long as a nominal portion (10%) of the business was suspended, it could be enough to qualify the whole business for the credit.

Eligible wages

Wages that are eligible to be utilized for the credit include W-2 gross wages, pre-tax employee paid health insurance premiums and employer-side paid health insurance premiums. One caveat to keep in mind – wages utilized for PPP forgiveness, or any other credit, cannot also be utilized as qualifying wages for the Employee Retention Tax Credit. Having said that, organizations that received PPP proceeds are still seeing sizeable refunds on the ERTC side, so taking a PPP loan isn’t a reason to not consider the ERTC.

Other considerations

The Employee Retention Tax Credit is a taxable credit. The funding is taxable in the year the wages were paid and could require an amended tax return for taxable legal entities. However, non-profits will not have tax burden related to the credit and may not need to amend their 990s for this.

The ERTC is claimed on an amended quarterly payroll tax return (Form 941X). Once the IRS processes Form 941X, a check is issued to the taxpayer for the credit amount, plus interest. The statute of limitations for filing amended payroll tax returns is three years from the due date of the return, meaning to apply for the Employee Retention Tax Credit for the 2nd quarter of 2020, the amended return needs to be submitted by July 2023. Therefore, there’s still time to apply for the credit.

Find out if you qualify

The Employee Retention Tax Credit can be a massive opportunity if your organization qualifies. With the potential credit up to $5,000 per employee in calendar year 2020 and up to $21,000 per employee in calendar year 2021, organizations both big and small could greatly benefit from applying for the credit.

If you have questions about the qualification process, or want to know if your organization can benefit from the Employee Retention Tax Credit, talk to a member of the Barnes Dennig non-profit team today.

Feb 14

4 reasons to outsource your accounting function

By Sponsor Insight

by Laura N. Haffner, CPA, senior managing consultant

The current economic environment has significantly changed the way organizations look at their talent pool internally or externally. More than ever, organizations have had to become more creative in their efforts to retain their employees. If they are hiring, the desired compensation likely has increased as well.

In this climate, organizations also are faced with a business decision on whether they should hire staff or outsource various functions of their organization. One of the most common areas that could be outsourced is the accounting function.

Here are four reasons to outsource your accounting function

  1. You benefit from working with a team of seasoned professionals.
  2. Services are scalable and flexible.
  3. It can increase automation and efficiencies.
  4. You can realize cost savings. Over the long run, outsourcing your accounting function to a trusted provider can provide for a greater return on investment as compared to hiring, training, and updating in-house personnel.

BKD serves approximately 1,720 nonprofits across the country, ranging from small private foundations to large international organizations, giving us a solid understanding of the issues nonprofit organizations face. Working with an experienced, professional team of nonprofit advisors can help save you time and money while increasing your peace of mind. BKD can help with the following, and more:

  • Monthly close process
  • Nonprofit financial reporting
  • Grants management and compliance
  • Audit preparation, including Single Audit
  • Grants management and compliance
  • Audit preparation, including Single Audit
  • Budget development, process, and execution
  • Implementation of new accounting standards
  • Financial operational assessments
  • Policies and procedures
  • Executive and nonexecutive compensation consulting
  • Other projects on your CFO to-do list

Contact Laura and Dan to learn more or submit a proposal request.

Laura N. Haffner, CPA, senior managing consultant
Haffner is a member of BKD’s Nonprofit Advisory Services team and has more than eight years of assurance and advisory experience in public accounting. Her expertise includes not-for-profit financial reporting, audit preparation, outsourced accounting functions, technology solutions and implementation, and advisory services. She has experience working in several accounting systems including Sage Intacct, Quickbooks Online, MIP Abila, ACS Realm, and others. Haffner also has experience performing audits and attest engagements for for-profit entities and employee benefit plans. She is a member of the American Institute of CPAs and the Indiana CPA Society and is a Certified Quickbooks Proadvisor.

Daniel J. Waninger, CPA, director
Waninger has served the nonprofit, higher education and governmental sectors for more than 15 years. His experience includes working with higher education institutions, membership organizations, museums, religious organizations, foundations and social service agencies. He has provided audit services in accordance with Government Auditing Standards and Single Audit standards, managed numerous audits and completed a six-month apprenticeship in BKD’s quality control department.
He also serves as a presenter on technical topics, such as FASB new standards and best practices for nonprofit organizations. Waninger also is a member of the BKD Nonprofit Center of Excellence, the American Institute of CPAs and Indiana CPA Society.

Jan 31

Does your ‘consultant’ always know best?

By Sponsor Insight

by Jan Breiner Frazier, owner, Planning Plus

At some point, nonprofit organizations will find the need to use a consultant, whether it’s to assist with strategic planning, fundraising, board orientation, executive search, marketing or event planning.

If you do, a good question to ask is “Does your consultant always know best?”

While we would like to think so, the answer is “not always.” True, there are many consultants out there with a lot of experience. However, success is often based on connecting with a consultant who is right for you.

There is a different consultant for every type of organizational need, assisting companies that don’t have the expertise, personnel, funds or quite simply the time to really uncover and solve problems on their own.

Our team at PlanningPlus has successfully delivered outcomes in strategic planning, board development, and organizational culture and design for more than 30 years. We have responded to numerous RFPs, interviews, and requests for information, most of which ask for a sampling of past projects, processes, and proposed approaches to a perceived problem the potential client has identified.

While we have both won and lost bids, our most successful outcomes have been achieved when we have worked with clients that are open and committed to developing a true partnership and who share our organizational cultures and values.

When interviewing with a possible consulting partner, regardless of who that might be, make sure to consider the following in your discussion:

  1. Pain point and root cause. When a leader is thinking about bringing in a consultant, they usually are faced with circumstances that require problem-solving. When determining if the consultant is a match, consider whether the consultant has asked enough questions to identify the real pain points of the organization. Often, clients conduct a self-diagnosis to pre-determine the solution to their problem — without getting to the root cause. A seasoned consultant will be able to identify the REAL root cause of your challenge and present options to achieve your identified definition of success.
  2. Past projects. Too often, in RFPs, respondents are asked to provide an overview of successful consultant projects, based on their own definition of success. Be sure to “talk to” the consultant’s clients to ask what worked and what did not, if they would bring that consultant back, and what they would have liked to change. Most of you probably do that anyway but try to get the client on the phone as opposed to email. Very much like tracking down references for employees, you really want to “hear” how they respond to your questions.
  3. Processes. We have seen several consultants who use “templates” — one-size-fits-all — to incorporate into their work. Was this work developed by the consultant or pulled off the Internet? What have been the challenges in adapting off-the-shelf products? What is proprietary to them? The answers to these questions can determine if the consultant will be able to customize an effective solution for your organization.
  4. People. Understanding the consultant’s level of engagement with clients also is important to explore. Has the consultant ever been a hands-on practitioner? And can they demonstrate success? We know that formal education doesn’t fully prepare one for the weird and unusual situations with many clients. Those who have weathered the actual day-to-day challenges you face in your company generally have a fairly large toolkit developed from such experiences.

While this only covers the very top line areas to consider in selecting a consulting partner, this is a good start to begin refining your process in 2022. With the unique challenges we have all faced over the last few years, here’s to starting off the New Year with new energy.