April 2015 – Non-Profitability
Newsbits
Charity Navigator Evaluates Major Philanthropic Markets
Charity Navigator has published a report on the performance of the 30 largest U.S. philanthropic marketplaces. The watchdog group considered the financial health, accountability and transparency of these charities. According to its report, regional factors — such as the cost of living, a market’s maturity and a city’s tendency to support one or two specialized causes — greatly influence the ability of charities to raise money, manage costs and adhere to good governance policies and procedures.
St. Louis’s nonprofit sector ranked as the top performer overall. Portland charities had the greatest commitment to ethical best practices, and Miami charities were the most efficient fundraisers. Boston nonprofits proportionately received the most donations.
New service concession arrangements standard could affect NFP accounting
The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has released Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2014-05, Service Concession Arrangements , its initial guidance on the reporting of these arrangements in financial statements. A service concession arrangement is made between a public-sector entity grantor and an operating entity, such as a nonprofit, under which the operating entity operates or maintains the grantor’s infrastructure, as can be the case with airports, roads, prisons or hospitals. FASB believes these arrangements may become more prevalent as governmental agencies seek alternative ways to provide public services more efficiently.
ASU 2014-05 also addresses the conditions under which the operating entity shouldn’t account for a service concession arrangement as a lease.
Hackers help nonprofits
The Technology Association of Georgia recently hosted its first Mobility Live Hack-Back Invitational, where teams of programmers who identify themselves as “hackers” helped develop mobile apps or websites for participating nonprofits based on submitted challenges.
The nonprofits, including the American Cancer Society (ACS) and Boys & Girls Clubs of America, received new mobile tools, and the hackers received a total of $30,000 in cash prizes. Hackers used open source development models, providing nonprofits with unlimited free use of the apps’ source code. The overall winning team created a mobile application for the ACS that includes an experience tracker and real-time messaging.
Online donation increase is notable
The Blackbaud Index reported that online charitable giving to nonprofits jumped 8% for the first half of 2014 compared with the first half of 2013, while overall charitable giving increased 1.6% for the same period. In addition, for the three months ending June 2014, compared with the same period in 2013, online giving grew 8.7%, and overall charitable giving increased 1.5%. The Blackbaud Index analyzes fundraising data from more than 4,200 U.S. nonprofits.
© 2014
This material is generic in nature. Before relying on the material in any important matter, users should note date of publication and carefully evaluate its accuracy, currency, completeness, and relevance for their purposes, and should obtain any appropriate professional advice relevant to their particular circumstances.
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