You know the two-letter postal abbreviation for your state's name (like WA for Washington, where I live).

Open a new window for your WWW browser and type those two letters followed by .nonprofits.org.

And hit 'enter'.

With any luck, the next thing you'll see will be a page of resources for nonprofit organizations in your state.

In many states, there is an association of nonprofits at work to strengthen the sector. If you don't already know about it, poke around at their website a little, find out more about what they do...consider joining to give your personal and financial -- maybe even organizational -- support to this important work.

In a few states, no such association exists. If you want to consider helping to start one, get in touch with the people at the National Council of Nonprofit Associations; their website is http://www.ncna.org and they have a lot of experience helping bring nonprofits together.

A good example from the NONPROFIT discussion group

Every day there's something interesting. (For information on how to subscribe, click the button at the bottom of the left-hand side of this page.)

Here's a recent example:

Ernie Wisdom, Volunteer at Large, from Downey, CA wrote:

Ok here is the deal; a friend of mine is the Ed of a NPO that is closing down. It has a great name for its local community.

A local workforce group wants to take it over and what debts it has. They wish to go after foundation money that they cannot get as a gov. agency.

Can a new board come in and take over or what must they do to make this the easiest on all parties?

Channing Hillway, Ph.D., of ARISTARCUS COMMUNICATION in Oak View, CA offered this advice (which obviously applies in states other than California as well):

The key to the whole deal is the mission as described in the articles of incorporation that were approved by the State of California. If the present NPO and the people who wish to assume its operation are in accord with that mission and can live within the articles of incorporation, a meeting electing a new board of directors may do the trick.

Put together a transition steering committee of folks from the old and the new for a thorough discussion of the prospective change. Check out the articles of incorporation and the bylaws. Follow the bylaws in every way to elect a new board if the articles allow for a transition.

Once you have the plan all set, it would be wise to seek the advice of a lawyer, just to check. One additional factor may be the unwillingness of the present people to let the old NPO become the new one. There may be some emotional attachments that are not immediately apparent that may create roadblocks down the road.

Federal Audit Standards

Organizations that want or need to follow the Yellow Book that describes the federal government's auditing standards for grants and contracts will want to pay attention to the revisions that are under discussion now.

The changes adopted in January 2002 will affect all audits performed after October 1 of this year.

Further changes are under discussion; the advisory council has asked for comments by April 30, 2002.

For an outline of these and other issues, see http://www.gao.gov/govaud/ybk01.htm

The Internet Nonprofit Center and the Nonprofit FAQ are maintained by The Evergreen State Society of Seattle, Washington. Its local activities in the Seattle area are described at http://www.tess.org Participation and support are welcome both at these face-to-face events and via the Internet.

Putnam Barber
Editor
April 23, 2002