Safeguarding Your Cash

Nonprofits typically use their cash. Large amounts may be kept in checking and savings accounts instead of being invested because it is not meant to hang around a long time. It is meant to be used for the mission of the nonprofit.  If your nonprofit keeps large amounts of cash in the bank, be wise about protecting it. Keep your money in an FDIC insured bank. To find out if your bank is FDIC insured, you can call this number obtained from the FDIC’s website:  1-877-275-3342. You may also use “bank find” at www.fdic.gov/deposit .

The rules have changed recently so it might be a good time to recheck them. FDIC insurance covers checking, NOW, savings, and money market accounts as well as CD’s. Currently the amount insured is $250,000 per depositor per bank. This means that it might be a wise decision to have a maximum limit of $250, 000 in total per bank your nonprofit uses. The FDIC will sum all the insured accounts per bank, so just opening new accounts in the same bank or in a different branch of the same bank isn’t a safeguard.

For more information see: www.fdic.gov/deposit/Deposits/insured/faq.html