Earlier this year a U.S. District Court judge in Minneapolis ruled that a church did not have to comply with an IRS summons for information. The judge rules, concurring with a previous decision in December by U.S. Magistrate Judge Keyes, that the IRS summons was not authorized by a sufficient ranking Treasury official.

Who has the authority to issue an investigation into a church’s finances?

According to the Church Audit Procedures Act of 1984, the IRS may begin a church tax inquiry only if the following conditions are met:

• an appropriate high level Treasury official (Secretary of the Treasury or a delegate with the ranking no lower than a principal Internal Revenue officer for an internal revenue region reasonably believes, based on written evidence, that the church is not-exempt, may be carrying on unrelated business income or engaged in activities subject to taxation; and
• IRS send a written inquiry notice containing (1) the specific concerns which give rise to the inquiry (2) general subject matter and (3) provisions of the tax allowing the inquiry and applicable administrative/constitutional provisions.

In the court ruling, the Director of Exempt Orgs., Examinations (DEOE) was not deemed qualified as “appropriate high-level Treasury official”.  How did this occur? Read the rest of this entry »

Remember following the North Star…

Once your mission is set everything you do should point in that direction. Everything should be born from that idea. Long-term strategies should be striving to achieve this mission. Shorter-range measurable goals should further the mission. In a nonprofit organization the mission is the purpose. The mission is what keeps the needs of those you are helping in the forefront of your mind.

Do you know your mission? Do you have it memorized? Can you paraphrase it accurately? Is it in your mind daily? Do you start your planning meetings with it? Do you measure the performance of your organization by it?

All members of management, all members of the board, all key employees should be able to reiterate the mission. And not just reiterate, but discuss it with passion. If you believe in it, if the key people in your organization are enthusiastic about it, others will become passionate about it also. And when others are passionate about it, when your staff, your donors, the community are passionate about it, can you imagine the consequences?  Can you define PASSION?