• Applicability of employment laws to nonprofit organizations
• Employee vs. Independent Contractor
• Preventive measures to avoid employee issues
• Application of overtime pay
• Nondiscrimination laws
• Employee handbooks

Speaker:
Frank Sommerville is a shareholder in the law firm of Weycer, Kaplan, Pulaski, & Zuber, P.C. in Houston and Dallas, Texas. He holds a license as a CPA and he is also Board Certified in tax law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He is a member of the American Bar Association, The State Bar of Texas, Dallas Bar Association, Christian Legal Society, and the TSCPA.

Fee: $30 for FIC members; $45 for nonmembers

Held at the Funding Information Center
329 South Henderson
Fort Worth, TX 76107

To register, click here.

Topic: Exploring the New Governance Realities

Nonprofit governance is more in the spotlight than ever with the rewrite of the Texas Business Organizations Code and the Form 990. While the principles of good governance have not changed, laws, regulations, compliance and scrutiny certainly have. The following Panelists will discuss their experiences in the past couple of years and how Boards and regulators are dealing with the major issues:
• Carol Klocek, Executive Director, YWCA of Fort Worth & Tarrant County
• Sandy Kautz, retired nonprofit CEO and Realignment Consultant with Girl Scouts of the USA; Current Community Volunteer
• Becky DaVee, CPA – Rylander, Clay and Opitz, LLP 

Date: Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Time: 11:30 – 1:30
Location: Funding Information Center, 329 S. Henderson, Fort Worth – 817-334-0228
Cost: $20 (lunch is provided)
Registration: http://www.fic-ftw.org/signup/EE%203.3.10.htm

Participants will learn:

• The importance of sound budgeting
• The basic principles of budgeting
• How the budget is used as a planning and management tool
• Steps in the budgeting process
• How to develop various types of budgets, including programs and special events

Speaker: Christi Stinson, Executive Director, Funding Information Center
Fee: $20 for FIC members; $40 for nonmembers

Date: Tuesday February 16th, 2010

Time:  9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Location: Funding Information Center
329 S. Henderson, Fort Worth, TX 76104
817-334-0228
To register, follow this link.

According to Steven Covey’s book The Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything, trust means confidence. The following 13 behaviors either build or erode trust:

• straight talk
• demonstrating respect
• creating transparency
• righting wrongs
• showing loyalty
• delivering results
• getting better
• confronting reality
• clarifying expectations
• practicing accountability
• listening first
• keeping commitments
• extending trust first

For more information about Covey’s book and building trust, see ConvergenceCoaching LLC Inspired Ideas Building Trust. 

How does your organization perform in the trust department? Assess your team by using the 13 points of trust.

Scrutiny of non-profits, including churches, has increased in recent years and has magnified with the current condition of the economy. It is even more important during these times to run the business of a church properly.  Honest mistakes and inadequate safeguards can expose churches to many different negative outcomes. This event will provide an opportunity for leaders from different sizes of churches to meet with each other in a training session format to learn from each other how to manage some of these current challenges.

Debbie Miller, secretary of the Greater Kansas City Chapter of NACBA said “Churches need to be the example to our communities in doing things right and with excellence.” Phil Martin, NACBA’s deputy CEO has also made the point that most church leaders do not get formal training in business administration. With these facts in mind, Church Administration Day is a chance for larger churches to reach out to smaller churches that may not even have an administrator. 

The information above was summarized from the article “Complexity of congregational life inspires first annual event for church administration”, which can be found at the following website: http://www.nacba.net/cad/.

For locations and contact information for regional training events:
http://www.nacba.net/cad/cad_locations.htm

For contacting a NACBA chapter in your area:
http://www.nacba.net/Structure/chapterlst.htm

For more information on National Church Administration Day:
http://www.nacba.net/cad/

For information on the National Association of Church Business Administration:
http://www.nacba.net/index.html

One thing to know is if you have any professionals donate services that you would normally have to pay for you should be recording that time as an “in-kind” contribution. FASB states that if the services donated (a) create or enhance nonfinancial assets or (b) require specialized skills, are provided by individuals possessing those skills, and would typically need to be purchased if not provided by donation.

Examples to watch for are ….

Accountants, lawyers, electricians, plumbers, teachers, carpenters, doctors, even nurses. One important key to remember is that these are services that you would normally pay for or incur the cost for operations or a non-financial asset.

How do you record these services, like most donated items, you would record them at their fair market value; a.k.a. the price you would have paid had you had actually contracted the services. So how do you record the “donation” of service?

Account Name                 Debit     Credit

In-Kind Service Expense      $1,000
In-Kind Service Revenue                 $1,000

As you can see this entry hits both your expense as well as your income in equal amounts, so there isn’t a “equity or net-asset” affect.

However, if you received donated construction management services (capitalized as a component of construction costs), this is the following entry:

Account Name                      Debit     Credit

Construction in progress       $1,000
In-Kind Service Revenue                   $1,000

This type of donation affects “non-financial assets” and is capitalized/recorded on the statement of financial position – ultimately increasing net assets.

Another point…don’t forget to track these non-cash donations. If they exceed $25,000 you must report them on Schedule M of the Form 990.

When: Tuesday, September 22nd (8:30 a.m. -10:30 a.m.) @ the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens
Fee: $20 for FIC members; $40 for non-members (No-shows will be billed)

Light Breakfast will be provided

*Cash/Check payments for all workshops may be made at the door or mailed in. 

Held at the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens – Oak Hall
3220 Botanic Garden Blvd.
Fort Worth, TX 76107
(817) 871-7686

For more information, click here.

During the luncheon session we will review the three different modes of governance, fiduciary, strategic and generative. What is the generative mode? Generative thinking is performed almost everyday, external to the board. So how does the board begin generative thought? Governance as Leadership, published by BoardSource provides examples of generative thinking and governance.

The afternoon session will be led by a panel of specialist, including Benton Clark, Christi Stinson, Frank Sommerville and Cory Halliburton. They will be reviewing principles of good and ethical governance, fiduciary responsibilities including conflict of interest and risks of certain ministries.

During the next month we will discuss the highlights of the conference.

Compliance=Accountability: Preparing for an Audit will be presented by Linda Low, Audit Partner and Donna Mayes, Audit Manager, both with Rylander, Clay and Opitz, LLP.  During this informative workshop, you will learn what can make your life easier, how to make the auditors’ happy, how to reduce/eliminate internal control deficiencies, and how to easily remedy common compliance issues associated with your single audit. 

For more information and registration, contact the Funding Information Center .