Administration and Management

This section of the National Council of Nonprofits’ website offers resources on selected topics that provide nonprofit leaders a fresh look at the operations of their nonprofit, as well as useful tools for tackling challenging issues.

Annual Filings for Tax-Exempt Charitable Organizations

What filings do charitable nonprofits have to file each year in the states where they are incorporated? What annual filing requirements do charitable nonprofits have with the IRS each year?

Sustainable and Sound Management Practices

What do experts consider to be the ‘best practices’ for sustainable nonprofit operations? What tips are being used by nonprofit leaders to help focus board and staff on sound internal procedures?

Financial Management

What are the expectations for sound financial policies and internal controls? What are the roles of the treasurer and the finance committee? Explore this section for the current thinking about everything from budgets and overhead to internal controls.

Strategic and Business Planning for Nonprofits

What would happen if your largest funding source dried up? Or if your nonprofit were to experience an unexpected interruption in its business operations? Resources in this section describe why business plans are important and link to tips and tools for business continuity planning.

Managing Employees: Personnel Practices for Nonprofits

What are some pitfalls to avoid and best practices to develop? Resources include sample personnel policies and job descriptions.

• Do we need an employee manual?
• Managing volunteers
• Interns: paid and unpaid
• Managing staff: general tips and tools
• Classifying employees correctly
• Position descriptions

Leadership Development and Succession

A nonprofit can be quite vulnerable when there is a change of leadership. What are the keys to successful transitions in board and staff leadership? We’ve collected some reports, case studies and white papers to help your nonprofit navigate these challenging waters.

Self-Assessment and Evaluation of Outcomes

Even if you are kicking and screaming, you know you need to do it! Conducting self-assessments doesn’t need to distract you from core operations or sideline strategic initiatives. Instead, self-assessments and program evaluations can transform your organization in positive ways. We’ve assembled tools to help a nonprofit evaluate its own management practices, as well as tackle the process of evaluating program outcomes.

Mergers, Collaborations, and Partnerships

What practices in partnering and collaborating are most successful? What are the pitfalls to avoid? We’ve gathered case studies and resources to help you plan for successful partnerships.

Jeopardizing Tax-Exempt Status

Learn about activities that can cause a nonprofit to lose its tax-exemption.