A list of great articles I’ve read and posted to Twitter between May 23 – June 5, 2010.  This week’s topics include: I.R.S.; Sector Trends; Social Media & Internet; Finance & Economy; and Potpourri.

While it has been two weeks since my last Must-Read, don’t worry about overload. Between my daughter running into a door and needing stitches and my internet being on the fritz for four days, its been a slow couple of weeks.  Well, here’s hoping for a better week that last…

Tizku Lemitzvot,

Shuey

<br>

I.R.S.

New online tax form for small US charities: Good. IRS deadline-extension of new form: Bad.http://ow.ly/1ODte via @philanthropy

The misleading reality created by the IRS 990 & 2 ways to change it (Harvard Business Review)http://ow.ly/1SGhi via @bethsteinberg

Which lines in IRS 990 give snapshot of org’s financial health? http://ow.ly/1SFDt via@NAFund @FollowMCF // G8 resources 4 NPOs/Foundations

Dangerous assumptions of volunteerism by US Gov’ harm volunteers & paid staff of #nonprofitsector http://ow.ly/1Ti4V via @NonprofitSRQ

<br>

Sector Trends

Study shows widespread innovation among NPOs & efforts to measure programs effectiveness, on @eJPhil http://ow.ly/1STDm

RT @Philanthropy: British charities are getting hurt by a real-estate slump: 

<br>

Social Media & Internet

RT @avinashkaushik: [For Bloggers, Twitterers] 5 Ways To Manage Your Critics http://zqi.me/d5oFu6 >> Great advice 4 online & offline critics

Cute (& true) >> RT @bkmacdaddy: Everything You Need to Know About Social Media You Should Have Learned in Pre-school http://bit.ly/cLvHz0

RT @nptechblogs: Six tips for managing an international workforce, on @wiserearthhttp://bit.ly/aVAZyg // Crucial for NPOs operating abroad

RT @GuyKawasaki: 7 tools to back up your social media content http://ow.ly/1Tige

<br>

Finance & Economy

Bank of Israel Governor: #Israel dodged property bubble when government intervened in mortgage sector http://ow.ly/1TETK

#Israel Banks using new rules as excuse to raise mortgage rates http://ow.ly/1RXAs

Good summary of influences on the Shekel with predictions for the future. http://ow.ly/1TfrF#israel #currency

4 accurate ways to quantify the state of jitters in financial markets. http://ow.ly/1RXJ8 // Interesting, fear is quantifable

<br>

Potpourri

RT @davidcorman: Headline of the day: Woman Follows Google Maps “Walking” Directions, Gets Hit, Sues http://selnd.com/92ipOH

Summary of US Dollar’s Recent Activity

The peaks in the dollar/shekel exchange rate this past year and a half make me more nauseous that the merry-go-round at the local playground (and they really make me queasy). The dollar tanked and leveled out against the shekel at an 11-year low in late May of 2008, trading for 3.24. As if to prove itself, the dollar then proceeded to rise faster than analysts had predicted, peaking a little less than a year later in Mach of 2009 at 4.25. Since those glory days of March, the dollar has plummeted against all of the world’s currencies. Specifically, the last six months have seen the dollar drop against: the Pound, 7.2%; the Shekel, 8.9%; the Euro, 8.7%; and the Yen, 10.6%. With world markets (and charities financed by donations in US Dollars) hanging on the dollar’s every move, things are, once again, looking just a tad scary. Not monster-in-the-closet terrifying, mind you, but enough to make me bite my nails more often than I should.

Haaretz on Sunday summed up the danger of a low US dollar quite nicely:

The weakness of the dollar is problematic for almost the entire world…a low dollar makes it hard for them [Europeans and Israelis] to export their goods to the United States and other markets around the world that are linked to the dollar…The Americans must guard the dollar’s position as the world’s main currency for trade and savings, otherwise they’ll have a hard time continuing to issue bonds and rolling over their huge national debt.

What Should Nonprofits Be Thinking

What we in the nonprofit world need to realize is that the problems with the dollar are much larger than the USD/NIS rate of exchange. Changes in the dollar affect the world – Israel is just one of many. The Bank of Israel’s moves to buy dollars might be helping a little and the in the short term stemming the decline of the greenback, but Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer is similar to David trying to fight Goliath armed with only a rubber band. Many argue that the problems of the US dollar are larger in scope and strength than anything that Fischer can throw at it.

With the future of the US Dollar unknown, where does it leave nonprofits – local and international – that operate in Israel financed by donors and/or foundations in the United States? Two words: budget low. A director of a nonprofit summed up his policy as follows: “I budget and then cut it by 10%. Then I cut it again another 10%.”

Taking it One Step Further

The primary responsibility of directors of charitable organizations is to ensure the continuation of their organization; they must adequately plan in order to protect their organization’s vital work. A surplus at the end of the fiscal year does not send the message of “mismanagement” to donors.  Conservative budgeting that guarantees the survival is objectively a very good thing and should be at the forefront of every director’s mind.

As a former boss of mine once said, “Charities can’t do charity.” Simply put, doing one favor or helping out one extra family could, literally, tip the balance, sending the organization into debt. Fiscal responsibility and a broad vision are crucial. Sometimes the needs of the many really do outweigh the needs of the few.

Tizku LeMitzvot,

Shuey