I’m happy to point out that The Nonprofit Center’s Executive Director Elizabeth Heath has a guest column in the Philanthropy Journal’s Finance and Accounting 2010 special report. In her Piece, Financial oversight: Making it real, Liz writes about the nonprofit board’s responsibility to understand the finances,

I cannot count the number of times I have heard board members say, “Fred (or Jane or…) takes care of that. I don’t understand numbers so I don’t get involved with that stuff.” Legally, that statement is not an option for board members.

The Philanthropy Journal always has good stuff, they are one of my regular reads.

Events and Trainings

Two events this week that I’m excited to be going to. The first one is a training I’m doing in Tacoma on the updated form 990, including information on the changes made to the 2009 form. It has been a awhile since I’ve had a chance to get out there and in front of people, I’m always happy to do trainings or events and help folks improve their grasp of nonprofit reporting and accounting issues. There is still room for folks who want to attend.

The second is the Non Profit Insurance Program’s (NPIP) 2010 conference in Seattle. They are partnering with the Risk Management Center and it looks like a solid day of good information. Let me know if your going.

State Budgets

If you have not seen press release, the National Council of Nonprofits has a nice piece on state budgets and nonprofits. The report, called State Budget Crises: Ripping the Safety Net Held by Nonprofits, can be downloaded as a PDF here. It offers a great overview of the issues, strategies you can take with your state and an opportunity to share your story with NCN so they can work better at the federal level.