Proactive Accountability: Websites & Resources
As part of the Standards for Excellence® program operated by the Pennsylvania Association of
Nonprofit Organizations, we offer the following links that can be utilized for resources that will
assist nonprofit board members and staff in ensuring a proactive approach to accountability.
Note, this is not a comprehensive list and will be added to as websites and resources are
identified.
Keep in mind, the Standards for Excellence has many educational and capacity building
resources included in the Educational Resources packets. These packets are free to PANO
members and available to nonmembers for a nominal fee.
Resources:
 Association of Fundraising Professionals: You can find the Code of Ethics for fundraisers by
clicking on “ethics” at the top of the screen. www.afpnet.org.
 Department of Labor: Wage and Hour Info: Info – Exempt/nonexempt staff: Regarding the
question on definition of exempt vs. nonexempt employees – you can use the following
directions:
 Click on http://www.dol.gov/compliance/topics/wages-overtime-pay.htm
 Scroll down to “Overview” and then click on the highlighted words for a
definition of what is considered “exempt.”
 Guidestar: Nonprofit organizations providing Form 990’s of all organizations that file them
via their website. Additional information is also available. http://www.guidestar.org.
 IRS info on criteria to determine Independent Contractor vs. employee status:
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=99921,00.html
 IRS number for obtaining updated exempt letter: 877-829-5500
 IRS website providing basic financial training videos for nonprofit administrators and board
members in layperson friendly format. Videos are 10 to 20 minutes in length.
http://www.stayexempt.org.
 IRS website to locate “forms and publication,” proposed changes to the Form 990 and much
more information on IRS activity with the nonprofit sector:
http://www.irs.gov/charities/index.html.
 Lobbying Election: Direct link to Form 5768 to either make a 501 (h) election or to revoke
the election http://www.irs.gov/app/scripts/retriever.jsp. Or, go to Charities and choose
Form and Publications.
 Management Help: www.managementhelp.org – excellent compendium of resources for
many different areas of nonprofit operations and issues.
 National Center for Charitable Statistics: Provides data on the number of 501 ( c) 3
organizations registered with the IRS. Data includes, total numbers by state, county, etc.;
total revenues and total assets.
 National State Charity Offices websites: Contains links for all existing state charity offices:
http://www.nasconet.org
 Nonprofit Issues: National biweekly nonprofit legal e-newsletter published by Don Kramer,
Esq. (partner at Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads). There is a free portion of this
subscription entitled “To the Point Question of the Week.” This contains questions
submitted by nonprofit administrators and board members dealing with many everyday
legal questions that arise in nonprofit operations. www.nonprofitissues.com.
 Operating Reserve Policy Toolkit for Nonprofit Organizations:
http://www.nccs2.org/wiki/index.php?title=Nonprofit_Reserves_Workgroup
 PA Bureau of Charitable Organizations (BCO) (state Charity Office):
http://www.dos.state.pa.us/char/site/default.asp
 PA Bureau of Charitable Organizations specific link to locate charities that are registered
and fundraisers providing contract services to nonprofits (Professionals solicitors and
Fundraising Counsel (i.e. grantwriters, event fundraisers etc):
http://web.dos.state.pa.us/cgi-bin/Charities/char_form.cgi
 PA Nonprofit Statistics: (number, asset and revenue size)
http://www.nccsdataweb.urban.org/tablewiz/tw_bmf.php
 Standards for Excellence Educational Resource Packets link to table of contents and prices
list. http://www.pano.org Go to Educational Resources. PANO members must be logged in
to download PDFs.
Board Resources:
 Blue Avocados: a nonprofit online magazine for community nonprofits. Blue Avocado
speaks for and from the people in community-based nonprofits
http://www.blueavocado.org/
 CompassPoint: Free On-line Training for Board members: CompassPoint offers this free
tutorial, “Nonprofit Board Basics On-line” at http://www.compasspoint.org/boardbasics.
 Management Assistance Group: Free “Boards Matter” Publication. This is an excellent
resource for all board and Executive Directors. Among other materials, the booklet includes
a very well defined four page chart on do’s and don’ts for board and do’s and don’ts for
Executive Directors. This is very helpful in knowing the role of the board and the role of the
Executive Director. This can be found at
http://www.managementassistance.org/ht/d/sp/i/519/pid/519.