Year: 2023

How to Account Your Earned Revenue

by

In the not-for-profit world, there are two types of revenue (as defined by tax law and accounting standards): contributed and earned. Contributed revenue includes monetary donations from individuals and corporations as well as grants from foundations and government agencies. Earned revenue includes ticket sales, program and service fees, and media sales. A good rule of thumb is that if a transaction represents the customer receiving a distinct item (a CD, a branded mug) or service (a performance of a concert or play), that transaction is earned revenue. If not, it’s contributed. Even … Read more

Level Up Your Accessible Text Over Images Design Skills

by

Regular readers know that web accessibility is a topic we’ve covered frequently, especially when it comes to color contrast. One of the real challenges is mastering the art of maintaining color contrast for text that sits above an image. The text will shift across different parts of the image across different device types and sometimes, it feels impossible to find a balance. Fortunately,  SmashingMagazine.com recently published an article by Hannah Milan that takes a deep dive into a variety of design techniques you can use to handle any type of photo that … Read more

Common Points of Confusion Between the Accounting and Development Teams

by

As our organizations grow, the number of donations and the number of financial transactions grow along with it. On top of that, the accounting function, if it hasn’t already, likely will move from cash basis to the more complex accrual basis. This growth leads to the need for specialization among staff and often a separation of the gift processing and bookkeeping functions. It is very appropriate and desirable for internal control purposes to have separate people handling the bookkeeping aspects of a donation from the donor stewardship aspects. And yet, this bifurcation … Read more