How to Interact (or Not) with the Political Process
What is the difference between campaigning, lobbying, and advocating for a certain policy position and on which of them, if any, should a nonprofit arts organization spend time and resources? As always, consult an attorney for legal advice, an auditor for the reporting requirements, and take the following as a starting point to those conversations. Campaigning Campaigning, broadly, is an effort to influence voters in elections. This includes messaging for or against a particular candidate ...
Fundraising Events on Form 990
If your nonprofit arts organization hosts any fundraising events (that raise more than $5,000), you will need to complete Schedule G, “Supplemental Information Regarding Fundraising or Gaming Activities,” with your annual Form 990. For reasons of tax law regarding deductibility of charitable donations that are beyond the scope of this article, the way we report the revenue and expenses associated with galas and other fundraising events on Schedule G is somewhat misaligned with how we ...
Conference Review: SphinxConnect
In late January 2024, your correspondent attended the Sphinx Organization’s SphinxConnect in Detroit, Michigan. The conference is billed as “the largest and longest-standing convening dedicated to diversity and inclusion in classical music” and there were over a thousand people gathered in Detroit with many more viewing plenary sessions and other selected portions of the conference online. The streamed content should be available for on-demand viewing at Sphinx’s YouTube channel later this winter. This review consists solely of my ...
Thank you for the authoritative read on this issue. To me, being able to actually see the icon in the…