Nonprofit Utopia Podcast

100 Days and Counting

Monique B. Jones, LCSW is the President and CEO of Forefront, Illinois’ statewide association representing both grantmakers and nonprofits, as well as their advisors and allies. She is a visionary leader with an extensive background in mental health, violence prevention, philanthropy, and gender & racial equity.  Join us for a lively discussion as Monique shares lessons learned from her 100-day listening tour and ways she's preparing to lead Forefront to its next level of development.

Communicating on Purpose

Regardless of your position in a nonprofit organization, your job is to communicate with the public. This means talking about your programs and services, your impact to the community, upcoming events, etc. We will show you how to develop a solid communications strategy so that you can attract volunteers and funders and arm your board members and employees with strategies they need to attract more resources to the organization.

The Forms Nonprofits Forget to File

When you start your nonprofit organization, it is so easy to focus on filing forms to establish your organization, and then start on your application for tax-exempt status. There is a very strong possibility that you didn't know about the other forms you need to fill out so that your organization can start out on strong footing. You are not alone. This is very common for new organizations--and some established organizations.
You would be surprised at how many organizations there are that have been in operation for years without knowing all the forms they need to complete. Sometimes they find out the hard way--by finding out they need to pay payroll taxes or unemployment insurance premiums. In worst case scenarios, their organizations could lose tax-exempt status or be involuntarily dissolved by the state. Join us as we give you an overview of all the forms you need to complete andhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UzX5HfkRYg&t=613s when.
You can also check out the video on YouTube at 

13 Reasons the IRS Says "No"

Filing for tax exemption is tedious, time-consuming, and not for the faint of heart. The process often requires applicants to “go back and forth” with the IRS for a number of reasons, including errors, clarification of statements and omission of key information. Clearly, following instructions is critical. Tune in as Valerie F. Leonard talks about some of the most common reasons the IRS rejects applications for tax exemption, and how you can avoid common mistakes.