Nonprofit Brief
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Practical intelligence for people who run nonprofits: funding, fiscal sponsorship, compliance, fundraising, and sector news, decoded. New briefings most weekdays at nonprofitbrief.com. Signal over noise.
Every California charity renewal due since Jan 2025 comes due Aug 31. And the state filing system goes offline Aug 20-24. The timeline to plan around:
California Charities Have Until August 31 to Catch Up on Registry Filings
California extended charity renewals due since January 2025 to August 31, and its filing system goes offline August 20 to 24. What to file and when.
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Your nonprofit can now see its IRS account online: balances, notices, transcripts, and a downloadable EIN letter that replaces the call-and-wait 147C. Who can sign up:
The IRS Business Tax Account Now Works for Nonprofits
Tax-exempt organizations can now see IRS balances, download EIN verification, and manage notices online. Who can sign up and why to do it now.
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Okta says 78% of login attempts at nonprofits are now flagged as threats, up from 2.6% two years ago, the most-hit industry it tracks. What to turn on first:
Nearly Four in Five Nonprofit Logins Are Attacks, Okta Finds
Okta's 2026 sector report flags 78% of nonprofit login attempts as threats, the highest share of any industry it tracks. Most of the fixes are free.
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Half of nonprofits hold 3 months of cash or less. The reserve target your board can defend, and how to build it:
Operating Reserves: Start at Three Months, Then Do the Math
Half of nonprofits hold three months of cash or less. How to set a reserve target your board can defend, what counts, and how to fund it.
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Corporate giving's median rose to $23.5M in 2025. Also true: 52% of companies cut. What the divide means for your corporate pipeline:
Half of Companies Cut Giving Last Year. The Totals Rose Anyway
New CECP data shows 52% of companies cut giving even as the median rose. Corporate money is concentrating, and a new tax floor adds pressure.
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The IRS cannot require your nonprofit to have a conflict of interest policy. It asks about one on every full Form 990 anyway. What yours needs to say:
The Conflict of Interest Policy Your New Nonprofit Actually Needs
No federal law requires one, yet the IRS asks every year. What a conflict of interest policy does, the taxes behind it, and the four pieces yours needs.
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The EEO-1 report may be ending. Title VII, state reporting rules, and this year's filing limbo are not. What nonprofit employers with 100+ staff should know:
The EEOC Wants to End EEO-1 Reporting. What That Changes for Nonprofits
The workforce report filed by employers with 100 or more staff may be ending. What stops, what stays, and the August 24 comment deadline.
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Gmail has moved from spam-foldering unauthenticated bulk email to rejecting it outright. Before appeal season, your nonprofit needs three DNS records and a complaint rate you watch:
The Email Rules That Decide Whether Your Appeals Reach Inboxes
Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook now require authenticated bulk email, and Gmail is rejecting mail that fails. What to fix before appeal season.
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The 21% excise tax on nonprofit pay over $1M used to stop at the five highest-paid employees. As of this year, it stops at none of them:
The Executive Pay Excise Tax No Longer Stops at Five Employees
A 2025 tax law expanded the 21 percent excise tax on nonprofit pay over $1 million from five employees to all of them. Who actually needs to worry.
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Your fiscal sponsor legally owns your project's assets, its name, even its staff. Leaving without losing everything takes a plan:
How to Leave Your Fiscal Sponsor Without Losing the Project
Your sponsor legally owns the project's assets. A clean spin-out is a negotiated transfer, and it starts earlier than most founders think.
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Agentic AI is Coming to Nonprofit Fundraising. Is Your Data Ready? nptechforgood.com/2026/07/31/a... ✅ The future won’t belong to nonprofits with the most AI tools. It will belong to those whose AI has the most comprehensive understanding of its donors.
Agentic AI is Coming to Nonprofit Fundraising. Is Your Data Ready?
Preparing for agentic AI starts with strengthening the foundation already in place. This post features 5 ways nonprofits can prepare for Agentic AI.
nptechforgood.com
Montana is the easiest state to run a charity. California is the hardest. What a new 50-state index actually measures, and the three numbers to look up for your own state:
New Index Ranks Every State on Nonprofit Red Tape
A new index scores all 50 states on nonprofit registration fees, audit mandates, and donor privacy. Montana ranks first. California ranks last.
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A DAF sponsor claiming $10B in assets reported about $8.5M in annual grants, then got barred in Georgia. How to vet a sponsor before the money moves:
Georgia Barred a $10 Billion DAF Sponsor. How to Vet the One Sending You Money
Georgia says a $10 billion DAF sponsor spent donor money on tuition and NBA payments. What the case exposes, and how to vet a sponsor before grants move.
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Three major funders just set end dates. A spend-down means more money first, then none. The grantee playbook:
When Your Funder Sets an End Date: The Grantee Playbook
Arcus, the Haas Jr. Fund, and Wellspring have all set closing dates. How to read a spend-down announcement, and the asks to make before the last grant.
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Direct federal grants to everyday charities fell nearly 38% in eight months, a new analysis finds. The number is real. So is what it leaves out:
Federal Grants to Everyday Charities Fell 38%. The Fine Print Matters
A new analysis finds direct federal grants to mainstream charities fell from $35.4 billion to $21.4 billion in a year. What it measures and what it misses.
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Miss the Form 990 filing 3 years running and a nonprofit's exemption ends automatically. The 4 dates every new 501(c)(3) should put on the calendar in year one:
Your New Nonprofit's First-Year Compliance Calendar
The determination letter is a starting gun, not a finish line. The federal and state filings every new 501(c)(3) owes in year one, and when each is due.
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USPS raised nonprofit letter rates 3.9%–7.5% on July 12, and where you land depends on how deeply your mail presorts. What to recost before your year-end appeal prints:
The July Postage Increase Lands Hardest on Loosely Sorted Mail
USPS mailing prices rose about 4.8% on July 12, but nonprofit letter rates rose 3.9% to 7.5% depending on presort. What to recost before fall appeals print.
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Five nonprofits are suing USDA over grant conditions covering programs beyond the funded work. One is declining a $676,452 grant rather than sign. What to check before certifying:
Five Nonprofits Ask a Court to Strike USDA's New Grant Conditions
Five grantees are asking a federal court to strike USDA certifications on DEI, gender, and immigration. What to weigh before you sign the new terms.
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Terminated federal grantees are suing for breach of contract, and the whole case turns on one word: obligated. Where the fight happens, and what your paperwork has to prove:
Terminated Federal Grantees Are Suing for Breach of Contract
Solar for All grantees want their canceled awards paid in full. Their argument turns on one word, obligated, and the courthouse they chose matters.
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$275 and about three weeks for most filers, or $600 and six-plus months. The real difference between Form 1023-EZ and the full 1023 is what the IRS doesn't read:
Form 1023 or 1023-EZ: Which 501(c)(3) Application Fits Your New Nonprofit
The short form costs $275 and usually clears in weeks; the long form runs $600 and takes months. Speed is not the only thing you are choosing between.
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One big gift can tip a public charity into private foundation status. How the 33 1/3 percent public support test actually works, and the escape hatches built into Schedule A:
The Public Support Test: The Math That Keeps You a Public Charity
One oversized gift can quietly push a public charity toward private foundation status. How the 33 1/3 percent test works and what to do about it.
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Q1 giving grew 4.3%. Donors fell 0.8%. Gifts over $50,000 were 0.3% of donors and 46.9% of dollars. The new FEP numbers, decomposed:
Q1 Giving Grew 4.3%. Nearly Half of It Came From Gifts Over $50,000
New FEP data shows dollars up, donors down again, and growth concentrated at the very top. What the Q1 numbers mean for your fundraising.
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Terminations without appeal, a 90-day suspension power, and no more fixed amount awards. What OMB's federal grant rewrite means for nonprofits before October 1:
Federal Grant Rules Are Changing: What to Do Before October 1
OMB's proposed overhaul of federal grant rules drew nearly 100,000 comments before closing July 13. Here's what could change for grantees on October 1.
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More foundations want to be your lender, not just your grantmaker. What a PRI is, when debt helps, and when to say no:
When a Funder Offers a Loan Instead of a Grant
More foundations are pairing grants with loans and recoverable grants. What a PRI is, why funders like the math, and what to ask before you sign.
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DAFs granted $64.6B last year. The two rules every development shop should know, and how to get your share:
How to Win More Grants From Donor-Advised Funds
DAF accounts hold $328 billion and granted $64.6 billion last year. How the rules work for the nonprofits on the receiving end of a sponsor's check.
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The IRS reopened group exemptions and added a required annual form. For calendar-year central organizations, the filing window runs October 2 to December 1. What changed and who files:
Group Exemptions Are Back, With a New Required Annual Form
Group exemptions reopened this year under new rules, and annual updates now go in on Form 15644. What central organizations and their chapters should know.
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Revenue up 5%, donors down 3.6%. Before you buy an acquisition strategy, fix the donor records quietly leaking the givers you already have:
Clean Up Your Donor Data Before the Year-End Rush
Year-end appeals get planned in September and printed in October. August is the last quiet month to fix the donor data they depend on.
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The IRS listed an abusive CRAT scheme, not the CRAT itself. What gift planners need to know before donors ask:
The IRS Listed an Abusive CRAT Scheme. Legitimate Gift Planning Is Fine
Final Treasury rules target a gain-erasing CRAT scheme, not routine gift planning. Charities that hold remainder interests are largely off the hook.
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Trust in nonprofits held at 56% this year. Trust in philanthropy fell to 29%. What the 27-point gap means for your organization:
Americans Still Trust Nonprofits. Philanthropy Has a Problem.
Independent Sector's 2026 survey puts high trust in nonprofits at 56% and philanthropy at 29%. What the 27-point gap means for your organization.
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Non-itemizers can deduct up to $1,000/$2,000 in cash gifts starting this tax year. Your receipt templates were written when that didn't matter. What the IRS requires:
More Donors Can Deduct Again in 2026. Time to Fix Your Receipts
A new $1,000/$2,000 deduction for non-itemizers starts with 2026 gifts. What the IRS requires your acknowledgment letters to say, and by when.
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