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Digital BrandingUncategorized

Different Schedules Within a 501c3 Application

on November 17, 2019

schedule

While many nonprofit organizations are familiar with the 501c3 application, few are aware that the application itself is not all that needs to be filled out. There are multiple components of the form, including schedules that come after the initial questions about the organization. These schedules are required if the organization intends to apply correctly, especially if they meet the requirements of the schedule itself. The complete list of the 501c3 schedules is as follows:

• Schedule A: Churches
• Schedule B: Schools, Colleges, and Universities
• Schedule C: Hospitals and Medical Research Organizations
• Schedule D: Section 509a3 Supporting Organizations
• Schedule E: Organizations Not Filing Form 1023 Within 27 Months of Formation
• Schedule F: Homes for the Elderly or Handicapped and Low-Income Housing
• Schedule G: Successors to other Organizations
• Schedule H: Organizations Providing Scholarships, Fellowships, Educational Loans, or Other Educational Grants to Individuals and Private Foundations Requesting Advance Approval of Individual Grant Procedures
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As you can see, there are a variety of different schedules. They are easy to discern by simply reading their headings, but it can sometimes require a closer to look to see if your organization should truly fill out a schedule in addition to the 501c3 application. To determine this, let us target the most commonly utilized schedules and expand on their requirements and which organizations should fill them out.
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Schedule A: Churches

In spite of their religious properties, ministries are not required to fill out Schedule A. Unlike churches, ministries are typically separate entities that operate differently and do not necessaryfollow the same routine or worship service as a church. Therefore, only full-fledged churches are required to fill out Schedule A in addition to their 501c3 application. The IRS classifies a churchas a religious organization that holds the following characteristics:

• A distinct legal existence.
• A recognized creed and form of worship.
• A definite and distinct ecclesiastical government.
• A formal code of doctrine and discipline.
• A distinct religious history.
• A membership not associated with any other church or denomination.
• Ordained ministers ministering to the congregation.
• Ordained ministers selected after completing prescribed courses of study.
• A literature of its own.
• Established places of worship.
• Regular congregations.
• Regular religious services.
• Sunday schools for the religious instruction of the young.
• Schools for the preparation of ministers.
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Should your nonprofit church check all of these boxes, then you must fill out Schedule A of the 501c3 application. The actual schedule itself asks questions pertaining to the listed characteristics, as well as different questions, such as how many members the church has, if the church hosts baptisms and weddings, and a description of the worship services.

Schedule B: Schools, Colleges, and Universities

Schedule B looks at education institutions, such as primary schools, secondary schools, preparatory schools, high schools, colleges and universities. This would not, however, include after school programs, daycares or home schools. To qualify as a school, the IRS requires that it be an institution that:

• Has a regularly scheduled curriculum.
• Has a regular faculty of qualified teachers.
• Has a regularly enrolled student body.
• Has a place where educational activities are regularly carried on.
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Basically, the schedule requires that the school explain its structure and operations in detail. The 501c3 application does not provide such specific questions that match up with a school, or any other of the schedules, which is why a nonprofit is able to provide further information through a schedule.

Schedule C: Hospitals and Medical Research Organizations

Schedule C can be a little tricky if you have not done it before. This schedule does not include ‘hospitals’ that are group homes for children or the elderly, or institutions whose primary purpose is to train disabled individuals in pursuing careers. What it does look for are already existing hospitals and medical facilities, as well as medical research organizations that operate in conjunction with a hospital. Basically, if the hospital is providing medical care and treatment of any physical or mental condition, it will need to fill out Schedule C.

This would also include organizations such as a rehabilitation institutions, outpatient clinics, community clinics and drug treatment centers. As far as medical research goes, Schedule C must be filled out by medical research organizations that are actively conducting research.

Schedule E: Organizations Not Filing Form 1023 Within 27 Months of Formation

It is common of nonprofit organizations to submit their 501c3 application shortly after incorporating. Sometimes this is put off due to different reasons, be it a change in board members, financial difficulties, or unforeseen circumstances. However, if it has been more than 27 months since the organization incorporated, they will need to fill out Schedule E. If the organization meets the exceptions for late filing, then your 501c3 approval will be effective from the date of incorporation. If the organization does not meet the exceptions, then it will be effective from the date of the filed 501c3 application.

Some examples of organizations that typically meet the exceptions are Churches or other religious institutions, public charities with annual gross receipts that are $5,000 or less, and public charities that are filing 90 days from the end of the tax year in which their gross receipts were more than $5,000.

Schedule F: Homes for the Elderly or Handicapped and Low-Income Housing

Organizations that provide homes for the elderly or handicapped must select this schedule if they meet the particular needs of the elderly and handicapped in question. This includes needs such as physical, recreational, health care and transportation. Basically, they must be equipped to provide anything that an elderly person or handicapped individual might require to live and function comfortably.

These organizations must have homes that are within the financial boundaries of the elderly and handicapped. They must also have distinct and established policies to maintain their tenants as residents, even if the tenants eventually are unable to pay the monthly expenses. Regarding low-income housing, the organization must provide affordable housing for individuals in the community it is servicing.  

Schedule H: Organizations Providing Scholarships, Fellowships, Educational Loans, or Other Educational Grants to Individuals and Private Foundations Requesting Advance Approval of Individual Grant Procedures

Last but not least, we arrive at a schedule that is intended for organizations that provide funds to individuals, as well as private foundations who are seeking approval of grant procedures. There are necessary characteristics that the IRS requires for organizations providing scholarships and other funds. If an organization selects an individual to award funds to, it must be done:

• In a non-discriminatory fashion in terms of racial preference.
• Based on need and/or merit.
• To a charitable class in terms of being available to an open-ended group, rather than to pre-selected individuals.

Likewise, the individual must use the funds for educational purposes and educational purposes alone. These purposes include tuition, books, supplies and other course-related materials. They do not include room and board, travel expenses, research and materials that are not required for courses.

Other schedules exist, as you can see from the initial list of schedules that was provided, but the schedules that were explained are among the most common used by nonprofit organizations seeking 501c3 approval. If you wish to know more about the other schedules, or are just applying for 501c3 approval in general, please contact CharityNet USA to speak to our nonprofit specialists at 407-857-9002. It is our pleasure to help you and your nonprofit succeed.

Uncategorized

6 Key Reasons to Hire Remote Digital Marketing Employees

on May 21, 2019

The Internet has radically altered the marketing world. An email has allowed us to send instant newsletters and promo materials to clients and prospective customers, and you can even get business just by having someone search for your product or service.

If the terms organic search, SEO, keywords, anchor text, and title tag all seem strange to you, it may be time to think about contracting with a digital marketing team. And while you may like dealing with employees that come to your office each day, savvy business owners realize that the best digital marketing teams may work remotely—in other words away from your office. Here are six great reasons to hire a remote marketing team:

Avoid the Local Lack-of-Qualified Employees Issue

We are in a period of almost full employment with the unemployment rate recently down to a very low 3.6 percent. When this happens, it’s tough to find quality employees, and if you live in a small town, it may even be more difficult. Using a remote workforce, however, allows you to pick from the global employee pool, and that can make finding the proper employees or contractors a lot easier.

Motivated

Many remote employees cherish the gig economy where they can work as much or as little as they desire from wherever they want. A lot of these Millennial workers are desperately trying to earn money to buy a house or to start a family, so they want to work as much as possible. These types of workers are almost always looking for more opportunities and they also want to hold on to the clients they have. This mindset can cause remote employees to be more responsive as they will want to do a great job for you in order to win and keep your business.

Perspective Advantages

A remote contractor in India that has worked with companies worldwide can give your business a different perspective because they may have been involved in a project similar to yours in a different state or a different country. An outsider’s perspective can be very valuable to you and your business.

Anytime

You can find remote employees to match your business hours, or you could find a remote digital marketing company that has employees available to work around the clock. Rather than having to depend upon your in-house staff for overtime when big projects need to get done quickly, you can count on an array of remote employees stationed in a variety of countries able to be called on when you need them.

Cost Effective Benefits

Remote employees are almost always hired on a contract basis, and therefore you will not have to withhold taxes or offer benefits. You can contract at a set hourly rate and also avoid paying overtime—a great benefit to the small business owner. You also don’t need to supply them with an office. If they’re totally comfortable working from their cheap studio apartment in their hometown of Minneapolis, or any city in the world for that matter, then you’re saving a bunch of money on office and business expenses.

 

Happy Workers

Contract remote employees will work for you because they want to and are generally happy that they have the freedoms that remote employment provides. Happy workers are more productive workers and, as any entrepreneur will tell you, the lack of employee issues is a great thing.

Yes, you can still do in-house digital marketing, and hire great local people, but you may want to consider going remote for the reasons listed above.

 

 

Local BrandingUncategorized

How to Make a Living Abroad

on April 1, 2019

Living abroad is never easy, and adjusting to this situation takes a lot of effort. You’re far away from home and nowhere close to people who can give you comfort, strength, and support, and that can turn out to be rather scary. Another problem you may face is trying to make a living, which is quite hard no matter where you are and what kind of work you did back home. Today, people change careers more easily than ever, and you need to be adaptable in order to survive, so if you too are starting to live in a foreign country and don’t know how to survive financially, here are a few suggestions that might give you inspiration.

image freelancing

Become a freelancer

In this day and age, it doesn’t really matter who you are, where you’re coming from and what you do – as long as you have a computer and a connection to the Internet, you can make a living by freelancing. This is a great opportunity for anyone who’s just moved to a new country and can’t find work, and it’s even better if you have some experience too.

Freelancing will give you a chance to travel the world and have lots of different experiences, but also allow you to make a decent living. Still, be sure to explore all the details of freelancing in a foreign country – especially the legal boundaries that may or may not apply – before you actually start doing it, just to make sure nothing bad happens.

Become a writer

Being a writer is one of the best jobs in the world, but it’s one of those things that don’t feel like hard work even though they actually are. If you want to become a good writer, you need to invest time into getting there – reading, practicing, editing your own work, etc.

The reason why writing is so great for all those people moving to a foreign country is that they can do that wherever they are. Whether you’re a content writer, a journalist, a poet or a fiction writer, all you need is a computer, and you’re good to go. So, if you’re struggling with a career abroad, take this idea into consideration, and you’ll surely find a way to make a living by writing.

 

Become a teacher

This is another amazing idea for all those creative people out there who are good with words but are struggling to find work. If English is your native language, you’ll surely be able to work as an English teacher anywhere in the world, from South America to Asia, and you often won’t need any qualifications at all. You can even turn this into a full-time position, especially if you’re in Hong Kong, for instance, so consider joining the professional Monkey Tree ESL team, and you might be on the road towards finding work in no time at all.

People who speak English fluently aren’t the only ones who can start teaching – on the contrary, being fluent in languages like Japanese, French or Arabic can be more than helpful in certain parts of the world. This means you’re different from all those English teachers and can give the local community something special, and that means you’ll find work easily.

 

Become an au pair

If you love children and don’t mind living in someone else’s home, this is the perfect job for you. Most people aren’t aware that au pairs can earn a considerable amount of money in certain countries, not to mention free board and food. This experience will also help you work on your language skills, especially if you’re taking care of younger kids.

If you’ve never done this in your life, don’t worry – au pairs don’t need any particular skills or previous experience, although having some could only benefit you and help you make even more money. What’s also great is that you’ll probably get the weekends off, which means you’ll be free to explore the country you’re living in and enjoy all of its beauties.

 

Living abroad is a challenge, but if you get a great job, it doesn’t have to be too hard, so just find something you like and enjoy the next chapter of your life.

Uncategorized

5 Core Digital Marketing Principles For Cannabis Entrepreneurs

on January 8, 2019

The legitimate cannabis industry is going through a period of explosive growth. Legal US cannabis sales in 2016 (the last year for complete data) totaled an impressive $6.9 billion. This is according to ArcView Market Research. Projections for the future are even stronger; annual sales by 2021 may be higher than $21.6 billion.

If you’re one of the many entrepreneurs looking to carve out a piece of that pie for yourself, you need wisdom and insight as well as dedication. For the overwhelming majority of businesses in the cannabis industry, a digital marketing plan is an absolute essential. Below you’ll find five strategic principles that your company can employ.

1) Social Media

Few products sell themselves in the modern marketplace without a carefully-curated social media presence. Social media is particularly important in the cannabis industry. These platforms give you a precious opportunity to interact directly with your consumers and earn your business a relevant place in their lives.

Popular social media platforms for cannabis marketing include Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn, but these are by no means your only options. Whether you simply breeze through liking your customers’ posts or engage in in-depth conversations with them, your social media activity nurtures ongoing relationships.

Social media is more than just a communications tool, though. Pay attention to what this activity teaches you about your customers. You can gain access to new customers and chart out new strategies for enticing them by looking at how they behave on social media.

Integrate your cannabis website closely with your chosen social media platforms. Include all the relevant buttons for easy sharing and communication. Remember that every opportunity to interact with your online audience is also an opportunity to win new customers.

2) Powerful Content

It takes good content to market your cannabis business. Whether you’re posting on your website or sharing on social media channels, quality content is the coin you spend to earn potential customers’ attention. Bear in mind that the content you present is, essentially, the voice of your company. Don’t settle for bland filler designed mainly for SEO benefits. Make an extra effort to make your content useful and entertaining to your customers. And it goes without saying that you want your content to be unique!

3) Search Engine Optimization

Although there’s tremendous money to be made in the cannabis industry, you’re not the first – or even the thousandth – entrepreneur to dive in. A crucial part of your marketing job is distinguishing yourself from the competition. Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is an important way to do that.

Over 80 percent of modern consumers rely on online research to choose between competing businesses. The whole point of the SEO game is to place your business’s website higher on the search engine results page than your competitors. Delivering a quality product and useful content are important, but you give yourself a tremendous boost if you are the easiest business for potential customers to find.

Smart optimization doesn’t just improve your business’s visibility. It’s also tailored to the search engine usage of specific sorts of customers. In this way, SEO work makes you more visible to a more valuable audience.

4) Gathering Influencers

Influence marketing is a huge asset in the cannabis industry. Garnering the support of key influencers exposes your products and services to a highly receptive audience.

Influencers bring big benefits to the marketing table. Good ones come with a built-in audience over which they exert a significant influence. Good influencers also generate their own content, which has the potential to spread on its own. Influence marketing thus combines the easy share-ability of viral marketing with a much more targeted effect.

5) Cultivate A Long-Term Audience

While growth and profit are essential for keeping your cannabis business healthy, you actually can’t go far if you focus exclusively on those goals. If you’re ruthless about chasing short-term profit, long-term stability will pass you by.

The best way to plan for longevity is to make an effort to educate your customers. When you focus on delivering information and enhancing your customers’ cannabis knowledge, what you’re actually doing is turning them into advocates for your business. A customer who trusts you and values what you have to say becomes a powerful ambassador for your brand.

Giving your customer interactions an educational focus also pays off because it positions you as an expert in the cannabis industry. This encourages potential customers to take you more seriously and may even elevate you to a more trustworthy position compared to your competitors.

The cannabis industry is a fast-growing and fast-changing business landscape. That doesn’t shake our conviction that a strong digital marketing plan is a huge asset to any cannabis business. The basic principles we’ve shared here are just the tip of the iceberg.

Have any of these principles helped you in marketing your cannabis business? Are we overlooking a strategy you consider vitally important? Do you want to learn more about one of our principles in particular? Let us know!

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