Prepare Your Nonprofit Organization for a Hurricane
In case your meteorologist hasn’t reminded you, hurricane season started on the East Coast June 1. In addition to your usual emergency kit preparation, the Internal Revenue Service encourages everyone—including churches and nonprofit organizations—to protect their essential records. While you may want to comfort others after a disaster, focus now on ensuring your church or nonprofit will survive for the long term.
The IRS recommends taxpayers keep backup records at a separate physical location from the original set. A copy of your office files stored in the supply room isn’t much help if your office is destroyed. Backups today—including bank statements, tax returns, and insurance policies—are much more accessible with financial institutions offering electronic statements via the internet.
For hard copy documents, scanning is a simple process that can be done at most office supply stores. Once scanned, documents can be saved electronically and stored on various media, such as an external hard drive, flash drive, CD or DVD. Also, prepare a one-page summary of passwords, account numbers, phone numbers and email addresses, in case your smart phone loses services…or the battery dies with no way to charge it.
Back copies of previously-filed tax returns and all attachments, including Forms W-2, can be requested by filing Form 4506, Request for Copy of Tax Return. Alternatively, transcripts showing most line items on these returns can be ordered online, by calling 1-800-908-9946 or by using Form 4506T-EZ, Short Form Request for Individual Tax Return Transcript or Form 4506-T, Request for Transcript of Tax Return. The IRS even offers a disaster hotline at 1-866-562-5227 to speak with an IRS agent specializing in disaster-related issues.
Additional preparation could include photographs or video recordings of the contents of your office and facilities, especially items of higher value. IRS Publication 584 provides a disaster loss workbook, which is helpful in preparing a room-by-room list of belongings. This photographic record will be very helpful in proving the market value of items for insurance and casualty loss claims.
Review your emergency plans annually, making sure every staff member is informed of your organization’s preparedness. Newly hired employees and organizational changes require plans to be updated regularly and the entire staff informed of and trained on any changes. Consider a phone tree to alert employees in case of emergency.
Don’t let your ministry and/or charitable good deeds be taken away from the community you serve by a natural or manmade disaster. Online Stewardship can help protect you and your records from harm. Contact us at: Lynn@OnlineStewardship.com or 904-398-4747.
