Fighting through Form 990

I’ve spent much of the last few weeks girding myself for the particular place in Hell reserved for those of us foolish enough to run non-profits that don’t raise enough money for hiring an accountant to take on Form 990 to make sense. Yesterday, having collected all the paperwork, I took on the eight-hour task of explaining to the state and federal governments exactly what we did last year on the forms of their choosing.

I do what I can with what I have…

I don’t like numbers. I’m one of those people who, even with a calculator, can’t add up a column of figures and get the same sum twice in a row. I have to triple check everything. Even then, I find mistakes. At one point yesterday, I had a $205 mistake–somewhere. Then I realized that while I had put what we paid the Commonwealth on the form, I’d forgotten to add that figure to the final expenditures at the bottom of the column.

Digesting Form 990

In the end, everything balanced to the penny. There are still signatures to get and checks to write–and I’ll check the math one more time before I pack everything into the envelopes and send them off. At some point in the next few weeks, I’ll post the forms here, as well. It’s what’s called transparency–which means, “I think you have a right to know–and be able to find easily, if you want that knowledge–what comes in and what goes out.

I don’t like numbers.

But I’ve had to read through more than a few state and federal forms–and to be honest, they are not designed to be lay-people-friendly. At least, that’s my opinion. I understand why the forms are set up as they are. If you have hundreds to review, it’s nice to have a standard form where you don’t have to think after a while about what this line is about because you’ve read it so often you just know what that figure represents.

Why I summarize Form 990 here

It’s like a multiple choice or fill-in-the-blank test: eventually, the review becomes pretty simple. And for an accountant with hundreds of these to fill out, the forms make that job simple, as well.

…everything balanced to the penny.

You, however, probably are not going to review enough of those forms to get to the speed where that works for you. So I am going to reduce what is on the twenty-odd pages of forms to a simple narrative that hits the highlights.

Form 990: dollars and cents

While 2015 was not as good a year for fundraising as I’d hoped, it was still the best year we’ve had in our four-year history. Last year, we raised $23,793.88. That brings our four-year total to $75,431, in round numbers, more than two-thirds of it from small donors.

…a simple narrative that hits the highlights.

We made donations of $23,366 last year. The lion’s share, $12,608, made its way to the Walking with Jane Dybowski Fund for Neuroendocrine and Carcinoid Cancer at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute through the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk. That money generated another $7500 in matching funds that went directly to my Walk from an anonymous donor. In total, that DFCI fund took in about $77,000 last year for NET cancer research.

Form 990: More charitable expenses

The second biggest chunk of the money we raised last year went to the American Cancer Society through the Relay for Life of Greater Fall River. That $6258 went to unrestricted funds at ACS for general cancer research and patient support services. We don’t get to restrict how that money is spent. Our team took in about $1300 more than is reported on Form 990 because the money was donated to our ACS team website rather than the non-profit and never passed through our hands.

…we raised $23,793.88.

The final charitable expenditure was $4500 for the Walking with Jane Scholars program at Westport High School. After Jane’s death, I set up a scholarship in her memory at the school we both taught at for graduating seniors planning to enter the medical or science education fields. It is a four-year scholarship. I, personally, make a donation to Walking with Jane each year to cover the cost of those scholarships. I do add that to my charitable deductions.

Form 990: Where your money didn’t go

We spent $205 on bringing us up-to-date with the state in terms of the fees they charge to register and supervise non-profits. I picked up the tab for those personally, though I had to put the money in the Walking with Jane account first, since the state requires the fees be paid on a corporate check.

We made donations of $23,366…

You’ll notice we pay nothing in terms of salaries, travel expenses and the like. All the work is done by volunteers. If I want to go to a conference, I pay for it. If we need envelopes or stamps or pamphlets or stationary, that’s on my dime as well. I don’t take those things off on my personal taxes.

My bottom line

I want whatever you donate to go into research and helping patients, not into routine expenses, state fees, travel, salaries or consulting fees.

…that’s on my dime…

Next year, we will be cutting back on what we do for the American Cancer Society. We’ve decided to sharpen our focus even more on NET cancer–and since ACS will not allow us to focus what we raise in that way, we will move our efforts more toward those who do.

Defining our role

It’s not that other cancers don’t matter–they do. I’ve lost too many friends to too many forms of cancer not to be concerned about the larger issue as well. But we don’t raise enough money to have a real impact on more than one cancer–and, honestly, we don’t raise enough to have a substantial enough impact on NET cancer to suit me. That would take millions–perhaps tens of millions.

I want whatever you donate to go into research…

Unfortunately, I am not wealthy. Unfortunately, I don’t know very many people who are. I do what I can with what I have–and hope that inspires others to do likewise.