Insurance provider works with homeschool groups

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks Angela for sharing this helpful information!

Carol Topp, CPA

Lessons from a goose on leadership

Who knew that geese could tell us so much about leadership?

Geese fly in a V formation to create uplift. They fly 71% farther when flying together than if they flew alone.
Application for homeschool leaders: Don’t run your group alone. Gather other people to help you and you’ll go farther and avoid burnout.

When the lead bird gets tired, he drops out of the head spot and flies in the back to recover and take advantage of the lift from the other birds.
Application for homeschool leaders: Rotate leadership. Bring in fresh, new people. Set term limits for board members.

Geese honk to offer encouragement to each other, sort of an “Atta boy!” or “You can do it! Keep going!” to each other and their leader.
Application for homeschool leaders: Encourage your leaders. Offer appreciation gifts and thank you cards.

Thanks to :

http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/apjinternational/apj-s/2007/4tri07/popeeng.htm

Carol Topp, CPA

Are you burned out? Know the symptoms

As a guest blogger at The Homeschool Classroom, I wrote a blog entry about leader burnout.

Here’s an excerpt:

It is important to distinguish between temporary “busy-ness” or fatigue and full fledged burn out, which is accumulated strain and stress that affects other areas of your life. After nearly every co-op day, I feel exhausted. One fellow board member takes a nap after co-op, but she is only temporarily fatigued. We joke that we love when co-op starts, but we also love when it ends!

A symptom of burn out would be the loss of the initial enjoyment and anticipation that co-op day should bring. I know that I am tired at the end of a long co-op day because I have invested so much into my students. I really enjoy teaching and I experience a “good” type of fatigue.

To read the entire post, go here: Leader Burnout

Need help avoiding burnout? Read Homeschool Co-ops: How to Start Them , Run Them and Not Burn Out.

Available as an ebook or in print here.

Carol Topp

Embezzlement. Could It Happen in Your Group?

From the Ohio Society of CPAs comes this warning:

Small nonprofits ripe for embezzlement

They’re often diligent, caring workers, and yet tempted by seemingly easy cash.

Working on the inside, thieves can hit school groups, athletic leagues and churches, especially when they’re surrounded by trusting colleagues and loose security.

And according to one expert, because of the disgrace and embarrassment that the crime brings an organization, their transgressions often are not reported.

The median loss to fraud for religious, charitable and social-service organizations was $106,000 last year, according to an annual survey by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. “We estimate that organizations lose about 7% of their net worth to fraud each year,” said Scott Patterson, the association’s spokesman.

“There are so many people doing the good work that nobody steps back to say, ‘Should we begin looking at ourselves. We’ve grown. We better put some checks and balances in,’” said Gary Zeune, a fraud expert whose speakers bureau, “The Pros and Cons,” travels the country. “The only people who can steal you blind are those you trust and who don’t have controls.”

Smaller organizations, such as school parent-teacher organizations, are often vulnerable because neighbors and friends are reluctant to offend by suggesting that dishonesty is possible.

“This is typically mothers stealing from their own kids,” Shaw said. “The kids are the shills out there selling cookie dough or doing the walk-a-thon, and the mothers are stealing it.

“If the board is too embarrassed to have checks or balances, they need to have a new board,” she added. “But if you’re an honest person, you shouldn’t be insulted by having a second set of eyes.”

I’m sad to hear about embezzlement taking place in a homeschool groups, but I know from homeschool leaders that it can and does happen!

How can you prevent embezzlement?

1. Sign up for my newsletter (upper right corner of the website) and receive my report “Best Financial Practices for Homeschool Groups.” If you already belong to my mailing list and still want the reposrt drop me an email at Carol@HomeschoolCPA.com and Ill send you a copy.

2. Buy Homeschool Co-ops: How to Start Them, Run Them and Not Burn Out. In the chapter “Money Management”  in I outline some guidelines for groups to avoid embezzlement such as:

• Have a separate checking account in the organization’s name
• Appoint a treasurer
• Have bank statements mailed to the board chair, not the treasurer
• Have the board chair, not the treasurer to sign checks
• Require regular financial reports
• Prepare a budget

Order your print or electronic copy here

3. Order my ebook Money Management for Homeschool Organizations. It  has helpful tips for keeping records and preparing reports for your group’s treasurer. Read a sample and order a copy here

Keeping you safe,

Carol Topp, CPA

Do liability waivers really protect homeschool leaders?

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Carol Topp, CPA

Can a small group be an IRS qualified charity?

In the past week, I have received two emails from homeschool leaders in MD and CA with  a surprisingly similar situations.

In both groups, a small number of homeschooling families were  joining together to hire a single teacher to teach their children once or twice a week. Both groups were very small, only seven families total, but they were paying each instructor quite a bit of money-$11,000 annually in one case and $17,000 in the other. This meant that they exceeded the IRS threshold of $5,000 annual gross revenue and needed to consider filing for 501c3 tax exempt status.

They had several concerns such as a contract with the teacher, how should the teacher be paid and could the group qualify for 501c3 tax exempt status as an educational organization?

Here were some of their questions:

I found your website and found it to be most interesting and helpful to homeschool co-ops.  I would like to schedule a personal consultation with you.  I am part of a homeschool group that informally hired a teacher to teach certain classes in past years, but this coming year the teacher wants a contract.
Rosemary in MD

I saw your website and had some general questions for you.  Appreciate your ministry to homeschoolers. We are trying to decide whether our group should be a sole proprietorship owned by person or try to establish a nonprofit. What would be the pros and cons of each? What if we can’t afford to file for tax exemption at this time?  What are our choices if our gross receipts are around $11K/year?
Teri in CA

There are several options for homeschool organizations who are trying to decide how to structure themselves. I advised the leader from CA to read this article:

When to become a 501c3?

I offered a private phone consultation and discussed the concerns and options with the leader from MD. I explained that I doubted the IRS would grant 501c3 “qualified charity” status to a group with only seven families. An IRS qualified charity is supposed to serve a public good, not the needs of only seven families.

Instead of pursuing 501c3 tax exempt status, we discussed that the hired teacher is really running a for-profit business (a sole proprietorship) with seven families as her customers. I shared with her several sample contractor agreements the teacher could use in her business.

There is a sample contractor agreement available in my ebooks Money Management in a Homeschool Organization and Paying Workers in a Homeschool Organization.

Thank you again for the consultation.  It answered a lot of questions for me, and I appreciate your support. Thank you also for the contractor agreements – I have been reading through them.
Rosemary in MD

If you have a unique homeschooling situation and would like to schedule a private consultation with me, please send me an email at Carol@HomeschoolCPA.com. Tell me a little about your group and we can arrange a mutually convenient time to talk.

Carol Topp, CPA

Homeschool Co-ops now available as an ebook!

My book, Homeschool Co-ops: has been available in print since 2008. It has been helpful resource for many homeschool leaders, as  Dawn in Janesville, WI wrote me:

I am the director of a 40+ family homeschool co-op.  We have already purchased one book, and I read it in a weekend.  It has been an awesome resource.  My Assistant Director has just finished reading it, and we are in agreement that we should purchase a set of at least 5 for our board.  We would like to offer it to the board as a resource as well as for our membership to check out to read.

Now Homeschool Co-ops is available as an electronic book, available for immediate download as a pdf.

Price $10.00

Table of Contents

Sample Chapter

What’s the difference between an ebook and the print version?

The content is exactly the same. I have the ebook laid out with two pages of the book on one sheet of paper (horizontally), so it takes fewer sheets of paper if you wish to print out the book or portions of the book.

See a sample of the pages: Two-page Layout Sample

Why would I want an electronic version?

You receive the book immediately. There is no waiting for delivery.  It is stored forever on your computer. It will not get ripped, lost or eaten by your dog.

Can I print out several copies of the ebook to share with my co-op members?

No, sorry, but you cannot print out several copies. Electronic books have copyrights just like a print book. You may make one copy for your personal use. Your friends will have to purchase their own copies of the print or ebook.

What is the price of the ebook?

The ebook price is $10.00.

During the month of July 2010, I am offering a special bonus. When you purchase Homeschool Co-ops as an ebook, you will receive  a free copy of another ebook, Questions and Answers for Homeschool Leaders.

Questions and Answers for Homeschool Leaders

Table of Contents
Read a Sample here

This  62 page ebook contains the most frequently asked questions from homeschool leaders on the IRS, nonprofit and tax exempt status, boards, conflict, money, fund raising, volunteers, paying workers and insurance. As you read the questions from other leaders and answers from Carol Topp, CPA, you will find practical and helpful guidelines on a variety of topics to run a successful homeschool group.

How will this work?

Click on Order Now button and you’ll be taken to my shopping cart program. It looks like this:

1. You enter your credit card number, email and name.

2. You will be directed to another website page, my download page. On that page you will be able to download your ebook immediately by clicking a link. The ebook will open as a pdf file.  You will need Adobe Reader to view and print it. Get Adobe Reader for free here.

3. Save the document on your computer.

4. You can read the ebook on your computer screen or print it out.

You only have until July 31, 2010 to buy the electronic version of Homeschool Co-ops and receive the bonus copy of Questions and Answers for Homeschool Leaders. Order your copy today!

Price $10.00 for Homeschool Co-ops ebook (and bonus ebook)

Should you compensate board members?

I know that the board members of a homeschool groups are hard-working people.  They not only homeschool their own children, but they organize support groups and co-ops to help other homeschool families.  Sometimes a homeschool group would like to “reward” these generous individuals.

Is it OK to compensate your board members?

A homeschool co-op in the Midwest contacted me recently to apply for 501c3 tax exempt status.  The Treasurer told me that her co-op had been paying their leaders anywhere from $200-$1,200 a year for their service on the board.  I discussed why paying board members was not a typical practice.  Here is some of what we discussed:

• Payments to board members can create a conflict of interest. Does the loyalty of the leader lie in herself or in the best interests of the group?
• Paying board members can call into question the duty of loyalty of the board member.  Is she acting in the best interest of the group rather than a personal , financial interest?
• Payment could compromise the leader’s duty of care. A leader should act in good faith, with the care an ordinary, prudent person would exercise and with the best interest of the group in mind.
• Payments on nonprofit boards is not a typical practice.  Charities do not usually compensate their board members. Their funds usually go back into the program. Board members serve because they have a passion for the mission and a concern for the members.
• Board payments can undermine the volunteer spirit of other members. Why should a member volunteer her time when others are paid for their efforts?
• Can cause dissension and a sense of injustice or imbalance in the group.
• Payments did not have member approval. In this particular case, the board voted themselves compensation, but never put the idea to a member vote.

This group has wisely decided to stop payments to board members. I think the group will be better served by an all-volunteer board and healthier in the long run.

Carol Topp, CPA

Ultimate Homeschool Expo

• Online Seminars with With 35+ Speakers! (I’m one of them!)
  
• Virtual Vendor Hall! (I have a virtual booth there)
  
• Free Gifts–ebooks, audios, downloads! (I’m giving away ebooks, audios and chapters form  my books)
  
• Special offers from your favorite Online Vendors!
• Mp3 Downloads for all audios (over $1,000 in workshops!)

A lesson in leadership from Moses

The Ten Commandments was on last night.  It’s a great film, but it ends too early with the Israelites leaving slavery in Egypt.  There are a lot of wonderful stories about their life after Egypt and one in particular is a great lesson in leadership from Moses.

My friends Kristen and Denise from HomeschoolGroupLeader did an interview with me recently about what we as homeschool leaders can learn from Moses.

HGL:
What is the TOP way you’ve discovered that homeschool group leaders can avoid burning out?

Carol:
I think the best way is to learn from other leaders.

We’ve got a great example in the Old Testament of the leader Moses. What Moses failed to do was to delegate responsibility. So, the first way to avoid burnout is to get help.

What Moses was guilty of doing was sitting around all day basically listening to everyone’s complaints and dealing with them all himself. His father-in-law came out there into the desert where Moses was leading the Israelites, saw what he was doing and said, “What you’re doing is not good. You will wear yourself out. The work is too heavy for you. You cannot handle it alone.” He goes on to suggest a plan to Moses of how to delegate responsibility to trusted leaders and then they can entrust it down a level, too.

We should be following that Biblical model of leadership. It’s almost unbibilical for a leader to think, “I have to do this all myself.” That comes from pride. Sometimes it comes from a perfectionist tendency, and sometimes it comes because they can’t get any help. I know, of course, your book helps a lot with motivating members to help, but we also have to make sure that the leader doesn’t have the improper attitude of thinking, “I have to do this all myself or this is the only right way to do it.” That’s probably what Moses thought: “There’s only one way to do it—my way.” And he was corrected in that and we need to follow his example of getting help and delegating responsibility.

(the full interview can be found at http://hgleaderblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/wednesdays-wisdom-lesson-from-moses.html

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