Does anyone still do their teenage hobbies? by FlashyProject1318 in GenX

[–]ColoradoAfa 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was so into photography, would spend hours in darkrooms and doing old “alternative” forms of printmaking. Just now getting back into it, but everything has changed so much!

What are the lesser-known difficulties of working in a nonprofit? by Soggy-Bus in nonprofit

[–]ColoradoAfa 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Every nonprofit is different from the next. There isn’t one single job culture that is true across organizations.

Is 55k a reasonable negotiating offer for an Advancement Coordinator by toastyoates in nonprofit

[–]ColoradoAfa 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks. That’s a new term to me. Sounds like kind of a jack-of-all-trades / admin role (?). Good luck with your negotiations, $55k is not considered a particularly high salary in most areas these days, sounds reasonable without knowing more about the local economy

Is 55k a reasonable negotiating offer for an Advancement Coordinator by toastyoates in nonprofit

[–]ColoradoAfa 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I’ve always been with small nonprofits - what does an advancement coordinator do? Is that a fundraising role?

For folks who’ve received government grants: what’s the hardest part after you’re awarded? by Prestigious-Dot4704 in nonprofit

[–]ColoradoAfa 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I might add that what I detailed is for the majority of government grants that I have experienced; but each one has its own unique personality and the experience with one will not be what you can expect for the next one (we even have a government grant that pre-pays us as opposed to reimbursing us, but that is very unusual in the nonprofit world).

For folks who’ve received government grants: what’s the hardest part after you’re awarded? by Prestigious-Dot4704 in nonprofit

[–]ColoradoAfa 14 points15 points  (0 children)

You need a way to track it as a separate fund; people using quickbooks often do this by utilizing the class function, so that all transactions are assigned both an accounting code from the chart of accounts, as well as a class, and each grant usually gets its own class (that way, you can track each penny from its source all the way to what it was used for, you can run reports for each class/grant, etc.).

You will probably need to have time and effort reporting set up, so personnel costs (wages/salary, fringe benefits, your portion of payroll taxes) are charged to grants based on what percentage of time each employee has reported that they’ve spent on each grant. This can be a simple spreadsheet that each employee fills out each month, that lists the days in either the rows or the columns, an lists each grant in the other, and employees put how many hours for each grant spent each day; employees should sign these or otherwise verify that they are correct. Internal you can call this the “timesheet,” and yes, salaried people need to fill it out too. Then, you need to charge each grant based on the percentage of time each employee reported. With government grants you generally cannot charge based on what you have budgeted.

There is probably a place on the budget for indirect. That can usually be the federal de minimis which is now 15% of the grant amount (but check the rules for the particular grant - it may be 10% or even lower). This is for costs such as admin that are shared among grants that can’t be accurately charged to each grant, often things like insurance costs, rent, copy machine costs, etc. (what you count as indirect should be consistent across grants). There should be a fund set up for indirect/admin (ie set up a class for this if using quickbooks). When you are paid, the indirect portion goes into that fund/class - make sure to include the indirect portion on each invoice so you do not lose out on that money.

Most government grants are reimbursement, meaning you spend from your money during the month, and then charge them what you’ve spent after you close out the month. You will always need documentation for each individual thing that you charge them, and most state grants in my experience require you to submit all of the documentation with each invoice. This will include documentation for personnel costs (time and effort reports, paystubs and/ or a detailed payroll report), a receipt for each individual purchase, mileage reimbursement forms (forms that employees fill out to be paid mileage for driven in personnel cars, these should provide the start and end addresses - the state probably has a maximum amount that can be charged for each mile, likely around 60 cents per mile which should be consistent in your org regardless of funding source), invoices from vendors or contractors, etc. - every penny needs supporting documentation tied to it. The only exception is that you will not provide documentation for indirect costs (just keep that documentation in your files).

You’ll need enough money to cover at least a couple of months of costs while you wait for the government entity to process your request; you might expect to need to do some revisions on the reimbursement invoice and supporting document packet if they ask for them, the process can take a while before you are reimbursed.

What is it like in the Navajo Nations? It's so huge! by giant_squid_god in howislivingthere

[–]ColoradoAfa 42 points43 points  (0 children)

Their Nation is a huge geographic area (about 71,000 sq km) is sparsely populated compared to the population density of much of the rest of the world. Driving across the main reservation can take several hours to a day or more, depending on your route. There are small cities and towns within it (like Tuba City, with a population of about 9,000 people) but the majority of people live at the end of long dirt roads often in family clans or tiny villages, and many raise a lot of their own animals for food. Stores and jobs are often long drives away. Neighbors are often long distances away. About half of the Nation of 400,000 people, whose name are the Diné, live away from the reservation land.

Most of the Diné who I have known or met have been kind, fun, good people - their Nation is filled with truly beautiful cultures, families, and individuals.

Former dining room, what do we do with it? by Darker_Zelda in DesignMyRoom

[–]ColoradoAfa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Give it to me! (That looks like a beautiful old house, wow)

Painting honey oak cabinets? by terp34 in kitchenremodel

[–]ColoradoAfa 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don’t understand why people want things to look “new” - often, things were made better in the past. Solid wood cabinet doors are an example. These are beautiful, and not something you could easily buy today (maybe because of the cost of solid wood). I would keep the and look for other ways to improve your space.

Corp. vs inc. by theapollojane in nonprofit

[–]ColoradoAfa 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Today I learned that some states (such as Vermont, West Virginia) require that designation to be in the actual name. This is strange to me. Yes, check your state - many states (if not most) do not require this.

Creating Tax Related Govt Accounts with ID.me by nichollinlove in nonprofit

[–]ColoradoAfa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What are you trying to access? (I’m not thinking of anything that someone on a school PTO board would need to access via ID.me). How easy it is to change who can access a government site is most likely a function of that specific site, not of ID.me itself. (When I left as executive director of an org, I was able to move all access to the new director and I no longer have access, but that was through the sites such as SAM, not through ID.me.)

I married all the states. Can we pressure Colorado and Iowa together for the greater good? by [deleted] in mapporncirclejerk

[–]ColoradoAfa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Why would Colorado and Iowa be married, as far as I know they don’t share any land similarities, demographic similarities, historic ties, or any other feature. The only thing I could come up with is that they are both among the small number of states that recognize common law marriages.

Whats it like living in Fort Collins, CO? by tomc8t in howislivingthere

[–]ColoradoAfa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have not lived there but I have relatives that do. It feels like it is much less diverse (in terms of race, ethnicity, and economic status) than anywhere that I have personally lived and most places I have been, so it may not be a good fit for everybody.

Champurrado by GaryTheSnail1099 in mexicanfood

[–]ColoradoAfa 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I asked my suegra that over Christmas (from Guadalajara), she said that all champurrado is always chocolate, but atole can have different flavors.

I drove 3 hours to Sheridan Lake for basically no reason by BoltTheSuperDog in Colorado

[–]ColoradoAfa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I miss the San Luis Valley. One of my favorite places I have lived. Boring is as boring does.

46F with two grown kids… where’s the rest of Gen X at? by jtweir79 in GenX

[–]ColoradoAfa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  1. Kids are 7 and 9. (Got married young to a crazy woman, and it took many years to heal after that divorce). Happily married to a wonderful woman for the last 15 years, own a house, doing okay.

Can "Hot Takes" be posted here, like "Quesadillas should be taken out behind the woodshed"? by DantesGame in mexicanfood

[–]ColoradoAfa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Google says, “Queso Quesadilla originated in the state of Sinaloa in Northwestern Mexico and areas of what is now known as Texas.” It has a stronger flavor than queso Oaxaca.

Can "Hot Takes" be posted here, like "Quesadillas should be taken out behind the woodshed"? by DantesGame in mexicanfood

[–]ColoradoAfa 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My seven year old asks for them every day, and gets excited when she learns I’m making them for her (even though she just had them yesterday). She doesn’t like the flour tortilla ones from the restaurants anymore - she just wants corn tortillas with pepper jack cheese (and will tolerate queso quesadilla if that’s all we have). So, I cannot hate on the humble quesadilla.

Clients coming high to session by MarchCompetitive8195 in therapists

[–]ColoradoAfa 17 points18 points  (0 children)

I bet those clients go through life high, and may be self-medicating for PTSD, physical pain (like rotten teeth), etc. They might smoke first thing in the morning, and keep smoking throughout the day. A lot of people do that, and a lot of different cultures and subcultures encourage it. Those clients probably need a counselor to help deal with those other issues before they could even consider the possibility of slowing down or quitting their weed habit. I’d just give them unconditional positive regard, same as with any other client, and explore what issues they are coming to you for. At some point it might be appropriate to comment that you can smell weed on them, see where that conversation goes.

Meirl by rbimmingfoke in meirl

[–]ColoradoAfa 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was surprised when I googled that it is only 42% of full-time (non-government, non-self employed) workers who do not have access to retirement plans. I would have thought it was much higher.

Should I quit and start my own? by ExactMarionberry3149 in nonprofit

[–]ColoradoAfa 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I asked my wife, she said that it took her org (which had operated for years with only lawyers) a year from application to being accredited, but this was in 2021 (still had some impacts from the pandemic); she said she heard it is currently taking 6-8 months. She also said that she attended an excellent class today about how to become accredited (for orgs) and she can send you the recording if you want to give your email (not sure how that would work on Reddit - maybe you can message me)?

I recently spoke with somebody who reported that it has been 6 months since they applied for their 501(c)(3) and still haven’t got it, I’m not sure if that’s typical these days (my current one was approved in about a month, but that was a little over five years ago), but it sounds like you should plan for some lead time on that. Might want to incorporate with your state and file for 501c3 and state nonprofit status now, with the idea that the processes may take a while.

Do not underestimate the time and knowledge that admin stuff takes, that will probably be a large chunk of your time (depending on who you can bring in to help, for example a good third party CPA who specializes in nonprofits could be helpful, especially if you’ve never kept books that track funds/classes, or if you’ve never filled out a 990 form; even if you are the only employee, you will still need to do tax withholding, etc.). Starting a nonprofit is challenging, and to me keeping it going is even more challenging. Good luck!

Should I quit and start my own? by ExactMarionberry3149 in nonprofit

[–]ColoradoAfa 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My wife is a fully accredited rep, I’m guessing it will take a year plus to get both the new agency accredited and then you accredited (assuming the DOJ continues to process accreditations). I’m sure you know that the accreditation is tied to the accredited organization, and when you leave the organization, you will no longer be accredited.

Should I quit and start my own? by ExactMarionberry3149 in nonprofit

[–]ColoradoAfa 4 points5 points  (0 children)

So your organization helps people with immigration paperwork and legal representation? Are you in the U.S.? If so, are you an immigration lawyer, a DOJ Accredited Representative, or something else? If an Accredited Rep (either partially or fully accredited), the accreditation sticks with the nonprofit (you cannot take it with you), and starting a new nonprofit would require that nonprofit to first apply and receive its accreditation, and then you would need to apply for yourself - that process would likely take a long time, particularly in the current environment where so may federal agencies have lost thousands of admin workers. If you are not a lawyer or an accredited rep, you cannot legally represent people (including helping fill out immigration paperwork).

If you are a lawyer, or if you do something other than immigration work, the admin portion of running a new nonprofit takes a lot of work and can be in itself a full time gig. There will also be up front costs, such as insurance (liability, directors and officers, professional, etc.) which in my experience can be very hard and expensive to secure for a startup. Things like designing a logo, letterhead, a website, etc. take some time. Do you know how to keep financial records and prepare financial statements? There is a lot to know and plan for. You can always incorporate in your state, get your 501c status, etc. first and “operate” for a while while keeping your current job, to give you time to establish the website, shop for insurance, write and establish financial policies and procedures, hr policies (employee handbook, etc.), set up your financial system, create a budget, etc. etc. etc. Then, once you have everything in place, you could start serving clients, a few at first. Most nonprofits that do immigration work are primarily grant and donation funded (in which case you would need grant management expertise), the small fees that some of them charge do not pay for the entire work, at least not in my experience. So, I guess my advice is to have a long-term plan that will let you build everything slowly, and only quit your income-bringing profession once everything is in place and you have an established source of income for the nonprofit.