Being a nonprofit means not having to pay taxes, right? Correct! But you still have to fill out forms, especially the 990. The 990 is a federal form that literally depicts the annual money flow of your organization. Who got paid, how much was donated, how much was made, etc. This form is very important for funding reasons and when grantors are actually looking to donate money. No one will donate to an organization who looks terrible from a 990 perspective.

There is one section there that is for you to fill out your organization's volunteer hours. Most nonprofits skip this simply because they don't have the numbers and they don't want to make it up. But then there are the others who do report those numbers, but unfortunately usually are making it up or estimating. This is not good when an audit trail is required when you receive funding. You may end up loosing your funding if you can't produce those records.

Getting hours tracked can be hard work but it is easy if you use the right technology. Showing competency by running a successful volunteer program with a burgeoning amount of volunteers is a win-win not only for community engagement but for your funding potential down the road. The earlier you start, the easier it is in the long run.

At the end of the day a nonprofit's true work and impact should not come down to a piece of paper submitted to the government. However, if you have the data to confidently fill it in, do it. Only good things have ever happened because of it.