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October 13, 2026 |
Tips, ideas, stories and grants for nonprofit leaders.
A 5-minute read
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Dec 1GivingTuesday is Tuesday, December 1, seven weeks from today. If your year-end appeal starts that day, the draft and the donor list need to be ready in November. The nonprofit toolkit
GivingTuesday now opens Generosity Week, December 1 to 5, which ends on International Volunteer Day. A volunteer ask can sit alongside the giving ask that week. Generosity Week
The 1099-NEC line moved from $600 to $2,000. For 2026, you file one for a contractor you paid at least $2,000, so the $750 you paid a weekend coach no longer needs a form. Forms go to the contractor and the IRS by January 31. The IRS instructions
One exception keeps the old habit alive: if you withheld any federal income tax from a contractor under backup withholding, they get a 1099-NEC whatever you paid them. Same instructions
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Ask a company for a sponsorship, not a donation
Starting this year, a C corporation can deduct its charitable gifts only above 1% of its taxable income. In the IRS's words, the corporation "can only deduct charitable contributions if the total contributions made to qualified charities" are above "1% of the corporation's taxable income." There is a new ceiling as well, at 10%.
Run the numbers on a local business with $500,000 in taxable income. Its first $5,000 of giving this year earns it no deduction at all. If your ask is $1,000 for the fall event, that gift is now money the owner gives up with nothing back on the company's taxes.
A sponsorship can be different. When a business pays you and gets real advertising in return, its logo on the banner, its name in the program, a table at the event, that payment may be an ordinary business expense instead of a gift. Whether it is depends on what the business gets and on its own accountant's view, so don't promise anyone a deduction.
What to do this week: turn your corporate donor asks into a sponsorship sheet with two or three levels, each naming exactly what the business gets. Then let the owner take it to their accountant.
The IRS on the new corporate floor
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Costco: a request at your nearest warehouse
For 501(c)(3)s that focus on children, education, or health and human services, "regardless of their distance from our locations." Local causes take a warehouse donation form to the nearest store. Ask for no more than 10% of the program's budget. Requests are reviewed year-round, but you get one per year, counted September to August. For a dated program or event, apply at least three months ahead.
Costco's charitable giving FAQ
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The Standard: $500 to $25,000, average $3,000
For 501(c)(3)s working in healthy communities, disability and empowerment, cultural development, or education. Nine cities get priority, but "funding requests for other organizations are also considered." There is no deadline, and decisions come by email within eight weeks. It will not fund sports team sponsorships, travel, or annual appeals.
Apply for funds
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Always open: Google Ad Grants gives each qualifying nonprofit "up to $10,000 per month in search ads shown on Google.com." How to qualify
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A $400 problem, solved one check at a time
In Warren County, Kentucky, the parks board noticed fewer kids signing up for sports. Mark Graves, who grew up there, started a nonprofit in 2025, Friends of Warren County Parks and Rec, to "remove some barriers for families out there for kids to be able to play sports."
The barrier was the fee. Registration runs about $100 to $120 a sport, and Graves did the math for a family with three or four kids: "That's over $400 right there."
The fund doesn't hand families cash. In his words, "we will write the check to the specific sports league that the child is wanting to be involved in." Local businesses and neighbors pay for it.
The lesson for a director: if cost keeps families out of your program, a small scholarship fund that pays the fee straight to the program is simple to run, and donors can see exactly where their money goes.
WBKO's report
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Get the W-9 before the first payment
Ask every contractor for a Form W-9 before you pay them anything, not in January when the 1099s are due. It gives you their legal name, address and taxpayer ID while they still answer your emails. A coach who worked one weekend in April is hard to find nine months later.
IRS Form W-9
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