Questions to Ask Nonprofit Organizations
Questions to ask a nonprofit before you give it money or time, for donors, volunteers and anyone weighing up a charity, a non-profit organization or an NGO they do not yet know. They run in the order the decision does: what the organization does and for whom, its funding, the evidence that the work helps, personnel and the board, the terms of your gift, and what to ask a volunteer organization before you sign up for shifts. Pick the groups that bear on what you are deciding, and send the money questions ahead by email so someone can look the figures up.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Mission and reach
Who exactly do you serve, and how many people did you reach last year?
Why ask it
You want a number and a definition, since "reached" can mean anything from a full year of casework to receiving a leaflet. An organization that cannot separate the two either does not count carefully or would rather you did not look.
What problem are you trying to solve, and how would you know it was getting smaller?
Why ask it
A mission statement describes an intention; this asks for the yardstick. An organization working on hunger in one county should be able to say whether there is more or less of it than five years ago, even if the credit is shared.
Are you a registered charity or tax-exempt organization, and where can I confirm that?
Why ask it
The rules and the register differ by country: in the US the IRS keeps a searchable list of tax-exempt organizations, and many other countries have a charity regulator with its own. A group still waiting on its status, or operating under another organization as its fiscal sponsor, should say so plainly.
What does an ordinary week of your work look like?
Why ask it
Ask for last week in particular. You are trying to picture the activity itself, a clinic on Tuesday, forty food boxes packed on Thursday, because a website describes the cause and rarely the work.
Which program takes the largest share of your budget, and why that one?
Why ask it
Where the money goes is the real statement of priorities. If the biggest line is not the program on the front of the brochure, ask what the brochure program costs and who pays for it.
Which other organizations do similar work here, and how do you divide it up?
Why ask it
Listen for names and a division of labor: the shelter refers its residents here, the clinic takes the cases this group cannot. A claim to be the only one doing the work is easy to test with a search of the area before you take it on trust.
How do the people you serve influence what you do, and do any of them sit on your board?
Why ask it
There is a large difference between consulting a community and being accountable to it. Look for actual mechanisms: seats, paid advisory roles, decisions that changed as a result, rather than surveys and listening sessions.
Do the people in your photos and stories know how they are being used, and did they agree to it?
Why ask it
Appeals run on faces and case histories, and a yes given in the middle of a crisis is not always one a person would give a year later. Ask whether names and details are changed, whether a story can be withdrawn, and how children are handled.
Is there a waiting list, and how do you decide who is served first?
Why ask it
Demand beyond capacity is normal, so the useful part is the rule for choosing. First come first served, greatest need, and whoever a partner agency refers describe three different organizations.
How has the work changed since the organization started?
Why ask it
A group that began as a soup kitchen and now runs job training may have followed the need, or may have followed the grants. Ask what prompted each change and who made the call.
Where do you want to be in three years, and what has to be true for it to happen?
Why ask it
Plans that depend on a specific grant, a hire, or a policy change are credible; plans that depend on generally growing awareness are aspiration with a timeline attached. Push on the conditions more than on the vision.
Funding
Where does your funding come from, and how much of it comes from your largest funder?
Why ask it
Ask for the split between individuals, foundations, government and earned income, then for the single largest source. When one funder supplies most of the budget, the organization's priorities are effectively set elsewhere, whatever the mission statement says.
What happens to your programs if that funder leaves?
Why ask it
A leadership team that has thought about it can list which programs stop and in what order. "That would never happen" is the reply of one that has not.
Is any major grant or contract ending in the next year, and what is the plan to replace it?
Why ask it
Grants run for fixed terms, and a three-year award in its third year is a cliff the annual report will not mention. A plan sounds like named prospects and a renewal conversation already under way; hope sounds like "we expect it to continue."
How many months of operating costs could you cover if income stopped tomorrow?
Why ask it
Reserves are the difference between an organization that can make decisions and one that takes any grant offered. Very thin reserves are common and not disqualifying, but they change what your gift is really doing.
Did you finish last year with a surplus or a deficit, and did you plan it that way?
Why ask it
One deficit year can be a deliberate choice to spend reserves on something worthwhile. Two or three in a row that nobody budgeted for means the organization is shrinking and has not yet said so.
How much of your income is restricted to particular programs, and what pays for everything else?
Why ask it
Rent, bookkeeping and the director's salary have to come from somewhere, and restricted grants often will not cover them. A high restricted share explains how a busy organization can still struggle to pay its electricity bill.
How much of your income comes from government, and what do you do when a payment arrives late?
Why ask it
Public contracts often reimburse after the work is done, sometimes months after. Find out whether the gap is bridged by reserves, a line of credit or delayed payroll, since the last of those lands on the staff.
What did you spend on fundraising last year, and how do you count it?
Why ask it
A staff member who runs a program and also writes its grant reports can be booked to either side, and organizations draw that line differently. Hear how they split shared costs before you set their figure beside anyone else's.
Who prepares the budget, and who outside the staff checks the books?
Why ask it
In a small organization one person may write the checks, record them and reconcile the account, which is how honest mistakes and dishonest ones both go unnoticed. Look for a treasurer who reads the statements, a second signature, or an outside accountant.
Can you send me your latest financial statements, and your Form 990 if you file one?
Why ask it
In the US most tax-exempt organizations file some version of Form 990 and the filings are public, so hesitation over sending one is itself informative; elsewhere, ask what the charity regulator publishes. Small groups are often not audited at all, so find out whether an outside accountant audited the accounts, reviewed them or neither, and read the accountant's letter if there is one.
What is your biggest unfunded need right now?
Why ask it
The honest answer is often unglamorous: a finance manager, a database, a vehicle, or rent. Donors tend to fund programs and starve the infrastructure that makes programs possible, so this is where a gift can do the most good.
Results
How do you know the program works, and what would convince you it did not?
Why ask it
An organization that only collects success stories has no way of noticing failure. Wait for the second half to be answered with a measure, such as people returning with the same problem or fewer of them finishing the course.
What do you track internally that does not appear in your annual report?
Why ask it
Internal numbers are usually less flattering and more honest: dropout rates, waiting times, repeat visits, missed appointments. An organization that shows you even one of them is treating you as a partner and not as an audience.
What happens to people after they leave your program, and do you follow up?
Why ask it
Counting who finished a course is easy; knowing whether they had a job six months later takes effort and money. An organization that follows up, even with a small sample, is one that wants to know the answer.
Has anyone outside the organization evaluated your work, and can I read what they found?
Why ask it
An outside evaluation is expensive and plenty of good small groups have never had one, so a no is not a mark against them. If there is one, ask who paid for it and whether the unflattering sections were published too.
Roughly what does it cost to serve one person, and what is included in that figure?
Why ask it
A low cost per person can mean efficiency or a very light touch, with one phone call counted the same as a year of counseling. Comparing two organizations on it works only if they are counting the same thing.
What have you tried in the last two years that did not work?
Why ask it
Every working organization has something: a pilot nobody came to, a partnership that fell apart. "Nothing comes to mind" suggests that nothing new was attempted, or that failures are not talked about even inside the building.
Which program would you close first if you had to choose?
Why ask it
A quick, reasoned answer means the leadership has already ranked its work. Sometimes it exposes a program kept alive because one funder or board member is fond of it, so compare the answer with where the money currently goes.
What is the most common criticism of your work, and what is your answer to it?
Why ask it
Being able to state the criticism fairly before rebutting it shows they have engaged with it. Look for the criticism yourself beforehand if you can, in local news or in what former staff and clients have written, so you can tell a full answer from a trimmed one.
What was your hardest year, and what changed afterwards?
Why ask it
Expect a funding loss, a director leaving or a serious incident, then press for what was put in place: a reserve policy, a second signatory, a new reporting line. A hard year that changed nothing is one that can come round again.
Personnel and board
How many paid staff do you have, and how many of those jobs are vacant right now?
Why ask it
Headcount gives you the scale and vacancies the strain. When a post has sat empty for six months, ask whether the money for it ran out or nobody will take it at the salary on offer.
How many staff jobs are paid for by a single grant, and what happens to those people when it ends?
Why ask it
A post funded by one grant tends to last as long as the grant does, so a team can lose its most experienced caseworker to a date on a calendar. Ask whether anyone has been kept on between grants before, and how much notice staff are given.
Who has left the staff in the last year, and why?
Why ask it
Turnover is one of the few things an outsider can check about how a small organization is run. Listen for whether departures are described concretely or waved away, and whether the same role has turned over twice.
What is the pay range for frontline staff, and what does the executive director earn?
Why ask it
Set the two figures side by side. Low frontline pay tends to bring the turnover that undermines the programs you are funding, and a US organization that files a full Form 990 lists its top salaries there anyway, so the question mostly tests candor.
When did staff last get a raise, and what benefits come with a full-time job here?
Why ask it
Personnel is usually the largest line in a service organization's budget, so it is the first place a tight year shows. Several years without a raise, and none of the benefits an employer normally offers where they are, means the staff are subsidizing the mission.
How long has the executive director been in the job, and what is the plan for when they leave?
Why ask it
A founder of twenty years and a director of six months are both moments of risk, for opposite reasons. The plan can be modest: a deputy who knows the funders, and passwords and contracts that do not live in one head.
Who sets the executive director's pay and reviews their performance?
Why ask it
The answer should be the board, through named people, on a schedule. Where the director in effect sets their own salary or has not been reviewed in years, the oversight exists on paper only.
How many of your board members give money, and how many attend most meetings?
Why ask it
Two numbers that are easy to answer and rarely volunteered. A board that neither gives nor attends is not providing oversight, which means nobody is checking the executive director's judgment but you.
Are any board members related to staff, or paid by the organization for anything?
Why ask it
Family ties and paid contracts with board members are not always improper, and the rules on them vary by country and state. What you want to hear is that they are written down, disclosed, and that the person concerned steps out of the vote.
If a staff member or volunteer has a complaint about the director, who hears it?
Why ask it
Of all the personnel issues at a small nonprofit, this can be the hardest to answer, because the director is often the HR department as well. A board contact named in the handbook, or an outside HR service, is the difference between a grievance process and a dead end.
How much of the work depends on one or two people, and what happens when one of them is out?
Why ask it
Small organizations run on a few people who know everything: the grant deadlines, the landlord, which families need a phone call. Ask what stopped the last time one of them took a month off.
How do you screen and train staff and volunteers who work with children or vulnerable adults?
Why ask it
Requirements for background checks differ by country, state and type of work, so ask what applies to them and what they do beyond it. Screening is only half of it; listen for working rules, such as never leaving one adult alone with a child, and for who a concern gets reported to.
Your gift
What would a gift the size I am considering actually pay for?
Why ask it
Naming your range gets a concrete answer instead of a brochure. Good answers translate into units of work: hours of tutoring, nights of shelter, a share of one caseworker's salary.
Would a monthly gift or a single one be more useful to you?
Why ask it
Many organizations would take a smaller amount they can count on over a larger one they cannot, because predictable income lets them commit to a salary. Ask how a monthly gift is changed or canceled, and whether that is done online or by phoning someone.
What happens to a restricted gift you cannot spend as intended?
Why ask it
Money given for one purpose usually comes with an obligation to use it that way, and how binding that is depends on where the organization is registered. The good answer describes going back to the donor to agree a change. If the answer is that money moves where it is needed, ask who authorizes that.
What would make you tell a donor that this is not the right place for their money?
Why ask it
A genuine answer names a mismatch: a restricted gift they could not use well, a program a donor wants that is not needed, a scale of gift that would distort them. Anyone who cannot imagine turning down money is selling rather than explaining.
Will I get a receipt I can use for tax purposes, and is the gift deductible where I live?
Why ask it
Whether a donation reduces your tax depends on the country, the organization's status and your own return, so treat their answer as a starting point and check with a tax adviser before anything large. Ask when receipts go out too, since one per gift and a single year-end summary suit different record keepers.
Do you take gifts other than money, such as goods, shares or professional services, and which do you actually want?
Why ask it
Donated goods cost money to sort, store and sometimes throw away, and a food bank may be able to buy in bulk for less than you would pay at a shop. Asking which they want spares both sides an unwanted carload.
If I give through an event, a crowdfunding page or my employer, how much of it reaches you?
Why ask it
Platforms take processing fees, galas have catering bills, and workplace schemes can pay out months later. The organization usually knows which route delivers the most, and it is often the plainest one.
If I give, what will you send me afterward, and how often will you ask again?
Why ask it
Ask now and you can set terms rather than complain later. Some organizations will honor a request for one letter a year, and the ones that will not are telling you how they see donors.
Will my contact details be shared, sold, or traded with anyone?
Why ask it
Donor lists do get rented and swapped, which is one explanation for mail from charities you have never heard of. Ask for a written note on your record, since a verbal assurance leaves with the person who gave it.
Volunteering
What do volunteers actually do here, and where are you shortest of help?
Why ask it
A volunteer organization tends to have plenty of people for the popular jobs and too few for the dull or awkward ones: weekday mornings, data entry, driving. Starting where the gap is makes you useful from the first shift.
If I want to volunteer, what do the first three months look like, and how much of it is training?
Why ask it
Well-run volunteer programs have a defined start: screening, training hours, a named supervisor. If the answer is that you can turn up whenever, ask who will be there to show you the job; that works for sorting donations and badly anywhere a client is expecting you.
What is the minimum commitment, and how are shifts scheduled, swapped and canceled?
Why ask it
Some roles need a year because a child or a client is relying on seeing the same face; others are happy with one Saturday. Get the real expectation before you start, along with what to do in the week you cannot make it.
Who would I report to, and who do I call if something goes wrong on a shift?
Why ask it
A named supervisor with a phone number is the mark of a program someone is running. It matters most in roles with members of the public, where a volunteer should never be the one deciding what to do about an injury or a disclosure.
Are volunteers covered by your insurance while they are working, and does that include driving?
Why ask it
Cover for volunteers varies a great deal between organizations and places, and using your own car is a common gap. Ask to see what the policy says, and check with your own insurer before you deliver anything.
Will volunteering cost me anything, such as a background check, a uniform, travel or a program fee?
Why ask it
Small costs are common and reasonable, and some organizations reimburse mileage if asked. A large fee to take part, as some overseas placements charge, deserves its own questions about where that money goes.
Is there a minimum age, and can families, school groups or work teams volunteer together?
Why ask it
Age limits tend to come from the insurer or from the nature of the work, so they differ from one site to the next. Groups are welcome at some places and a burden at others, where supervising twelve newcomers for a morning costs more staff time than it returns.
Can you confirm my hours or act as a reference later on?
Why ask it
Students who need service hours, people completing court-ordered service and job seekers all depend on this, and not every organization keeps records good enough to do it. Find out who signs, on what form, and how soon after a shift.
Can I talk to a long-serving volunteer, and to someone who stopped?
Why ask it
The first conversation will be arranged happily; the second is the test. Someone who left will tell you about the parts that do not work, which is exactly what the organization cannot tell you about itself.
What is the most useful thing someone like me could do this year?
Why ask it
Say first what you could offer, whether that is a trade, a van, a free weekday or a modest budget. The reply may not be shifts at all: a bookkeeper's two hours a month or an introduction to an employer can be worth more to them than a Saturday of painting.
Assessing a nonprofit before you commit
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
What to read before you ask anything
- The most recent Form 990 if the organization is US-based. It is public, and the IRS tax-exempt organization search will confirm the group's status.
- Outside the US, the organization's entry on the national or state charity register, where there is one, and whatever accounts it publishes there.
- The audited financial statements, including the notes and the auditor's letter, which is where problems are disclosed.
- The board list, checked for related names and for people who also sit on major funders' boards.
- The list of programs on the website compared with where the money actually goes in the financial statements.
- Any published evaluation, and who paid for it.
Why the overhead question is the wrong one
Restricted versus unrestricted
Restricted gifts feel safer and often make life harder, because the organization ends up funding a program you chose while unable to pay rent. If you trust them enough to give, consider giving unrestricted and asking for a report instead.
Multi-year versus one-off
A smaller amount committed for three years can be worth more to them than a larger single gift, because it lets them hire. Ask whether they can absorb your gift, since a very large donation to a very small group can be destabilizing.
How to ask so you get answers
- Choose eight or ten for a first conversation: the opening ones under Mission and reach, then two from each group that bears on your decision. The whole list is for a large gift or a long commitment.
- Send the financial questions by email in advance. They require someone to look something up, and asking in a meeting just produces approximations.
- Ask for one example rather than the general approach: "tell me about a client from last month" beats "how does your program work?"
- Ask the same factual question of two people, for example the development director and a program manager. Divergence is the finding.
- Visit if there is anything to visit, at an ordinary hour rather than at an event.
- Say plainly what you are deciding and by when. Organizations triage inquiries, and a stated intention gets a serious answer.
If you are giving time instead of money
- Decide what you can honestly offer before you call: which days, for how many months, and whether you want to work with people or behind the scenes. A volunteer organization can place you far faster with that than with "anything you need."
- Ask to shadow one shift before you commit. An hour beside a current volunteer shows you the pace, the supervision and the mood better than an orientation talk does.
- Put the questions about shifts, training and supervision to the volunteer coordinator, and the funding and personnel questions to the director or the treasurer. A coordinator asked about reserves can only guess.
- Get the practical terms in one email: the role, the hours, the supervisor's name, any costs, and what the insurance covers.
- Agree a trial at the start, six shifts for example. Leaving at a point everyone expected is easier on the program than drifting off the schedule.
If you are considering board service
- Ask for the last three sets of board minutes and the current budget against actuals.
- Ask whether the organization carries directors and officers liability insurance, and see the policy. What a board member can be held personally responsible for depends on the country and state, so ask how it works where the organization is registered.
- Ask what is expected of you in money, hours, and meetings, in writing.
- Ask whether there is an audit, a conflict of interest policy, and a whistleblower policy, and when each was last used.
- Ask what the last serious disagreement on the board was about, and how it ended.
- Talk to the departing board member whose seat you would take, and ask why they are leaving.
Answers that should stop you
- Reluctance to send accounts that are public anyway, such as a US Form 990 or a filing with the charity regulator.
- No evidence beyond testimonials, and no interest in getting any.
- A board that does not meet, does not give, or is made up of the founder's relatives.
- Pressure to decide quickly, or an appeal built entirely on urgency.
- Financial statements that do not match the story you were told about program size.
- Any refusal to let you speak with the people the organization serves, where privacy is not the actual reason.