Providing IT for a non-profit

[jbutler9]

Hello all,

I am thinking of providing IT servies to a local non-profit.

I have a few questions for everyone here with this type of experience:

1. Should I provide services free of charge or shoudl I charge a low cost fee, maybe $.50/mile for travel to and from?

2. What would you limit your services to?

3. Please tell me of your experiences with working with a non-profit...the good and the bad.

4. Please provide some pitfalls and lessons learned.

 

[Xander]

I'd first distinguish between "non-profit" (charity) and "not-for-profit" (non-charity).

http://shouldiworkforfree.com/

Does the staff get paid? If they do, why shouldn't you?

 

[rjg.tech]

I agree with eHousecalls, I do work for many non profits and I use judgement on a case by case bases. Some non profits make plenty of money and have budgets for I.T. expenses. Even larger churches have these same I.T. budgets.

Now if I walk into a non profit and I see they are using a computer that was donated to them and everyone there is volunteer workers then I may not even charge. Then others I will discount.

With every non-profit don't charge tax and request the tax exemption form if necessary.

 

[Paul Rodgers]

I agree with eHousecalls, I do work for many non profits and I use judgement on a case by case bases. Some non profits make plenty of money and have budgets for I.T. expenses. Even larger churches have these same I.T. budgets.

Now if I walk into a non profit and I see they are using a computer that was donated to them and everyone there is volunteer workers then I may not even charge. Then others I will discount.

With every non-profit don't charge tax and request the tax exemption form if necessary.

You can get a tax deduction for when you do free or discounted work for charities right?

 

[Appleby]

You can get a tax deduction for when you do free or discounted work for charities right?

No. I met with my accountant last week and specifically asked this question. I do alot of work for our church and I give them a hefty discount. I asked if I could write off any of those discounts and he said not on labor, because as the IRS sees it, it cost me nothing. If I buy a part and donate it to them, then that is a write off...but for what I paid for it, not for what I could have sold it for. I asked about charging them the full amount for my labor, then turning around and writing a check back to them as a donation. He again not to do that because the deduction would not completely offset the income tax so it will still be costing me money. His advice was to charge whatever I feel is fair and forget about any type of deductions.

As for other non-profits, I do work for several. One of them is a non-profit that doesn't have paid employees. For them I usually work for free but I make sure they understand that if I'm going to work for free then it's on my schedule and no "emergency" work etc. I'm nice about it, but just explained it up front. If they are in a hurry or want extensive work done I charge a discounted rate. Parts....I charge cost plus about 10-20% markup just to cover a little of my time.

The non-profits that have offices, employees etc....they pay. Depending on the situation, I might offer them a discount but not a big one. It just depends. The local agency that operates in an effort to attract new businesses and commerce to the city is a non-profit but they have several paid employees and a very nice office. They pay full price and never blink an eye.

 

[rjg.tech]

You can get a tax deduction for when you do free or discounted work for charities right?

I don't think you do unless they gave you a receipt. There was a non profit organization near me that helped women get off the street and find jobs and they were looking for a computer person to come in once a week for 3 month and teach computer classes volunteer. They offered to give me a give me a receipt of something saying that I had spent the equivalent of my hourly charge.

They ended up moving locations and had some college students come and help out but I am not sure if that would have worked as a nonprofit "donation" or not for tax purposes.

 

[BimmiN]

As was mentioned by ehousecalls... Big difference between non-profit and not for profit. I have provided free services for non-profit organisations and was happy to not get paid. These were large, purely volunteer, organisations. Therefore I didnt expect any wages, writeoffs, etc.

That being said, there are many charities who have a full paid staff... with CEOs who make six figures. If I was working for one of these organisations, I would want some re-imbursement or at the least; write offs.

 

[PCSupportGlasgow]

I don't think you do unless they gave you a receipt. There was a non profit organization near me that helped women get off the street and find jobs and they were looking for a computer person to come in once a week for 3 month and teach computer classes volunteer. They offered to give me a give me a receipt of something saying that I had spent the equivalent of my hourly charge.

They ended up moving locations and had some college students come and help out but I am not sure if that would have worked as a nonprofit "donation" or not for tax purposes.

pretty short sighted of you not actually doing it. Nice little bit of goodwill for yourself and if done correctly LOTS of FREE publicity from the local newspapers and local radio. That publicity alone would have normally cost you thousands.

 

[rjg.tech]

pretty short sighted of you not actually doing it. Nice little bit of goodwill for yourself and if done correctly LOTS of FREE publicity from the local newspapers and local radio. That publicity alone would have normally cost you thousands.

I don't think I missed out on all the advertisement because it wasn't a huge establishment and we were talking about 5-6 women. Even though I don't think the advertisement opportunity was there, I would have done it just for being able to help out. If the advertisement was there then that would have been an added bonus. I had some free time and it would have helped me get comfortable teaching.

So I had no problem doing it at the time but they moved away from my service area and when they finally ended up getting someone for the small basic classes it was months later and I no longer had the free time I once had.