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Our firm has a long, distinguished
history of servicing the nonprofit sector. In 1990,
we formalized our specialization through the formation
of our Nonprofit Services Group. Currently, our group
ranks as one of the largest CPA practices in the Delaware
Valley dedicated exclusively to researching, educating,
and serving the needs of nonprofits. Over the years,
we have consulted with hundreds of nonprofit organizations.
Currently, we work with over 150 nonprofit organizations,
and our clients include trade associations, private
schools, schools for the disabled, social health and
welfare organizations, long term care providers, and
private foundations. Many of the schools for the disabled
and health and welfare organizations receive some type
of government or foundation grants and as such have
government and private compliance reporting requirements;
we specialize in addressing these compliance needs as
well as advising on how our clients go about securing
these types of funds. We recently expanded our Nonprofit
Services Group to include other advisors who routinely
work with nonprofits. This is to ensure that Mercadien
has a well rounded perspective on the issues affecting
the nonprofit sector. Our outside advisers are
Frances McElhill, Esq. of Archer & Greiner, Zack
Warringer, CFP of
The Loff Group - Merrill Lynch Financial Advisory Team.
We pride ourselves in our ability to remain at the forefront
of issues affecting the nonprofit sector. As accountability
and transparency remain priorities for this sector (currently
there are over 1.5 million tax-exempt organizations
registered with the IRS, according to the National Center
for Charitable Statistics), we perceive our responsibility
to our nonprofit clients to include educating them on
the issues affecting their management and reporting
responsibilities and taking an active role in advocating
for best practices without creating such complexity
and cost that all benefit is eroded. Our desire is to
bring practical solutions to our clients and represent
the sector in various government and legislative initiatives.
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The Nonprofit Organization
Nonprofits have been
broadly defined as voluntary organizations formed
to fulfill a social mission or public benefit.
Such organizations generally are formed by individuals
in a community who join together to serve clients
or the community.
Although many organizations are formed at the
grassroots level, nonprofit organizations make
up 5% of the gross domestic product of the U.S.
For the most part, they receive funding from
sources other than their clients. Accordingly,
they are accountable to those resource providers
for stewardship of the funds they receive.
In addition, nonprofits are accountable to a
variety of regulators, standard setters, advocacy
groups and selected professional groups. Thus,
in addition to being responsible for managing
the delivery of services, the management of
these organizations must continually be alert
to the needs of society.
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