Debt Recovery Techniques for Non-Profit Organizations

Non-profit organizations play key roles in society and come in many different types. Some involve schools, religion, business, politics, social clubs, and more. In other words, non-profits represent a cross-section of society and aren’t limited to one narrow field.

Once revenues exceed expenses, the money collected needs to go towards its cause rather than be collected privately. That’s what characterizes and defines a non-profit. While some non-profits apply for tax exemption or qualify to receive tax-deductible contributions, they don’t all get this status.

Because of these structural strictures, non-profits don’t tend to have bundles of cash in reserve for a rainy day. On a good day, the budgets are tight. What happens if they’re owed money, but the payment is delayed? What if it never comes?

Few businesses or institutions can withstand the operational disruption of functioning without the money they’re owed. Non-profits often have smaller margins and need to run a lean operation. Thankfully, experienced collection professionals are there to help them run smoothly and get the money that should be in their accounts.

Here are some of the ways that Summit Collections helps non-profits.

Skip Tracing Department

When organizations face an account that won’t pay up, they need to make a difficult choice: Is it worth investing more time and money to potentially recoup some or all of what they’re owed, or should they cut their losses and let it go? Usually, most companies and institutions rely on their in-house team to collect such debts, which seldom have the training or time to pursue them.

Summit Collects is proud to be a rare debt collection service for businesses and non-profits in the US to offer clients our skip tracing department led by a fully licensed in-house private investigator. Between their expertise and access to leading local databases, they can find debtors who don’t want to be found more effectively than agencies relying on free searches.

Non-profits need to minimize the time spent on finding debtors and their assets. Our skip tracing service is included with no additional cost, which is also rare in the industry. Non-profits won’t have to calculate the odds of tracking down someone trying to stay lost and gamble that the money spent on locating them will eventually pay off.

They know which levers to pull, which buttons to push, and how reporting to a credit bureau can make people who were ducking in the weeds suddenly appear. Accounts receivable shouldn’t hold back your non-profit.

Full-Service Litigation

What happens when a non-profit runs into a wall, one where they can find the debtor, but they just won’t pay? Should they splurge on bringing matters to court and cross their fingers that it works?

Summit Collects will exhaust every possible option first and only use litigation as a last resort. But we can handle all claims confidently and firmly, and we’ll have a licensed private investigator do thorough due diligence first on the debtor, guaranteeing that only the most necessary cases with probable chances of recovery will go to litigation.

The lead-up to the investigation will determine if recovery is likely. If it isn’t, you won’t pay anything! If it yields information that assists the collection efforts, we’ll return to non-litigation collection methods.

If the investigation justifies litigation, you can decide whether or not to pursue it. We won’t move forward without your permission. If you decide litigation is right, it’s possible that the debtor will be on the hook for all costs borne by our affiliated attorneys, and you’ll receive all the amount you’re due.  

It’s an upside-down system if taking legal action for unpaid debt costs you the money you’re owed.

Credit Bureau Reporting

Summit Collections always treats people with respect and dignity, yet we recoup debts double the national industry average. We’ve found that most people are way more likely to repay a debt when they know that the failure to do so has costs, like a dip in their credit rating.

This is one of our primary collection tools, but not every non-profit uses it. If they did, they wouldn’t be reporting these delinquent customers to accounts receivable.

Sometimes, it’s tricky to get the money owed because they want to maintain relationships with donors, and non-profits may feel like relations fray when they ask for money, even if it’s owed to them, and that’s what both sides agreed to.

Let us get in the middle of it and relieve you of this awkward, uncomfortable task. Non-profit leaders should be focusing on their organization, not collecting debts that were supposed to be settled already.

Accounts Receivable Consulting

Seasoned accounts receivable professionals can help non-profits implement best practices and provide insights to improve cash flow while reducing bad debt lay-offs. Improving the way non-profits operate may solve their debt collection problems before they arise.

We’ve consulted for a range of organizations, large and small. No matter how efficient your processes are, there are likely places that can be improved. Keep more cash on hand without damaging customer retention by ensuring your debt collection processes are as good as they can be.

The only thing better than successfully hiring a collection agency is not needing their services because your standard operation has things worked out. We can empower non-profits in whichever way they see fit. Sometimes, this means taking pre-emptive action to ensure their debt collection fundamentals are sound.

Non-profits fulfill functions that businesses or for-profit institutions can’t. They play a vital role in society in countless ways, and we couldn’t function without them. They transcend things like religion or partisan politics, unifying a society that can feel quite fractured at times.

It’s only fair that they have practices in place to ensure their accounts receivable render them viable and let them operate and function properly. If your non-profit needs help to track down debts or to prevent outstanding debts from occurring, call Summit Collects today.