March 16, 2015
Accounts Payable Clerk, Dawn Brouwer, is celebrating her three year anniversary here at First Nonprofit Group this March. Dawn began working at First Nonprofit as an office assistant when a position opened up in our accounting department. Dawn’s current role in accounts payable is crucial to ensuring that our programs serve their purpose by paying members’ unemployment charges to their designated state unemployment agencies on time. Working primarily with these agencies, Dawn communicates with state representatives across the country to settle any discrepancies on our clients’ behalf.
We asked Dawn to share two frequently asked questions that she receives from members of our Unemployment Savings Program and what her responses are:
Could you explain the breakdown of our claims paid and reserve balance?
“To explain the breakdown to members, we create a custom statement for them showing claims deposits, reserve deposits, and claims paid to state for each quarter of the calendar year. To receive your organization’s custom breakdown, call us at 800-526-4352, ext. 393043.”
What is our organization’s reserve balance as of today?
“To inform the member of their to-date reserve balance, I send them a snapshot of their reserve balance found in FNG’s database. Soon members of the Unemployment Savings Program will be able to access this information online. Until then, give us a call at 800-526-4352, ext. 393048 for this information.”
Dawn received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from St. Xavier University, a college in downtown Chicago, where she met now co-worker Jenna Marvin. She worked in a Garden Center Flower shop for 6 years as a cashier where she loved hearing about the special occasions that inspired customers’ purchases. In her spare time, Dawn is a talented cross-stitcher, creating beautiful, special mementos for her friends and family, such as wedding or baby announcements. Still a resident of the southern Chicago suburb area where she grew up, Dawn enjoys spending time with her roommate, friends, and dog Iris. When summer rolls around, she is excited to go on vacation to northern Wisconsin with her family—a peaceful and beautiful get away for everyone to enjoy.
Ready to chat? Get in touch today to request a no-obligation savings evaluation.
We’ve been a member of First Nonprofit’s Unemployment Savings Program since 2011 and highly recommend joining. The program is terrific and allows us to earn interest on our own funds while still meeting the state’s requirements on unemployment payments. In addition, the staff are great and always helpful sorting out any questions we may have. Thank you all!
CCSCT was approached by First NonProfit to discuss its Unemployment Savings Program and ways the program could significantly reduce the amount of unemployment taxes we were paying. At the time, our agency was paying approximately $80,000 per year. First NonProfit conducted an analysis to determine if making the switch would be in our best interest, and it clearly was based on our circumstances. The first year on the program, CCSCT saw a 70% reduction in its unemployment costs and each year, continues to experience further reductions as a result of having minimal claims. Some additional benefits of the program including having a fixed annual cost, an interest-baring reserve account, professional unemployment claims management and representation at all unemployment hearings. This has been one of the best decisions we have made.
We first started using First Nonprofit’s Unemployment Savings Program when we were a small startup nonprofit. We didn’t have an HR department and needed expertise in the event that an unemployment claim was made. We knew we were eligible to be a reimbursing employer, but weren’t sure how to navigate that process. They made it easy to set things up, plan for, and then manage claims when they came at a very reasonable cost. The amount of time and stress they’ve saved us dealing with all this has been worth way more than the cost. We’ve now grown to a large nonprofit and do have an HR department but have no plans to stop using their services. I highly recommend them to every nonprofit I come into contact with!
Throughout our membership in the Unemployment Savings Program, First Nonprofit understood our demands, community dynamics, and the importance of seamless services; that allowed us to serve our constituents better.
Because INCS advocates for the operating conditions that allow charter public schools to provide high quality public education, partnering with First Nonprofit was an easy decision. First Nonprofit’s unemployment programs provide our member schools two operating elements crucial to their ability to provide high quality public education: savings and budget certainty. Capable, committed teachers are the key to student success. By participating in the unemployment insurance savings plan, charter public schools gain peace of mind and are able to invest more money in their teachers.
It has been our sincere pleasure to maintain a strong, vibrant business partnership with First Nonprofit. We greatly admire their strong industry knowledge, technical expertise, constant professionalism, knowledgeable and dedicated staff. They are always extremely responsive, personable and provide us with the necessary guidance and recommendations on a numerous variety of employment scenarios.
NYCON members who use First Nonprofit’s programs enjoy enduring savings and improved efficiency. Our association knows that success, because from the beginning, we achieved the same great benefits. Great savings, seamless technology, and responsive service. NYCON highly recommends First Nonprofit’s remarkable unemployment solutions.
Visually Impaired Preschool Services has been a client of First Non-Profit since it was first offered as a benefit of VisionServe Alliance. We completed a thorough evaluation of cash savings to our agency before taking advantage of this wonderful benefit and it has been a very wise decision. Our experience with the processes from accounting to claims have been professional, expeditious and easy.