One pain that existed for nonprofits well before the pandemic was the requirement by many mainstream financial institutions that nonprofit staff or board members provide personal social security numbers and guarantees to open an organizational credit card account.
Many nonprofits are unaware that alternatives exist. Personally guaranteeing the organization’s credit card can negatively affect the individual’s credit score. The risk runs both ways, as the guarantor’s credit behavior can also affect the nonprofit. As a matter of equity, nonprofits operating in communities and with leadership of varying wealth should not have to rely on employees or volunteers to provide a credit history and social security number in order to secure an organizational credit card.