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News and Avoiding Scams

Hurricane Relief - Donor Beware!
News and Avoiding Scams

Hurricane Relief – Donor Beware!

Familiarize yourself with the organization, its mission, and its effectiveness before giving. Always ask for information in writing “ be wary if an organization will not provide information about charitable programs and finances upon request. Any legitimate organization will be happy to send you information. Check guidestar.org to review the organization’s financial data and learn more about its mission and finances. Understand that its common for scammers to set-up websites with confusing similar names to well-known charities to steal personal information from those trying to donate. Scammers are also known to set up fake GoFundMe accounts.

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Managing Conflicts of Interest
News and Avoiding Scams

Conflicts of Interest and the Golden Age for Shenanigans

The first step to managing conflicts is the disclosure of conflicts. If decision-makers are not required to disclose their conflicts, then there is no way to ensure that their decisions are not tainted by self-interest. Even the most well-meaning individuals can have their decision-making clouded by competing interests. The only way to ensure conflicts are properly managed is to disclose those conflicts and recuse oneself from the decision-making process when conflicts arise.

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Mission-related Investing
News and Avoiding Scams

IRS Guidance Breathes New Life Into Mission-Related Investing

Foundations are required to expend approximately 5% of their assets for charitable purposes each year. The other 95% is invested to generate distributable income for future years. Historically, foundations have struggled with the idea of making riskier investments that further their charitable purposes, but do not qualify as a PRI because a significant purpose of the investment is the production of income or the appreciation of property.

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CharityLawyer
News and Avoiding Scams

Best of CharityLawyer 2014

At the end of each year we like to look back at our most popular posts to evaluate what our readers are finding most interesting and useful on the blog. What follows is a list of CharityLawyer’s Top 10 posts for 2014 measured by page views

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Change Government Regulations
News and Avoiding Scams

Senate Finance Committee Report Suggests Ways to Change Government Regulations

On June 13, 2013, the Senate Finance Committee released a cooperative, bipartisan report comprised of suggestions on how (and why) to change government regulations on tax-exempt/nonprofit organizations and on the rules of charitable giving. The Committee’s Report set forth a number of issues that need to be addressed in the nonprofit and charitable giving arena, and offer a number of potential solutions.

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Benefit Corporation
News and Avoiding Scams

CLG is Proud to be a B!

We are often asked “ what exactly is a B Corporation? B Corporations are a new kind of company that uses the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. You can think of a B Corporation certification as analogous to a Fair Trade or LEED certification, but for a business instead of a bag of coffee or a building.

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Arizona is the latest state to enact benefit corporation legislation. Arizona recently passed benefit corporation legislation (SB 1238). Arizona joins fifteen other jurisdictions including California, New York, and the District of Columbia that have already passed legislation. While the new law is not effective until December 31, 2014, the Arizona benefit corporation offers social entrepreneurs an important new option to consider when forming a new venture.
News and Avoiding Scams

Arizona Adopts the Benefit Corporation

Arizona recently passed benefit corporation legislation (SB 1238). Arizona joins fifteen other jurisdictions including California, New York and the District of Columbia that have already passed legislation. While the new law is not effective until December 31, 2014, the Arizona benefit corporation offers social entrepreneurs an important new option to consider when forming a new venture.

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