Nonprofits have a compelling negotiating tool that pairs employee debt relief with long-term employee commitment (at least to the sector) and doesn’t cost the nonprofit anything.
Donations Benefiting Individuals
Donors wishing to help the victims of a tragedy, a serious illness, or other major hardship are often surprised to learn that gifts earmarked for specific individuals are not tax deductible as charitable contributions. This rule catches many donors off guard as it is not intuitive that gifts made to individuals who are clearly in need would not be considered charitable.
Don’t Forget to File Form 990
The Form 990 filing deadline is coming up May 15 for tax-exempt organizations filing taxes on a calendar year basis.
Nonprofits and Affiliated Entities
Increasingly, nonprofits are creating affiliate organizations such as entities to hold real property, taxable subsidiaries that run unrelated businesses, lobbying organizations, foundations, chapters, and even management organizations. There are myriad reasons to create affiliates but there are a number of common scenarios that we will touch in this post.
Nonprofit Law Jargon Buster – What is a Group Exemption?
The group exemption permits a central or parent organization to certify that each subordinate qualifies for exemption and to include it under its umbrella for tax-exemption purposes. The process is designed to reduce paperwork for both taxpayers and the IRS where affiliated entities are similar in their purpose, structure and operations.
The Arizona Entity Restructuring Act
Prior to passage of AREA, an entity seeking to change its structure likely had to undergo a multi-step transaction to accomplish its goal. AREA permits direct conversions and makes clear that it applies to all entity types (corporations, nonprofits, benefit corporations, LLCs, partnerships, etc.).
Top Five Nonprofit Legal Risks
Too often, we see nonprofits signing contracts that are presented to them by vendors without appropriate legal review. Many vendors use form contracts that are extremely one sided in the vendor’s favor on the theory that many clients will sign whatever is given to them without scrutinizing the terms.
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
Here Comes the Arizona Benefit Corporation
Going into effect January 1, 2015, the Arizona benefit corporation statute will enable entrepreneurs to form a corporation unlike anything Arizona has seen before. Benefit corporations enable social entrepreneurs to create a corporate structure requiring the corporation to create a general public benefit. As with anything new, its details are untested and some confusion surrounds it. Below we dig into the statute and detail what you will and will not be able to do in 2015.
Quid Pro Quo Gifts – Valuing Benefits Provided to Donors
The nonprofit should not estimate the value of a donor’s non-cash contribution. The nonprofit is under no obligation to appraise the value of a contribution and should not attempt to do so. The burden of valuing the contribution rests solely on the donor.
Student Discipline Policies and the Dept of Ed’s Office for Civil Rights
The Guidance is clear – charter schools must have nondiscriminatory student discipline policies implemented in a nondiscriminatory manner. The Guidance draws a distinction familiar in the area of employment law: disparate treatment and disparate impact. Under Title IV and VI of the Civil Rights Act as well as under Arizona law, charter schools must create and enforce a nondiscriminatory student discipline policy.
Choice of Domicile for Nonprofit Corporations
Over the years we have worked with organizations in many different states and have had the chance to form some opinions about choice of domicile for nonprofits. Some of the factors that have influenced our thoughts on this matter include states requiring mandatory audits, multiple agencies overseeing nonprofits, unclear statutes governing nonprofit corporations, and aggressive regulation.
To Pay or Not to Pay – Compensating Nonprofit Founders
Many founders feel guilty accepting reasonable compensation from the nonprofit they have nurtured but if they continue to forgo a reasonable salary, they risk erecting a house of cards that will fall apart as soon as they burn out.
New 1023-EZ Form Simplifies Applying for 501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt Status
Today, the Internal Revenue Service released the new Form 1023-EZ application form to reduce processing delays and help small charities apply for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status more easily.
DIY Nonprofit Law – Top Five Mistakes
The state form does not include the tax provisions that the IRS requires tax-exempt organizations to have. Would be founders that file using the state’s form Articles of Incorporation without including an attachment with the appropriate tax provisions will end up with a taxable nonprofit – a result almost no one intends.
Corporate Structure – One Size Does Not Fit All
I am fortunate to represent a number of established and growing nonprofits, some of which are expanding into new geographic areas and new markets or scaling up their existing operations to meet demand. I am often asked to advise them on how best to structure their organizations to accommodate growth. Invariably, my answer is the classic lawyer answer – “it depends.”
IRS Introduces Form 1023-EZ
The goal of the streamlined application process is to permit small charities without complex issues to get up and running more quickly. The streamlined application will also permit the IRS to spend less time reviewing applications and more time focusing its energies on monitoring compliance for organizations that have been approved.
Managing Donor Restricted Gifts
Giving donors the power to restrict their gifts for a specific purpose or program or to restrict the timing and amount of expenditures can be a powerful giving incentive. Restrictions give donors comfort that their gift will be used as they envision.
10 Questions To Ask Before You Join A Nonprofit Board
While board service can be one of the most rewarding ways to give back, a bad fit or poor performance can lead to a difficult and even potentially costly board service experience.
IRS Posts Standard Form 1023 Questions
The IRS has posted in links to the questions Exempt Organizations specialists are instructed to ask in relation to various issues raised by applications for exemption and miscellaneous determination requests.