Our Blogs
A Step In The Right Direction For The Excise Tax
In an effort to harmonize the foundation world and to avoid frequent attempts at creative re-classifications of foundations, the federal government has now ratified (with the President’s signature) a modification to Section 4940 of the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”)....
Why Celebrities* Should Steer Clear of Establishing Private Foundations
One of the great moments in a celebrity’s career is that pinnacle moment where they can do some “good”. It is actually a tremendous honor and most big celebrities do so with vigor, appreciation, passion and commitment (like they would in their professional careers) to...
California Private Family Foundations (With Family Member Employees) should consider reorganizing in Delaware
Not surprisingly, most California-based family foundations establish their charitable corporations in the State of California. And also, not unexpectedly, most board member directors of California-based family foundations consist exclusively (or almost exclusively) of...
Nonprofit Year-End Legal Checklist
While Santa is making his list and checking it twice, now is the time to do the same for your nonprofit organization! Here are a few tips to get you started and keep you off the IRS naughty list. #1 Annual Meeting Every year your nonprofit board needs to meet...
Y Combinator: Inspiring Social Enterprise
While it just happened a couple of years ago, it is very fresh that Y Combinator, the top incubator in Silicon Valley has now opened its doors to charitable and social enterprises. Who would have thought that techies wanted to save the world too! Article
Does Franchise Law Apply To Charities/ The Girls Scouts Case
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit handed down a pair of decisions in Girl Scouts of Manitou Council, Inc. (“GS Chapter”) v. Girl Scouts of the United States of America (“GS National”). In short, GS National determined that “realignment” was necessary...
How could a legal audit benefit our charity?
Legal audits can be very helpful for charities. We just finished an audit for a celebrity client of ours. Your Legal Audit should consider the following important factors: (1) Board Governance & Formality Compliance (2) Employment Policies and Procedures (3)...
4 Things You Need to Know Before Setting Up a 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Charitable Corporation
Guest post today courtesy of Deborah Sweeney, CEO of MyCorporation.com. Developing your dream 501(c)(3) nonprofit takes into consideration plenty of steps until it’s completed, starting with the incorporation process of preparing and filing your Articles of...
Should a “revoked” 501c3 org disclose this to donors?
A donor potential may have a legitimate claim for breach of fiduciary duty and fraud against both the the organization and the individual members of the Board if a deduction taken by a donor were disallowed. In addition, even if the deduction were not disallowed, a...
Why is it not business as usual for charities
The legal rules regarding UBIT are relatively important as the trend for "social enterprise" becomes more and more prevalent in both nonprofits and for profits. Due to the shrinking of governmental budgets, local, state and federal, funds are being depleted .There are...