OUR EXPERIENCE
We serve nonprofits of all types and sizes, offering creative legal advice grounded in over 20 years of specialized experience in nonprofit law.
In addition to serving a wide variety of nonprofit organizations, our clients also include donors making significant or complex gifts, businesses forming foundations for cause-marketing campaigns, and nonprofit founders considering the best philanthropic vehicle to meet their needs.
RESOURCES
Free Guides for your Nonprofit Organization
How to Start a Nonprofit
State Registration
Nonprofit Legal Checklist
Taking minutes of nonprofit board meetings
How To Set the Compensation of Nonprofit Executives
How to Start a Nonprofit
Before you form a legal entity and apply for tax-exempt status, you need a strong, well-researched plan for your organization. Download our free guide to learn about the many elements needed to run a successful nonprofit organization, as well as how to avoid common pitfalls and mistakes.
State Registration
Most states require you to register your organization if you solicit donations from their residents. Many states also require registration if your organization collects substantial or ongoing donations from their residents, even if you aren’t specifically targeting donors in that state. Download our comprehensive list of each state’s requirements.
Nonprofit Legal Checklist
There are many legal issues specific to nonprofit organizations that can be easily prevented by taking certain steps early on in the life of the organization. For more established nonprofits, it’s a good idea to conduct a periodic review of your compliance documents, tax filings, and record keeping. We created this checklist to help you understand the items that a lawyer will assess when reviewing the overall legal health of your nonprofit organization.
Taking minutes of nonprofit board meetings
Meeting minutes are a necessary form of record-keeping for all nonprofit organizations, regardless of size. These records can be used as legal evidence by the courts, IRS, and other regulators, so it’s important to ensure minutes are properly completed and stored. But where do you start?
How To Set the Compensation of Nonprofit Executives
Executives from tax-exempt organizations can only be paid “reasonable compensation” for their services.
To avoid excise taxes, nonprofits should strongly consider increasing the time and attention they devote to investigating, deliberating, documenting, and reporting executive compensation.
CharityLawyer Blog offers plain language explanations of complex nonprofit law concepts, discussions of current events and links to valuable resources for nonprofits.
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FEATURED BLOG POSTS
- Charitable Deductions – Date of Gift Rules
The date of gift rules can be convoluted, but they are important for 501(c)(3)s to understand. 501(c)(3)s must provide receipts to donors, which include the date on which the contribution was received. Having a healthy grasp of these rules will help facilitate donor acknowledgments and ease the burden of frantic donors requesting information come year-end.
- Blockchain Applications in the Nonprofit Sector: Part IV – Cryptocurrencies
This is Part IV of a four-part series about applications of blockchain technology in the nonprofit sector. Part I of this series introduced blockchain technology generally. Part II examined smart contracts. Part III discussed decentralized autonomous organizations. In this final Part, we discuss how cryptocurrencies may reinvent nonprofit fundraising, charitable investing, and international philanthropy. What … Blockchain Applications in the Nonprofit Sector: Part IV – Cryptocurrencies Read More »
- How Should Your Nonprofit Set the Compensation of its Executives?
A nonprofit’s board of directors is responsible for establishing the compensation (salary and benefits) for the chief executive (typically referred to as either the Executive Director, the CEO, or the President). Although the IRS does not provide specific dollar amounts or an acceptable range of compensation levels, they stipulate that compensation must be reasonable and not excessive; “reasonable” is defined as the value that would ordinarily be paid for like services by like enterprises under like circumstances.
