While it may seem intuitive for a 501(c)(3) nonprofit to openly accept gifts without question, certain gifts can result in consequences that harm the nonprofit’s mission, drain its finances, and/or damage the nonprofit’s reputation. In order to avoid such consequences, it’s best practice for nonprofits to adopt a Gift Acceptance Policy that sets forth which gifts […]
Author: Danica Hoff
Affirmative Action Plans—A Potentially Important Safeguard for Race-Based Grantmaking
Anti-discrimination laws such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 preclude organizations from making decisions on the basis of race or other protected characteristics in a variety of situations such as funding, programming and employment. See our previous posts on Title VII and Section 1981. […]
Contracts vs. Grant Agreements
When a nonprofit organization receives funding, it’s important for it to know if it should classify those incoming funds as receipts from a contract, or receipts from a grant. How the funds are categorized can lead to very different outcomes for the nonprofit organization. For example, the characterization will affect the category of expense or […]
“Friends Of” Organizations—Creating a U.S. Nonprofit that Supports a Foreign Charity
Whether it be preserving the breathtaking paintings and sculptures in the famous Louvre of Paris, feeding malnourished children in Somalia, or combatting extreme gender inequality in Saudi Arabia, there is no shortage of international causes that might compel U.S. citizens and organizations to want to donate abroad. While a donor can directly donate to a […]
Traditional Grantmaking Procedures: Are They Really All That Necessary?
I attended a seminar hosted by Exponent Philanthropy where the presenters discussed a unique approach to grantmaking that they referred to as “Catalytic Grantmaking.” The presenters suggested that many of the steps in what they identified as the “traditional grantmaking” process could be ignored to produce a quicker and more dynamic grantmaking style, but as […]
Catalytic Philanthropy
“Catalytic Philanthropy” was coined by Mark Kramer in an article he wrote for the Stanford Social Innovation Review in 2009. The article states that a grantor’s role in traditional philanthropy is typically limited to writing a check to a nonprofit and otherwise having a pretty much hands-off approach (besides its performance of the more administrative duties of managing the […]
Fundraising for Your Nonprofit in the Start-Up Phase
After a domestic nonprofit takes the first exciting steps of incorporating and filing its Application for Recognition for Exemption (Form 1023) with the IRS, it may be surprised to find out that it may take the IRS 6 months, or even much longer, to grant the nonprofit its official tax-exempt status. An organization that is […]