Author: Michele Berger

Human Resources Committee

Published on: by Michele Berger

The board of directors of a nonprofit corporation has the power to create committees at its discretion, subject to the organization's bylaws and the laws of the state of incorporation. While not appropriate for every corporation, committees may be particularly useful in managing the various responsibilities of the board and helping to create efficient and […]

Nonprofit Overhead: Good and Bad

Published on: by Michele Berger 2 Comments

Last Friday, Gene was on Nonprofit Radio discussing examples of good and bad overhead following host Tony Martignetti’s interview with the three signatories to The Overhead Myth letter.  The growing rejection of the myth that overhead is a good way to measure a charitable organization’s value is a promising trend.  The overhead myth has long […]

Starting a Nonprofit: The Value of Making the 501(h) Lobbying Election

Published on: by Michele Berger 3 Comments

Lobbying is one of the most underutilized tools available to a charity to advance its mission. Making the very simple 501(h) election is a painless way for most charities to increase their lobbying activities for stronger environmental protections, education reforms, access to health care, and a variety of other causes, with less uncertainty and clearly […]

Executive on the Board: Some Pros and Cons

Published on: by Michele Berger

  The governance structure in a corporation, whether nonprofit or for-profit, consists of an executive who reports to a board of directors. The executive and the board have distinct responsibilities: management and governance, respectively. But there are areas in which those responsibilities blur, and that can result in tension and potential conflict. This dynamic can […]

Unrelated Business Income Tax Explained

Published on: by Michele Berger 2 Comments

In order to qualify as a tax-exempt organization under IRC Section 501(c)(3), an organization must be operated primarily for tax-exempt purposes. This parameter allows such nonprofit organizations to engage in a limited amount of business activity unrelated to the organization’s exempt purposes. Although a public charity generally does not pay taxes on income from activities […]

Delaware Public Benefit Corporation Signed Into Law

Published on: by Michele Berger

Yesterday, Delaware Governor Jack Markell signed Senate Bill 47, creating a new corporate form called the public benefit corporation. Delaware is the 19th state to enact benefit corporation legislation, which enables business leaders to consider public interest and societal impact in addition to profit when making business decisions. Delaware public benefit corporations must identify one […]

California Youth Equality Act Aimed at Boy Scouts of America

Published on: by Michele Berger

      Nonprofit organizations may obtain recognition of federal tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. In California, the corresponding provision for state tax exemption is Section 23701d of the Revenue and Taxation Code. Section 23701d is very similar to Section 501(c)(3) and states the following: "Corporations, community chests or trusts, […]

Changing a Nonprofit’s Mission

Published on: by Michele Berger

    A nonprofit’s mission describes the purpose and reason for being of the organization. Although a mission statement should always be consistent with the nonprofit’s “specific purpose statement” described in the Articles of Incorporation, the mission statement is generally crafted with an eye to the public. A well-conceived mission statement motivates donors, inspires volunteers, […]