On January 14, 2009, Jill S. Dodd of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP and Bert W. Feuss of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation presented "UPMIFA: One Year Later" for the Northern California Planned Giving Council. UPMIFA is the acronym for the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act, which...
CALIFORNIA LAW
Electronic Communications – California Nonprofits
California law regarding electronic transmissions by a corporation will change on January 1, 2010 as a result of the passage of Assembly Bill 285. Corporations Code Section 20 currently provides that an electronic transmission by a corporation to an individual shareholder or member is not authorized unless, among other...
2009 Western Conference on Tax-Exempt Organizations – Day One
I attended the 2009 WCTEO in Los Angeles last Thursday and Friday. It’s always a great conference for professionals in the nonprofit and tax-exempt sector: impressive and knowledgeable speakers, interesting topics, and a chance to meet with peers and people you greatly admire. My only and very...
Selecting the State of Incorporation
Founders of to-be-formed nonprofit corporations may be confused about selecting an appropriate state of incorporation. The general rule of thumb is to incorporate in the state in which the nonprofit will operate. This may substantially reduce the nonprofit’s reporting requirements and associated burdens. If the nonprofit is incorporated elsewhere,...
Conversions Between a For-Profit Corporation and Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation
California allows a for-profit corporation to convert into a nonprofit public benefit corporation and vice versa provided that certain steps are followed for each respective process. For-profit corporation to Nonprofit corporation Generally, a for-profit corporation can convert to a nonprofit public benefit corporation by amending of its articles of...
California Attorney General Sues Charities, Directors & Fundraisers
From a May 29, 2009 news release from the Office of the Attorney General: As part of a nationwide crackdown on fraudulent charities, Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. is filing today eight lawsuits against 53 individuals, 17 telemarketers and 12 charities that "shamelessly exploited" people's generosity and squandered...
Board Actions by Email – California Nonprofits
While it may be common practice for nonprofit boards to take action by email voting, this may not be permissible under the California Nonprofit Corporation Law. Boards may take action only at a duly held meeting or by unanimous written consent. The issue then is whether an email vote...
California Attorney General’s Charity Search
The California Attorney General’s Registry of Charitable Trusts recently made operational a new online search feature. The new Registry Search feature allows usersto search for information on charities, charity fundraising professionals, and raffle registrants that are registered with the Registry. The Registry’s stated goal is "to make all public information in our files...
AB 624 Compromise – California Foundation Coalition Pledges $30 Million to Help Minorities
On December 22, 2008, the Foundation Coalition, a group of nine California-based foundations, pledged to collectively grant (1) in excess of $20 million – over and above ongoing commitments - to support organizations serving minority-led and other grassroots community-based organizations serving diverse and/or low-income communities; and (2) in excess of $10 million...
Purpose Statement – Nonprofit Articles of Incorporation
A charity’s articles of incorporation must limit the corporation’s purposes to one or more of the exempt purposes set forth in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code: “religious, charitable, scientific, testing for public safety, literary, or educational purposes, or to foster national or international amateur sports competition (but...