By NEO Law Group
You’ve got an idea for making the world a better place, and you want to start a 501(c)(4) nonprofit social welfare organization as the means to do so. In contrast to a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, a 501(c)(4) organization may engage in unlimited lobbying in furtherance of its social welfare...
Beginning on January 1, 2016, a “commercial fundraiser” in California is defined as any individual, corporation, unincorporated association, or other legal entity who for compensation does any of the following: Solicits funds, assets, or property in this state for charitable purposes. As a result of a solicitation of funds, assets, or property...
Effective as of January 1, 2016, new regulations related to administrative enforcement of violations of the Supervision of Trustees and Fundraisers for Charitable Purposes Act go into effect. We wrote about the regulations when they were first proposed (see our post explaining our opposition to the regulations here). Also...
On September 30, 2015, Governor Brown signed into law Assembly Bill No. 557, making amendments to the laws governing dissolution of California nonprofits. The amendments, which will become effective on January 1, 2016, essentially create two new sets of dissolution procedures for California nonprofits: an automatic dissolution process...
The social purpose corporation is one of two “hybrid” corporate forms in California that provide alternative business entity options to entrepreneurs who want to combine profitability with broader social and environmental objectives (the other is the benefit corporation). Formerly known as the flexible purpose corporation, the social purpose corporation...
Determining the appropriate amount of compensation to pay an executive is one of the most important decisions a board is asked to make. Board members must balance budgetary concerns with the need to find a qualified candidate. Traditionally, it was not uncommon for nonprofits to expect executives to work...
UPDATE (10/31/15): UNFORTUNATELY, THESE REGULATIONS WERE PROMULGATED AND WILL BE EFFECTIVE AS OF JANUARY 1, 2016. WE WILL BE FOLLOWING UP WITH A POST ON THE IMPORTANCE OF MAKING NONPROFITS AWARE OF THE NEW RULES AND OF INCORPORATING AN ANNUAL CHECKLIST AS PART OF EVERY BOARD CALENDAR. In a...
California requires a charity subject to its registration requirements to submit its IRS Form 990 including Schedule B (Schedule of Contributors) with its annual registrations to the Registry of Charitable Trusts. The list of major contributors, which remains confidential pursuant to current policy and proposed regulations*, may not be redacted from the filing. While the...
On February 26, 2015, Erin and I recorded a webinar for Continuing Education of the Bar – California on Nonprofit Law: Hot Topics. It’s an intermediate-level one-hour CLE program available here. Providing counsel to nonprofits requires knowledge and understanding of corporate and tax laws that are often not intuitive or...
Erin and I will be presenting a program on Nonprofit Law: Hot Topics for Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB) – State Bar of California livecast on Thursday, February 26 from noon to 1 p.m. The following description of our program is on the CEB website. Providing counsel to nonprofits...