Nonprofit Law Blog

By NEO Law Group

BOARDS / GOVERNANCE

An engaged board can be one of the most important organizational assets of a nonprofit. But nonprofit boards are often underutilized and are not always effective in significantly advancing an organization’s mission. Educating boards and executives about their legal duties, practical steps to take to effectively meet those duties, and best practices in mitigating exposure to organizational and personal liability/harm is key to establishing board engagement and effectiveness.

Bylaws: Indemnification

Published on: September 8, 2021September 8, 2021 by Gene Takagi

Indemnification in the context of nonprofit bylaws generally refers to how the nonprofit will protect its directors and other agents in the event they are sued for acting in their capacity as agents of the nonprofit. More specifically, indemnification is an assurance by the organization to make good an...

Nonprofit Radio: Your 5-Point, 1-Hour Legal Audit

Published on: July 7, 2021July 6, 2021 by Gene Takagi

I spoke with host Tony Martignetti on his Nonprofit Radio podcast about a quick legal audit executives or boards can perform on their organizations. This follows a recent post we published on the One Hour Nonprofit Legal Audit. But on the program, we were able to discuss each of these elements in...

Key Governance Report: Leading With Intent – DEI Provisions

Published on: June 29, 2021June 29, 2021 by Gene Takagi

Following up on our post on the recently published Leading With Intent: BoardSource Index of Nonprofit Board Practices, we explore some of the findings highlighted in BoardSource’s companion report Leading with Intent: Reviewing the State of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion on Nonprofit Boards. Key Findings Boards may be getting slightly...

Key Nonprofit Governance Report: Leading With Intent

Published on: June 23, 2021June 27, 2021 by Gene Takagi

Last week, BoardSource published its highly anticipated governance report Leading With Intent: BoardSource Index of Nonprofit Board Practices. This report highlights the results of BoardSource’s latest biennial study on nonprofit governance structures, practices, and performance. Key Findings Boards are disconnected from the communities and people they serve. Almost half (49%)...

One Hour Nonprofit Legal Audit

Published on: May 11, 2021June 29, 2021 by Gene Takagi

Here are five key compliance areas a nonprofit public charity can review in one hour. If there are past compliance issues, it would be best to confer with a knowledgable attorney. But ensuring that you are doing these things correctly moving forward will strengthen your organization and your confidence...

Georgetown Nonprofit Governance 2021 – Part 2

Published on: April 18, 2021April 18, 2021 by Gene Takagi

This is our second post on Georgetown Law’s annual nonprofit governance conference held virtually last week – 2021 Nonprofit Board Governance: Identifying Issues, Assessing Effectiveness, Managing for Organizational Success. Here are more highlights from Day One: The Board’s Role Anne Wallestad, CEO of BoardSource, discussed the role of the board of...

Georgetown Nonprofit Governance: Where Was the Board?

Published on: April 15, 2021April 15, 2021 by Gene Takagi

Georgetown Law’s annual nonprofit governance conference was held virtually earlier this week – 2021 Nonprofit Board Governance: Identifying Issues, Assessing Effectiveness, Managing for Organizational Success. The opening session was presented by James G. Sheehan, Chief of the New York Attorney General’s Charities Bureau, and Anne Wallestad, CEO of Board...

Purpose-Driven Board Leadership, Legally Speaking

Published on: March 29, 2021April 2, 2021 by Gene Takagi

Last month, the Stanford Social Innovation Review published a groundbreaking article on nonprofit governance authored by Anne Wallestad, CEO of BoardSource: The Four Principles of Purpose-Driven Board Leadership. The article focuses on the board’s obligation to prioritize decision-making and direction-setting on the organization’s charitable purpose, even ahead of the...

Nonprofit Radio: Building Your Best Better Board

Published on: March 25, 2021March 25, 2021 by Gene Takagi

I spoke with host Tony Martignetti on his Nonprofit Radio podcast about building your best better board. Our discussion stemmed from a blog post I wrote on Setting Up an Effective Nonprofit Board, though we focused on existing nonprofits rather than startups. Board roles – Financial oversight is of course important but...

Setting Up an Effective Nonprofit Board

Published on: March 11, 2021March 11, 2021 by Gene Takagi 1 Comment

Nonprofit founders and executives rely upon the corporation’s directors (board members) to set the tone and example for the corporation’s operations, vision, and values. Without an effective and supportive board, corporations can become overly reliant on a single leader, which limits how far the corporation can go in advancing...