By NEO Law Group
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.
As readers of this blog may be aware, I’m a big fan of the governance model known as Purpose-Driven Board Leadership (PDBL). If you’re not familiar with PDBL, it follows four basic principles: PDBL in Context It’s important to understand that PDBL does not fully inform the roles and...
The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) and National Association of State Charities Officials (NASCO) held their 2024 Charities Conference on October 8-10. This conference is the sole annual event at which charity regulators and nonprofit organizations and their attorneys, accountants, fundraisers, and advisers can meet, learn about, and...
Many nonprofits do not distinguish between the two types of legal committees under the California Nonprofit Corporation Law: board committees and committees that are not board committees (“other committees”). Sometimes, there may be no issues raised by conflating these two different bodies within a nonprofit corporation. But other times,...
We have previously written about prudent investment rules that apply to charities with respect to their institutional funds (including endowment funds) under the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act (UPMIFA), including here. One of the important factors in selecting and managing investments is the amount that is intended...
Charitable nonprofits organizations (“charities”) are subject to state prudent investment laws as we have previously written about here. The most important of these laws is the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act (UPMIFA) applicable in 49 states (all except Pennsylvania) and DC. UPMIFA and Management and Investment Factors...
I’ve been writing and speaking on the responsibilities of virtually all nonprofits and their leaders to consider climate change (and pollution) in planning and decision-making. See, for example, What’s Your Nonprofit Doing to Fight Climate Change? Expectedly, I’ve received some push back from attorneys and others about the requirement...
The question of a nonprofit’s future needs and impact raises a couple of related concepts: intergenerational equity and longtermism. Of course, all planning involves thinking about the future – whether it be in designing programs, fundraising, marketing, budgeting, investing, advocating, collaborating, or engaging in myriad things that are necessary...
Nonprofits exist to advance their mission. That seems simple enough. As does the corresponding statement: the mission is the reason for a nonprofit’s existence. The public expression of the mission is typically a short, pithy phrase that is part of the leadership’s elevator pitch. Below are a few examples...
The State Bar of Texas is holding its 22nd Annual Course: Governance of Nonprofit Organizations on August 15-16 in Austin. There will also be a webinar replay of the Course on September 12-13. MCLE: 12.5 hours. The agenda includes the following sessions: Government-affiliated Nonprofits, The Universe of 501 Organizations,...
Governance and climate change. More attention is being given to the interplay of these seemingly unrelated issues, including at the upcoming 2024 Stanford Social Innovation Review Nonprofit Management Institute – What’s Next for the Social Sector? This year’s conference, taking place on September 17-18, is organized as a hybrid, allowing...