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.
Boards of California nonprofit public benefit corporations may take actions by voting at meetings or by the unanimous written consent of all directors. Generally, a unanimous written consent takes the form of a document detailing a board action or actions signed by all the directors then in office. This...
Gene and I recently wrote an article on the Form 990 for BoardLink, a newsletter for bar association board members by the American Bar Association Division for Bar Services. In this article, we address a troubling question for many boards: What do we need to know about the Form 990? We...
Another stumble by a big corporation followed by a weak apology and statement that it will do better. The mistakes will happen. What remains distressing, however, is the typical corporation's response, and all eyes should go to the Board of Directors for the tone it establishes by such response....
On January 12, 2012, I attended the progam "Gift Acceptance Policies: Why, When, What, How, and Who" presented to the Northern California Planned Giving Council by exempt organizations attorney Barbara Rhomberg. Using the example of the Trojan Horse, Barbara quickly convinced us that not all gifts are good...
Youths represent a growing volunteer population for nonprofits and for some, a potential pool of nonprofit board members. The 2007 National Survey of Children's Health estimated that 78% of youths between 12-17 years of age had participated in at least a few volunteer work or community service events that...
On December 9, 2011, Martin Lipton's post The Spotlight on Boards was published in The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation blog. Lipton lists 15 expectations of corporate boards and 5 requirements for meeting such expectations. While the post focused on major public companies, much...
Emily and I wrote an op-ed on lessons to be learned from the The Second Mile / Sandusky Scandal published yesterday in The Chronicle of Philanthropy. We'll publish a more comprehensive version of our article in December. The child sex abuse scandal involving Jerry Sandusky, Pennsylvania State University, and The...
Last week, I had the honor and pleasure of presenting a session on Emerging Legal Questions in Today’s Boardroom at the BoardSource Leadership Forum, a national conference focused on nonprofit governance. This session addressed some of the trending legal issues for nonprofits in the areas of technology and social...
The theme of this year's BoardSource Leadership Forum is Governing Towards the Future. According to BoardSource, the Forum "is the only national conference focused on the impact of nonprofit boards and the unique role they play in advancing the public good. Every year, approximately 800 nonprofit board members, chief...
At this year’s Craigslist Foundation Boot Camp, Vance Yoshida, Senior Manager at La Piana Consulting, and Lynn Luckow, CEO of Craigslist Foundation, presented an informative session on "Governing Boards: From Good to Great." Vance and Lynn provided useful tips on a common and difficult issue for many nonprofits: how...