I went to see The Pursuit of Happyness, starring Will Smith, on New Year’s Day. The movie is about Chris Gardner, a father raising his son while struggling to overcome tremendous hardships, including periods of homelessness. Rotten Tomatoes rates the movie a 68 and provides the following critical consensus: ...
onPhilanthropy’s Top Ten Stories of 2006
Happy New Year! One of my resolutions for 2007 (yes, I’m one of those people who still make resolutions) is to elevate the frequency of postings on the Nonprofit Law Blog. My first post of 2007 is the following top ten list. onPhilanthropy’s Top Ten Stories of 2006 Warren...
Executive Compensation
Section 4958(c)(1)(A) of the IRC defines an excess benefit transaction as “any transaction in which an economic benefit is provided by an applicable tax-exempt organization directly or indirectly to or for the use of any disqualified person if the value of the economic benefit provided exceeds the value of...
Fiscal Sponsorship Basics
Updated January 25, 2015 Fiscal sponsorship is an increasingly common alternative to starting a nonprofit organization. In its most common forms, it allows a group or individual to create a project that can receive grants and deductible charitable contributions without forming a nonprofit entity and/or obtaining tax-exemption. Accordingly, it’s not surprising to see...
New Exempt Organization FAQs on IRS Website
The IRS recently released 7 new FAQs about Issues of Interest to the General Public about Exempt Organizations. I found one particular answer not too helpful: Are contributions to an organization that that has not received an exemption determination letter deductible (for example, while an application is pending)? "If...
Insurance – Presentation for YNPN
On December 5, 2006, Melanie Herman, E.D. of the Nonprofit Risk Management Center, and I gave a very short presentation on insurance for the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network. I began the presentation with a discussion of liability. Liabilities Liability may be defined as a type of risk for which...
Notice 2006-109 – Interim Guidance Regarding Supporting Organizations and Donor-Advised Funds
On December 4, 2006, the IRS released Notice 2006-109, which provides interim guidance on provisions of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 that affect supporting organizations and donor-advised funds. I expect to update this post to show the nonprofit sector’s responses to the interim guidance. Click here for the...
Chronicle Reports Congress Less Likely to Pursue Nonprofit Reforms
The Chronicle of Philanthropy (November 23, 2006) reported that with the next Congress, charities "are far less likely to face new regulations that govern their operations – and they will also have a tougher time persuading Congress to pass any new incentives to stimulate charitable giving." This widely-held opinion...
IRS Exempt Organizations Division 2006 Accomplishments
The following list of accomplishments of the Exempt Organizations division of the IRS (EO) in 2006 is excerpted (and slightly modified) from the IRS Letter to colleagues, members of the press and taxpayers dated as of November 7, 2006: Political Campaign Activity. EO responded to increased complaints about political...
IRS Exempt Organizations Division 2007 Priorities
The following items are among the priorities of the IRS Exempt Organizations division (EO) for FY 2007: 1. New Projects: implementing new legislation gaming employment taxes telephone excise tax refund community foundations college and university unrelated business income tax (UBIT) 2. Form 990 redesign project. EO’s goal is to...