Legal Compliance Guidance

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All information on this website, and all publications, articles, email correspondence, and telephone consultations provided by Council attorneys and legal staff are intended for informational purposes only and not as part of an attorney-client relationship. Council attorneys are not licensed in every state and cannot provide legal representation. The information is not a substitute for expert legal, tax, or other professional advice tailored to your specific circumstances and may not be relied upon for the purpose of avoiding any penalties that may be imposed under the Internal Revenue Code. Council members may email legal@cof.org with inquiries and for more information.

Displaying 145 - 160 of 166 results

Can a Foundation Lawyer Serve as a Foundation Trustee?

Legal Compliance Guidance
This article explores one of the more common questions about conflicts of interest: May the foundation's lawyer serve as a trustee? Foundation Lawyer/Trustee Often, the lawyer who drafted a foundation's organizing documents stays on as counsel to the organization. He or she may be asked to serve…

Council-Endorsed D&O Insurance Program

Legal Compliance Guidance
Directors & Officers liability insurance provides financial protection for a foundation and its directors, officers, employees, and volunteers in the event of a lawsuit. Does your foundation need D&O insurance? A foundation doesn't have to be in the wrong to be sued. D&O insurance…

Nonprofit Mergers

Legal Compliance Guidance
A look at some of the legal and non-legal aspects of merging one charitable program or organization with another. Ray S. Munney, executive director of the Zenith County Community Foundation, had three meetings scheduled Tuesday morning. The first was with the new manager of a local corporation's…

Guidance on Closing a Private Foundation

Legal Compliance Guidance
There's more to closing down a private foundation than packing up and turning off the utilities. Here are some questions, considerations, and IRS directions. Sometimes it is time for a private foundation to disappear—assets may have dwindled significantly or family members no longer share a…

Creating an Inactive Funds Policy

Legal Compliance Guidance
Imagine the following scenarios: A donor advisor has not made a recommendation from a donor advised fund for two years. An agency has requested that your community foundation not make a distribution from an agency endowment until the agency requests a distribution at some point in the future. A…

U.S. Foundation Employment and Payment of Foreign Nationals and Students

Legal Compliance Guidance
Over the past decade or so, economies have become more global and the tools for communicating news from around the world have become more effective and timely in reporting global events via the internet, video and text messaging, Twitter, and Facebook, to name but a few of these tools. Foundations…

Component Funds: The Absence of Material Restrictions

Legal Compliance Guidance
This document outlines the basics of component funds, field of interest funds, donor-advised funds, and restrictions around these funds.

Intermediate Sanctions Regulations Checklist

Legal Compliance Guidance
The intermediate sanctions rules prohibit tax-exempt organizations from providing more than fair market value economic benefits to their “disqualified persons.” The intermediate sanctions rules apply to all section 501(c)(3) and section 501(c)(4) organizations except for private foundations, which…

Covering Travel Expenses of Family Members

Legal Compliance Guidance
The Stewardship Principles for Family Foundations encourage foundations to provide orientation and training for new board members and professional development for existing board members and staff. They also encourage planning for leadership continuity through activities that identify, educate and…

Pros and Cons of Sharing Board Members With Grantees

Legal Compliance Guidance
What do you do when a grantee—or potential grantee—asks someone on your board or staff to sit on their board? Does such a request constitute a conflict of interest? Are there times when such a situation can actually benefit one or both of the organizations involved? Let’s look at some of the pros…

Tangible Benefits Resulting from Grants

Legal Compliance Guidance
In the May/June 1998 issue of Foundation News & Commentary, Jane Nober wrote "That's the Ticket"  about using foundation funds to pay for tickets to fundraising events. Six years later, questions about tickets and other tangible benefits paid for by the foundation are still among the most…

Accepting Tickets from Grantees

Legal Compliance Guidance
Accepting and using tickets and other tangible benefits of more than minimal value raises questions for foundation managers. Review the general Tax Code rules to learn what is acceptable.

Public Disclosure Requirements for Foundations

Legal Compliance Guidance
Every organization exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code is required to disclose certain information to the public: The organization’s exemption application, Form 1023, is subject to public disclosure, along with any documents supporting the application and any letters from…

Compensate Your Board? Legal and Ethical Considerations

Legal Compliance Guidance
Can we pay our board members? Should we? The issue of whether to pay foundation board members is always a controversial topic. Expect the media, regulators, general public, and even your grantees to scrutinize the decisions you make. What is legal? Though the rules may vary slightly by type of…

Executive Compensation Best Practices

Legal Compliance Guidance
The Internal Revenue Code provides excise tax penalties that can be imposed by the Internal Revenue Service whenever unreasonable or excessive compensation is paid to high-level employees of charitable organizations. Over and above any legal requirements or public scrutiny, good stewards of…

Reporting and Classification of Assets Under UPMIFA

Legal Compliance Guidance
This memorandum considers whether adoption of the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act (UPMIFA) requires changes to existing guidance regarding the reporting and classification of assets held by community foundations. Current guidance is incorporated in a 1997 memorandum, Report on…

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