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In December 2017, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision in a much-anticipated case involving the conservative-leaning Parks Foundation…
“A not-so-old joke has it that Harvard is best thought of as a hedge fund with a university attached.” The fund in question is its endowment – the lar…
Since the first days of January 2017, the party in control of both the White House and Congress has promised a major overhaul of the federal tax code.…
Until December 17, 2021, when a California appellate court published its ruling in Woods v. American Film Institute, Case No. B307220 (Cal. Ct. App.…
We continue with our coverage of the 2023 Charity Fraud Awareness Week, which kicked off on Monday, November 27th, in London. Our two most recent post…
Imagine a scene like this: A small group of people is celebrating the receipt that day of an IRS Determination Letter granting 501(c)(3), tax-exempt,…
The federal government’s fiscal year begins each October 1st. Legislators are expected to approve the funding for the next twelve months by September…
“Is my organization normal?” That’s one of the most common questions the philanthropy experts at BDO hear from organizational leaders. And becau…
There’s a good reason why even social media experts describe this phenomenon as an “untamed wild west.” Social media is a new form of communication re…
Ethics – or lack thereof – has been in the news quite a bit recently. Back in 2009, the prestigious Stanford Social Innovation Review published an art…
There’s been talk for many years about expanding the charitable deduction. But since the enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA), intere…
The corrosive effect of The Overhead Myth is well-known among board and staff of nonprofit organizations. We’ve written about it several times, most r…
The nation’s charitable organizations are subject to a dizzying array of laws: federal and non-federal, tax and non-tax. See Say What? We’re Monitored…
Some of the best information and advice about what 501(c)(3) organizations should and should not do has recently come out of the busy offices of state…
In “All Profits to Charity?: Not a 501(c)(3),” we noted that from time to time, folks come into our office with the idea of doing something like Newma…
It was “just days after a Baltimore [federal] court dropped a bombshell on the nation’s private and independent school community” that “a California f…
Last week was a big one for bipartisan Congressional action. Two major legislative packages are awaiting the President’s signature. In both cases, th…
The Internal Revenue Service’s primary mission is the administration of the federal tax laws. Part of that responsibility is guidance and education of…
It’s been about five years since the phenomenon of “rage giving” entered the public consciousness and discourse in America. “While anger may have driv…
Our two most recent posts have explored in depth an important article by Phil Buchanan and Kevin Bolduc of the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP)…
During the 2016 presidential campaign, the Republican nominee fired up his evangelical supporters with a promise to repeal the Johnson Amendment, the…
For several years, we’ve followed and reported on the saga of significant changes in federal labor-law rules that were put in place in the last year o…
It’s still raining money from the government. That’s the urgent message from the National Council of Nonprofits to the 501(c)(3)s around the United St…
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program was enacted in 2007 with high hopes. It was crafted as a win-win solution all around: debt-strapped…
An age-old question in philanthropy is whether to give publicly – with thanks and, perhaps, fanfare, – or to make an anonymous donation. For the weal…
For over a year, we’ve reported on the unprecedented phenomenon of money falling out of the sky and landing on the nation’s nonprofits. These downpour…
In mid-December 2017, when the GOP Congressional leadership was scrambling to get a tax-overhaul bill in final form – one that would meld the quite di…
Several months ago, we posted Monkey Gets Day in Court, the years-long tale about “a crested macaque monkey called Naruto [who] lived peaceably, mindi…
“It is one of the ideas with the greatest currency in philanthropy right now: More funders need to make large, unrestricted grants, and then trust non…
For many decades, affiliated nonprofit organizations have enjoyed the “administrative convenience” offered by the Internal Revenue Service’s special g…
Welcome a favorite local politician at your offices with a banner emblazoned: “Good luck on your reelection, Congressman. We love you!” That’s a sure-…
Last summer, the directors of the Berkshire Museum in lovely Pittsfield, Massachusetts, abruptly announced a momentous – previously secret – decision…
One notable consequence of the 18-months-long pandemic is that regularly-issued annual or quarterly reports are anything but routine or run-of-the-mil…
In September 2016, after several months of rhetoric by candidate Trump that he planned to “totally destroy” the Johnson Amendment, followed by adoptio…
What were the fears of philanthropy thought leaders as the ghosts and goblins swirled about a year ago? We offered a peek in More About Scary, But Urg…
Deciding to shut down a long-standing nonprofit institution is perhaps the most gut-wrenching decision a board of directors may face. But – once made…
“It’s us, your new museum.” In the midst of the pandemic, the 100-year-old San Diego Museum of Man – nestled among a dozen or so major cultural instit…
Individual-giving rates are down. Inflation is squeezing most peoples’ budgets. Uneven cash flow continues to hinder the plans and goals of many of th…
In Your Dot ORG Domain May Soon Cost More (December 4, 2019), we reported stunning news that sent shock waves in November 2019 through both the philan…
It’s 2021, and we’re still talking about The Statute of Charitable Uses of 1601. This landmark legislation – the “birth of the modern law of philanthr…
“When government regulators meet,” we wrote in a recent post, “they make lists of the most pressing topics that keep them up at night.” One such list…
There is “…ongoing tension between government regulation of the financial and political activities of U.S. organizations and their First Amendment rig…
Who among us hasn’t “unwittingly” come into possession of massive lots of looted ancient artifacts? Welcome to “The Case of the Gilgamesh Goof”: Episo…
It’s that time of year again. You’re busy with holiday preparations and celebrations and, if you’re a key member of a nonprofit’s team, you’re keeping…
Dr. Jemma King explains what’s “more concerning” to her than the sky-high levels of burnout reported by nonprofit leaders in a recent survey. It’s how…
A month ago, we featured two major new research reports with compelling – and somewhat gloomy – data about the challenges facing our community right n…
In the philanthropy sector – as in every other – the start of a new year marks an avalanche of fortune-telling: which issues that were big in the past…
In the 1980’s, the American Express company tried out an advertising technique that had not been done before. The financial services giant joined with…
There’s an important new report that presents the philanthropy sector with an intriguing analytical framework for “scenario planning” now and in the c…
Many clients ask me about whether or not they need to register their business name or newest product name as a trademark with the United States Patent…