Recently, the IRS, state Attorney Generals, and charity watchdog groups have raised concerns regarding the payment of excessive compensation to charity executives.  For example, the redesigned Form 990 includes numerous questions regarding compensation and related practices.  The IRS has sent compensation questionnaires to thousands of hospitals and universities.  Recently, Protect the Hershey’s Children sent a letter to the IRS Commissioner, Senate Finance Committee, and Pennsylvania Department of Banking alleging board compensation abuses at the Milton Hershey Trust School and Milton Hershey School. 

I believe it is likely that charities will continue to experience heightened scrutiny of executive compensation from the public, IRS, and Attorney Generals, especially in light of the additional compensation data that is now available on the Form 990.  In addition to negative publicity, payment of excessive executive compensation may result in loss of the charity’s exempt status (private inurement), the imposition of excise taxes on the executive who received and the directors who approved the compensation (excess benefit or self-dealing rules), and other potential penalties imposed by the state Attorney General. 

So what can your charity do to protect itself against scrutiny?  The answer is simple – follow the procedures set forth in the Treasury Regulations!  (more…)

Charitable organizations receive all types of donations, including cash,  personal property, and even business interests.  Often times, the charity is so excited about a potential gift that no diligence is completed prior to acceptance, and failure to complete diligence on gifts can turn out to be costly.    Take gifts of real property – these are very common and can be financially beneficial to a charity.  However, without completing diligence, the charity may find that it now owns a superfund site.   Another not-so-obvious example is a donation of stock.  Although most donated stock is marketable, certain types of stock, including stock in an S corporation (usually small, family owned corporations), are not.  This post explores the implications of a charity accepting gifts of S corporation stock.  

Subchapter S corporations can only have certain types of shareholders.  Generally, these “permissible shareholders” include individuals (who are not nonresident aliens), estates, certain trusts, and certain exempt organizations.  We will focus on the permissible exempt organization shareholder. (more…)

As contributions and grants have decreased, many organizations must get creative to raise the necessary funds to further their exempt purposes.  One common method of raising additional funds includes gaming activities, such as raffles, sweepstakes, contests, and 50-50 drawings.  Before engaging in any gaming activities, however, it is critical for your organization to analyze applicable state and federal law.   For example, certain gaming activities are strictly prohibited under state law (e.g., such activities may constitute an illegal lottery).  Certain gaming activities may be permitted but are often limited to specific organizations, such as Section 501(c)(3) organizations.  In addition, most states impose registration, licensing, and reporting obligations before an organization may conduct gaming activities.  It is important to consult with a professional familiar with each applicable state’s laws before conducting gaming activities. 

With respect to federal tax law, the IRS warns that “[a]ll exempt organizations conducting or sponsoring gaming activities, whether for one night of the year or throughout the year … must be aware of the federal requirements for Income Tax, Employment Tax and Excise Tax.”  IRS Publication 3079, “Gaming Publication for Tax-Exempt Organizations”.  These issues include the application of the unrelated business income tax, the potential obligation to provide Form W-2G, Certain Gambling Winnings and/or withhold taxes, and the application of excise taxes imposed on certain forms of wagering.  In addition to tax implications, certain record keeping and filing obligations may be imposed.  Before initiating any gaming activities, therefore, it is also important to seek the advice of a tax adviser who is knowledgeable regarding these rules.  For additional information regarding the applicable federal tax laws, please see IRS Publication 3079, IRS Notice 1335, and IRS Notice 1340.

We frequently get asked by new and existing nonprofit organizations about directors and officers liability insurance (“D&O Insurance”). Should you obtain coverage? Is it worth the cost?

Yes, you should explore obtaining D&O Insurance. If you want to recruit high-quality directors, you may find that they will not serve on your board without seeing a copy of your policy. They want to know that they will be protected. In addition, their employers may not allow them to serve on your board unless you have D&O Insurance.

On a related note, you might also want to review your organizational documents for provisions that indemnify your directors and officers against certain acts. The same potential directors who want to see a copy of your D&O Insurance policy may also want to see your indemnification provisions.

There are a number of organizations, some of them nonprofit themselves, that provide affordable D&O Insurance to nonprofit organizations of all sizes. When discussing your policy, make sure that you understand its terms and the acts it actually covers.

Tax-exempt organizations that fail to file Form 990 (including Form 990-EZ and Form 990-N) for three consecutive years will automatically lose their tax-exempt status.  The IRS announced today that it is providing one-time relief to small charities to file a delinquent Form 990-N or Form 990-EZ and retain their tax-exempt status even though they failed to file for three consecutive years.  This one-time relief is available for Form 990-N (e-Postcard) and Form 990-EZ filers only. 

Small organizations that are required to file Form 990-N (e-Postcard) and whose Form 990-Ns are due on or after May 17 and on or before October 15 can maintain their tax-exempt status by filing the delinquent Form 990-N by October 15, 2010.

Other small organizations who are eligible to file Form 990-EZ (but not the Form 990-N) can use a one-time voluntary compliance program (VCP) to come back into compliance. To be eligible to participate in the VCP, an organization must:

The IRS website includes a list of organizations that may be in jeopardy of losing their exempt status.  For more information regarding this relief, please visit the IRS website by clicking here.

For a variety of reasons, several nonprofits have undergone mergers or consolidations over the last year or so.  At the same time, both the IRS and Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) have issued guidance on mergers of non-profit organizations.  So, although these rules are not brand new, they are relatively new and relevant for many exempt organizations.  IRS Publication 4779  describes the IRS rules and FASB Statement No. 164 (which you can access here after free registration) details the accounting rules.  A thoroughly-researched summary of each is located here.  For those of you with little time, I hereby summarize the requirements with brevity: (1) notify the IRS of any merger by filing a final Form 990, (2) have someone smart–preferably an accountant–explain FASB Statement No. 164 and (3) try to say “Financial Accounting Standards Board” 5 times fast.

The Form 990 includes numerous governance and management questions.   A brief summary of the more significant governance and management questions are provided below. The IRS has indicated that, although a negative response to a question on the Form 990 will not necessarily result in an audit, the IRS will use such negative responses in conjunction with other information on the Form 990 to determine whether further inquiry is necessary.  It is important for the leadership of public charities to become familiar with these provisions and should analyze each of the following:

• Records Management Program – Form 990 asks whether the organization has a written document retention and destruction policy. Nonprofit corporations should adopt a document retention and destruction policy, along with a records retention schedule, utilizing the standards under Sarbanes-Oxley, 18 U.S.C. 1512(c), and the new Federal Rules of Civil Procedure regarding e-Discovery, Fed. R. Civ. P. 34. Such a policy should cover the responsibilities of staff, volunteers, board members, and outsiders to maintain, store, or dispose of the organization’s records.
• Whistleblower Protection Policy – Form 990 asks whether the organization has a whistleblower policy. Nonprofit corporations should adopt a whistleblower policy, utilizing the standards under Sarbanes-Oxley, 18 U.S.C. 1513(e), that identifies specific staff members, board members, or outside parties to whom a staff member or volunteer can report information on illegal practices or violations of organization policy. (more…)