Corporate Giving Programs and Foundations
Corporate Philanthropy refers to the investments and activities a company voluntarily undertakes to responsibly manage and account for its impact on society. It includes investments of money, donations of products, in-kind services and technical assistance, employee volunteerism, and other business transactions to advance a social cause, issue, or the work of a nonprofit organization. Corporate foundations and corporate giving programs traditionally play a major role in these areas.
Due to the large number of resources on our website, we highly recommend you use the site navigation or the search feature to find what you are looking for.
Funding a Dissolving Nonprofit
Legal Compliance Guidance
Question: Our foundation has been funding a local nonprofit for the last ten years. The nonprofit has one full-time employee and an annual operating budget of about $300,000. The nonprofit recently requested a $50,000 grant for operating expenditures or it will have to close down immediately. Even…
First 100 Days of the Program Officer: Advice from the Field
Fundamentals
Note to the Program Officer
The scope of the program officer job description has evolved. Where it was once primarily tactical—reviewing funding requests and developing requests for proposals—the program officer’s role more commonly includes strategic activities. Program officers must master three…
Grant Evaluation Approaches and Methods
Fundamentals
One of the greatest challenges encountered in thinking about evaluation is that there usually is more than one acceptable way to evaluate a given grant, project, or program.
The form that an evaluation takes and the products that it yields will depend on choices made about the following issues…
Establishing a Scholarship Fund for Corporate Employees
Fundamentals, Legal Compliance Guidance
Question: Our corporate foundation is planning to establish a scholarship fund for our employees' children. What do we need to keep in mind and what steps do we need to follow to ensure we are complying with the legal requirements?
Response: The granting of scholarships, fellowships, and…
Elimination of Advance Ruling Period for Public Charities
Question: A potential grantee submitted to us an IRS letter of determination that expired on August 30, 2008. The grantee said that, despite the expiration date, the letter of determination is treated as the grantee's permanent ruling. Is this true?
Answer: Yes. On September 9, 2008, the…
Discretionary Grants by Corporate Foundations
Legal Compliance Guidance
Question:May a corporate foundation allow corporate board members who do not sit on the foundation’s board to designate grants from the corporate foundation?
Answer:No. All grants from the corporate foundation must be approved by the corporate foundation’s board of directors. No individual—…
Sample Disclosure and Confidentiality Statement for Staff and Board Members
Sample Document
You can use this document to guide the development of your disclosure and confidentiality statement for staff and board of directors.
Corporate Disclosure and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
Legal Compliance Guidance
What is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act?
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was designed to rebuild public trust in the corporate community in the wake of the Enron scandal and other corporate and accounting scandals. Sarbanes-Oxley requires publicly traded companies to adhere to governance standards that…
Calculating the Five Percent Payout
Legal Compliance Guidance
What is the five percent payout requirement?
Each year, every private foundation must make eligible charitable expenditures that equal or exceed approximately five percent of the value of its endowment. The purpose behind the minimum payout requirement contained in Internal Revenue Code Section…
Building a Successful CEO-Board Chair Relationship
Fundamentals
Both the board and CEO advance each foundation’s mission. They hold different responsibilities, but they need to support and balance each other.
The board chair-CEO partnership is crucial to your foundation’s effectiveness, as well as to your success as a CEO. As one CEO said, “To have a…
Sample Board of Directors Election and Retention Policy
Sample Document
This is a sample document to guide the development of your Board of Directors election and retention policy.
Disaster Philanthropy
Foundations often play an essential role in disaster relief and recovery. Not only do foundations provide grants and help raise money, they also use their experience and expertise to help civic leaders and responders distribute aid and rebuild communities.
Our disaster grantmaking resource page…
India: My Five-Star Experience in Uttar Pradesh
Blistering sunlight broils our small group as we gingerly perch around the edges of the raised bed our hosts have set out for us in front of their hut in Godha Village. We’ve come to visit a few of the 100 ultra-poor women in rural Uttar Pradesh recently employed by our local partner, a social-…
How a Private Foundation Can Use "Friends of" Organizations
Legal Compliance Guidance
U.S. private foundations are increasingly involved in international grantmaking. One way for a private foundation to give overseas is to make grants directly to foreign charities. Many U.S. private foundations, however, may want to consider giving overseas indirectly through a "Friends of"…
Section 4947(a)(2) Split-Interest Trust Reporting
Legal Compliance Guidance
The Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA) has introduced filing requirements for split-interest trusts such as charitable remainder trusts and pooled income funds.
Which returns are affected?
These requirements apply to returns for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2006.
What are the…
Public Disclosure of Form 990-T for Private Foundations and Public Charities
Legal Compliance Guidance
Under the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA), the rules for public disclosure of the Form 990-T by public charities and private foundations became identical to those for Form 990.
Which forms are affected?
Any Form 990-T filed after August 17, 2006.
What are the public disclosure requirements…