As a benefit of membership, the Council on Foundations attorneys and legal staff provide information and education to Council members regarding a variety of topics related to foundation operations and legal compliance. All information on this website, and all publications, articles, e-mail 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 purposes of avoiding any penalties that may be imposed under the Internal Revenue Code.
Multi-Year Grants: To Commit or Not to Commit
Legal Compliance Guidance
Can we back out of a multiyear commitment we made in a prior year because our foundation’s assets have declined?
The answer in many cases is “no.” That is, unless your grantee is willing to release your foundation from its obligation.
Generally, an unconditional, multiyear grant is considered a…
Community Foundations and Grants to Non-Charities
Legal Compliance Guidance
With a little caution, community foundations can support the charitable activities of non-charities.
A chamber of commerce requests a grant to start a computer-training program.
A gardening club asks for money to cover a local beautification project.
A cemetery association seeks support for…
Grants to New Charities
Legal Compliance Guidance
Question: May a private corporate foundation or corporate giving program make a grant to a newly-established charity that has not yet received its IRS tax exemption letter?
Answer: Yes, but when making a grant to a charity whose application for exempt status is pending before the IRS, a private…
Faith-based Grantmaking: A Basic Guide for the Perplexed
Legal Compliance Guidance
Generally, there is no legal restriction against making grants to churches, synagogues, mosques or other religious institutions. But there are some things foundations interested in such grantmaking should know.
For years, private foundations and public charities have recognized religious…
Discretionary Grants
Legal Compliance Guidance
Family foundations use discretionary grantmaking to achieve a variety of purposes. Discretionary grantmaking allows some foundations to avoid strife by giving each branch of the extended family a sum of money that it can think of as its own to control. For others, a discretionary fund provides…
Understanding Fiscal Sponsorship
Legal Compliance Guidance
Everything you need to know to stay out of trouble with third-party representatives.
Does hearing the sentence "Just make that grant check payable to my fiscal agent" stop you in your tracks? It should. If your potential grantees are washing your grant funds through an accommodating charity that…
Donor Advised Fund Gift to a 501(c)(3) Donor
Legal Compliance Guidance
Can a 501(c)(3) organization with a donor advised fund at a community foundation make a distribution to itself?
Unfortunately, when the law changed under the Pension Protection Act of 2006, this was left unclear. Intermediate sanctions rules prohibit grants and similar payments to donors from a…
Gifts from Private Foundations to Donor Advised Funds
Legal Compliance Guidance
Gifts from private foundations to field of interest funds, designated funds, and other funds that are not donor advised, are entirely permissible and do not raise special concerns. Gifts to a donor-advised fund can raise red flags as a potential donor control issue. The law does not prohibit gifts…
Increasing the Number and Size of Awards
Legal Compliance Guidance
When donors to scholarship funds see the impact that their money can have on the life of a student, they are often inspired to contribute more. Sometimes they will add more to the principal of the fund so that future awardees can receive bigger scholarships or more scholarships can be awarded.…
Employer Disaster Relief Funds Are Not Donor-Advised
Legal Compliance Guidance
Responding to requests from the Council on Foundations and Independent Sector, the Internal Revenue Service on December 4, 2006 issued interim guidance on several of the donor-advised fund issues arising from the Pension Protection Act of 2006. The IRS notice is available at http://www.irs.gov/pub/…
Military Aid: How Grantmakers Can Support Military Personnel
Americans may disagree about various aspects of war, but there is broad support for helping the men and women who are fighting in wars and the families they have left behind. Dedicated assistance groups are working to provide aid to military personnel and their relatives. This article surveys the…
Providing Relief in Times of Disaster - Grants to New Charities
Legal Compliance Guidance
Ideally, grantmakers will work with an existing charity or other well-established organization to provide disaster relief. But in the months after a disaster, it is not uncommon to see new charities cropping up in efforts to meet the immense and diverse needs of the affected communities. The…
Grants to Government
Legal Compliance Guidance
The private foundation executive director was concerned. Members of her board were going to make grants to promote public housing and economic development but none of the groups involved were the typical 501(c)(3)s to which the foundation normally made grants. One possibility seemed to be making a…
Matching Gift FAQs
Fundamentals
What are the administrative/legal requirements for matching gift programs?
Is there a minimum or maximum to the corporation's or foundation's match?
Are there any gifts that should not be matched?
What kind of gifts can the corporation or foundation match?
What about matching gifts to…
Assisting Corporate Employees with Charitable Dollars: A Legal Framework
Legal Compliance Guidance
Corporate grantmakers regularly serve the broader community through grantmaking, promoting employee volunteerism, and other activities. When may a corporate grantmaking entity focus its charitable efforts on assisting its own employees and their dependents?
The answer to this question depends on…
Re-Grants by International Intermediaries That Are Not Public Charities
Legal Compliance Guidance
In international grantmaking, private foundations often make grants to organizations (“Initial Grantees”) that, in turn, re-grant those funds to other non-public charity organizations or individuals (“Secondary Grantees”).
Legal issues arise when a private foundation makes a grant to an Initial…