All Resources

Your giving program looks like a convenient vehicle for fulfilling personal charitable pledges. Here’s what you need to know about when to say “no.” The board of the ABC Family Foundation is considering a number of suggested grants, including a contribution to the local symphony’s capital drive…

The persistent scrutiny of nonprofit governance has prompted leaders at many types of organizations to take steps to assure that their own houses are in good legal and financial order. This checklist is a good place for you as a private foundation to start.

Audits are everywhere these days. Consider: In the wake of corporate accounting scandals, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was enacted in 2002, imposing corporate governance reforms on public, for-profit companies, including provisions on how financial audits are managed and carried out by auditors.…

A guide to legal basics for foundation leaders covering: tax on investment income, self-dealing, payout requirements, excess business holdings, jeopardy investment rules, taxable expenditures, intermediate sanctions, reasonable compensation, and grants to non-charities. 

Current as of June 2025 | Download print version (PDF) This section describes the legal framework of nonprofit organizations (also known as non-governmental organizations or NGOs) in Vietnam, along with translations of legislative provisions relevant for a foundation or advisor undertaking an…

Grants to Public Charities from Private Foundations For a private foundation, disaster relief grants to Section 501(c)(3) public charities based at home or abroad can be relatively straightforward, provided the grantee is not legally classified as a supporting organization. If the grantee is a…

Question: A public television station provides thank-you gifts of varying values based upon the amount of a donor’s contribution. An employee of a corporation makes a gift to a local public television station. Can the corporate foundation match the gift as part of its matching gift program, even…

Office equipment and supplies may always be shared if the parent company provides the foundation with the equipment or supplies free of charge. It is also possible for the parent company and the foundation to share the cost of equipment and supplies, but great care needs to be taken to structure…

Question: May a company and its private foundation share employees? Answer: Yes, so long as any arrangement between the private foundation and the sponsoring company is structured in a way that does not violate the prohibition against self-dealing. Corporate foundations and their sponsoring…

Electronic Filing: While the requirements regarding electronic filing of Forms 990 and 990-PF have not changed, the electronic filing requirement for some organizations is still relatively new. For that reason, you may want to revisit the mandatory electronic filing rules to determine whether your…

Question: What should corporate foundations and their parent companies consider when purchasing tickets to fundraisers? Response: Whether they are tickets to a dinner, to a performance, or simply for general admission to a facility, tickets have an economic value. When a company or foundation…

The Stewardship Principles for Independent Foundations are a set of governance best practices that embody how independent foundations can reflect fundamental values such as honesty, integrity, fairness, and trust in their board governance, management, and grantmaking.

Slide presentation reviewing the basics of avoiding self-dealing as a family foundation.

The services of a consultant may prove beneficial to an organization considering the creation of a records management or archival program. From a consultation, those who oversee the records and archives project should derive a general sense of the existing historical record of the organization —…

The Stewardship Principles for Family Foundations are a set of governance best practices that embody how family foundations can reflect fundamental values (including honesty, integrity, fairness, and trust) in their board governance, management, and grantmaking.  

Grants to Public Charities from a Public Charity Unless from a donor-advised fund, disaster relief grants to domestic section 501(c) (3) public charities do not present special issues. Grants from a Donor-Advised Fund Disaster relief aid can be provided through a donor-advised fund generally by…