Legal Compliance Guidance

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All information on this website, and all publications, articles, email 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 purpose of avoiding any penalties that may be imposed under the Internal Revenue Code. Council members may email legal@cof.org with inquiries and for more information.

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Can My Foundation Fund Legal Aid for Individuals?

Legal Compliance Guidance
Legal aid provides assistance to people who would otherwise not be able to afford legal representation or access to the court system. While it is an integral part of the American justice system, especially to the most vulnerable in our society, many legal aid programs are unsustainable or have seen…

What is Expenditure Responsibility?

Legal Compliance Guidance
Expenditure responsibility is a five step procedure that is designed to ensure that foundation funds are used for exclusively charitable purposes. The five basic steps that are required for completing expenditure responsibility include: Conducting a pre-grant inquiry including a reasonable…

Record Retention for Foundations

Legal Compliance Guidance
Foundation recordkeeping is an inherently dull topic—unless it’s done wrong. The foundation manager who has not kept adequate documentation regarding expenditure responsibility grants risks an IRS audit. Similarly, a foundation manager confronted with a trustee succession battle will find the…

FAQ: Global Grantmaking

Legal Compliance Guidance, Fundamentals
What are the legal requirements for private foundations wishing to make cross-border grants? What is equivalency determination? What is expenditure responsibility? How do I decide whether to use equivalency determination or expenditure responsibility? What are the legal requirements…

FAQ: Scholarships

Legal Compliance Guidance, Fundamentals
What are the advantages, disadvantages, and likely costs of scholarship programs? What do the private foundation rules require, and how should community foundations apply the rules? What rules or procedures govern community foundation scholarship programs? Does a community foundation need to…

Conflicts of Interest - Key Issues for Foundations

Legal Compliance Guidance
With Congress and the media focusing on corporate governance and foundation administration, now is the time to make sure that all grantmakers have a strong conflict of interest policy in place. Both private foundations and public charities (such as community foundations) should have clear…

FAQ: Donor-Advised Fund

Legal Compliance Guidance, Fundamentals
The Pension Protection Act of 2006 includes the first comprehensive regulation of donor-advised funds. These requirements generally took effect at the beginning of the tax year following enactment of the Act, for charities that hold assets in such funds. However, a provision barring the payment…

When to Say “No” to Fulfilling Personal Charitable Pledges

Legal Compliance Guidance
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…

A Compliance Checklist for Private Foundations

Legal Compliance Guidance
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.

Thinking about an Audit? Read this First

Legal Compliance Guidance
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.…

Legal Basics: What Every Foundation Leader Should Know

Legal Compliance Guidance
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. 

Nonprofit Law in Vietnam

Legal Compliance Guidance
Current as of March 2024 | 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…

Hiring An Archival Consultant

Legal Compliance Guidance
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 —…

Providing Relief in Times of Disaster - Gifts from a Public Charity

Legal Compliance Guidance
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…

Providing Relief in Times of Disaster - Matching Gifts

Legal Compliance Guidance
Public foundations, community foundations and corporate giving programs may establish a matching gifts program that will match disaster relief gifts made by employees or other donors living in the U.S. or anywhere in the world, provided the grantees are public charities based in the U.S., and gifts…

FAQ: Fiscal Sponsors

Legal Compliance Guidance, Fundamentals
We just received a grant request from a group that is not a public charity. The request states that the group has a “fiscal sponsor” and the grant agreement is countersigned by the fiscal sponsor? Can we make this grant? Yes. A grant to a public charity serving as a fiscal sponsor is treated like…

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