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.

Displaying 129 - 144 of 171 results

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/…

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…

FAQ: Disaster Grantmaking for Corporate Grantmakers

Legal Compliance Guidance, Fundamentals
In the aftermath of a natural disaster, corporate grantmakers often wish to address the needs of employees and the community at large. Grantmakers must understand the legal rules that govern disaster grantmaking. Below are the answers to many common questions on providing disaster relief. Although…

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…

Funding Charitable Work in Sanctioned Countries

Legal Compliance Guidance
Since the terrorism attacks on September 11, 2001, grantmakers and other charitable organizations have become quite familiar with the work of the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in the area of anti-terrorism concerns. OFAC has been one of the key U.S. government…

Equivalency Determination or Expenditure Responsibility

Legal Compliance Guidance
Private foundations wishing to make a cross-border grant must ensure that: The grant is clearly for a charitable purpose, and The grant counts as a qualifying distribution for the purpose of meeting the foundation’s annual distribution requirement. The easiest way for a private foundation to…

Grantmaking in an Age of Terrorism: Compliance Strategies

Legal Compliance Guidance
Since the November 7, 2002 publication by the United States Department of the Treasury of its “Anti-Terrorist Financing Guidelines: Voluntary Best Practices for U.S.-based Charities,”1 grantmakers have grappled with the problem of how to comply with their legal obligations under Executive…

Handbook on Counter-Terrorism Measures: What US Nonprofits and Grantmakers Need to Know

Legal Compliance Guidance
A plain-language guide to Executive Order 13224, the Patriot Act, embargoes and sanctions, IRS rules, Treasury Department voluntary guidelines, and USAID requirements.

International Grantmaking from Donor Advised Funds

Legal Compliance Guidance
In existence since the 1930s, donor advised funds have been one of the fastest growing charitable giving vehicles of the past decade.[1] Capitalizing on this growth and on the increasing interest in international philanthropy among donors in the United States, a number of public charities have…

Legal Framework for Global Philanthropy: Barriers and Opportunities

Legal Compliance Guidance
Prepared by the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, this report provides a summary of the legal constraints in global grantmaking and draws on illustrative examples from the U.S., Europe, and other regions. It also outlines potential options to address these barriers.

Election Year Politics: What Foundations Need to Know

Legal Compliance Guidance
The election season, particularly in presidential election years, brings with it both opportunities and challenges for private foundations and public charities. Grantmakers can use this opportunity to increase civic involvement, provide nonpartisan information about candidates and educate…

Rules of Advocacy & Lobbying: Community & Public Foundations

Legal Compliance Guidance
The rules of advocacy and lobbying for community and public foundations differ somewhat from private foundations. As a community or public foundation, the law allows the following: Advocacy Lobbying Funding Lobbying Advocacy Yes, community and public foundations may engage in advocacy…

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