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Expenditure Responsibility Chart for Private Foundations
Legal Compliance Guidance
This document is a tool to help you as a private foundation determine when to use expenditure responsibility for grants to public charities.
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…
Providing Relief in Times of Disaster - Private Foundation Giving
Legal Compliance Guidance
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…
Matching Gifts and Donor Benefits
Legal Compliance Guidance
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…
Sharing Office Equipment & Supplies
Legal Compliance Guidance
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…
Legal Question: Sharing Employees
Legal Compliance Guidance
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…
990 Filing for Corporate Grantmakers
Legal Compliance Guidance
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…
Disaster Response
Monday, March 31, 2025 - 3:11 pm
Disaster Response
Thursday, January 9, 2025 - 3:25 pm
About Council Resources
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. Council members may e-mail legal@cof.org with inquiries and for more information.
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