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 49 - 64 of 171 results

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…

Tickets to Fundraisers

Legal Compliance Guidance
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…

Stewardship Principles for Independent Foundations

Legal Compliance Guidance
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.

How to Avoid Self-Dealing for Family Foundations

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

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 —…

Stewardship Principles for Family Foundations

Legal Compliance Guidance
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.  

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…

Providing Relief in Times of Disaster - Direct Corporate Giving

Legal Compliance Guidance
Grants to Public Charities from a Corporate Giving Program Businesses can make disaster relief grants directly from the corporation, or from its corporate giving program, to any section 501(c)(3)public charity. An added plus is that such gifts are eligible as charitable deductions for the…

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