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 113 - 128 of 173 results

Gifts of Tangible Personal Property

Legal Compliance Guidance
A donor is considering starting a fund at the community foundation using a piece of jewelry instead of a cash gift. The jewelry cost her $1,000 (35 years ago) and is now worth $20,000. May the community foundation accept the gift? What documentation must the community foundation prepare? From the…

Gifts of Property: What to Know Before You Say Yes

Legal Compliance Guidance
There is always the temptation, particularly among newly established community foundations, to accept any type of contribution. When a contribution consists of property other than cash, however, it must be determined if it is in the community foundation’s best interests to accept such property. Are…

FAQ: Fundraising for Community Foundations

Legal Compliance Guidance, Fundamentals
Raising money for community needs is the central function of community foundations. No surprise, then, that we receive more questions about fundraising than about any other topic. Following are some common inquiries we receive by telephone and e-mail and the replies we give. Documents for Donors…

Accepting Non-Cash Gifts as Charitable Contributions

Legal Compliance Guidance
Accepting gifts of real estate, subchapter S corporations, and business interests (including general partnerships, limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships, and limited liability companies), as well as determining when or if they trigger unrelated business tax (UBIT).

Taxable Distributions for Donor Advised Funds

Fundamentals, Legal Compliance Guidance
Public charities that hold donor advised funds must comply with special rules regarding payments from such funds. Provisions under the Pension Protection Act of 2006 require certain payments from donor advised funds to be made using expenditure responsibility, while certain other payments are…

Grants to Organizations from Donor-Advised Funds: Is Expenditure Responsibility Required?

Legal Compliance Guidance
Use this flowchart to determine if grants from donor-advised funds require expenditure responsibility.

Providing Large Grants to Small Grantees

Legal Compliance Guidance
Lawyers rarely tell foundation managers, "Relax, don’t worry so much!" But in the case of "tipping," that’s been our advice for more than 10 years. What is the so-called "tipping problem" and why are so many foundations (still) so worried about it?   Tipping occurs when a private…

What to Require of Grantees

Fundamentals, Legal Compliance Guidance
Good relationships between grantmakers and grantees promote more effective philanthropy. But there's nothing that can mess up a good partnership faster than an overzealous lawyer. In seeking to protect their foundation clients, lawyers can sometimes impose excessive requirements on grantees,…

To Check or Not to Check: Complying With OFAC Regulations

Legal Compliance Guidance
After September 11, 2001, many grantmakers and other charitable organizations that were not previously familiar with the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), learned of its existence. As one of the key U.S. government agencies seeking to shut down terrorism funding…

The Debate Over Anti-Terrorism Certification

Legal Compliance Guidance
In an effort to ensure that charitable resources are used exclusively for charitable purposes and not used to support terrorist activity, organizations may choose to adopt practices in addition to those explicitly required by law. Among the practices that some charities choose to adopt is including…

Grants From Private Foundations to Supporting Organizations

Legal Compliance Guidance
Aligning private foundation grantmaking procedures with PPA requirements The Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA) brought many changes to the charitable sector. The most significant changes for private foundations are the rules for making grants to certain kinds of supporting organizations. While…

Multi-Year Grants: To Commit or Not to Commit

Legal Compliance Guidance
Can we back out of a multiyear commitment we made in a prior year because our foundation’s assets have declined? The answer in many cases is “no.” That is, unless your grantee is willing to release your foundation from its obligation. Generally, an unconditional, multiyear grant is considered a…

Community Foundations and Grants to Non-Charities

Legal Compliance Guidance
With a little caution, community foundations can support the charitable activities of non-charities. A chamber of commerce requests a grant to start a computer-training program. A gardening club asks for money to cover a local beautification project. A cemetery association seeks support for…

Grants to New Charities

Legal Compliance Guidance
Question: May a private corporate foundation or corporate giving program make a grant to a newly-established charity that has not yet received its IRS tax exemption letter? Answer: Yes, but when making a grant to a charity whose application for exempt status is pending before the IRS, a private…

Faith-based Grantmaking: A Basic Guide for the Perplexed

Legal Compliance Guidance
Generally, there is no legal restriction against making grants to churches, synagogues, mosques or other religious institutions. But there are some things foundations interested in such grantmaking should know. For years, private foundations and public charities have recognized religious…

Discretionary Grants

Legal Compliance Guidance
Family foundations use discretionary grantmaking to achieve a variety of purposes. Discretionary grantmaking allows some foundations to avoid strife by giving each branch of the extended family a sum of money that it can think of as its own to control. For others, a discretionary fund provides…

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