Non-Profit

The Non-Profit group regularly obtains from the IRS favorable determination letters as to tax exempt and public charity status, as well as favorable public and private rulings for clients. Intermediate sanction rules, instituted by the IRS in an effort to curtail perceived abuses in compensation and other economic arrangements involving public charities and social welfare organizations and persons with substantial influence over them, reflect the heightened scrutiny of tax exempt entities by the IRS. State and local governments, constantly in search of additional revenue, are aggressively evaluating the exempt status of many organizations. The Non-Profit group assists organizations in satisfying ongoing exemption and legal requirements and avoiding tax liability, including unrelated business income tax liability, excise tax liabilities and intermediate sanction penalties.

New organizations must pay attention to the creation of a workable governance structure, while existing organizations must assure compliance with governing instruments. State attorneys general have become more aggressive in monitoring the operations of charitable entities. Further, in this time of ever accelerating change, organizations often face issues of change in mission, affiliation, merger or even dissolution. Governing documents often must be adjusted to meet new roles or realities.

The Non-Profit group works with organizations to provide a legal framework for dealing with these issues and works efficiently with organizations to ensure that institutional strength and individual energy is not diverted through legal missteps or other corporate non-compliance.

Fundraising is the life blood of most charitable institutions. Competition for charitable donations has become increasingly intense. The Non-Profit group is intimately familiar with the rules governing charitable giving and works with organizations and with individual donors in developing planned giving programs and in facilitating large or complex gifts.

At least once in the life of many organizations, that organization undertakes either a capital project or a program expansion requiring thoughtful and careful legal analysis. Whether that expansion is provided through operating revenues, fund-raising, grants, loans or, in some cases, the issuance of tax exempt revenue bonds, the process can often be daunting and overwhelming even for the experienced not for profit management team. The Non-Profit group works cooperatively with management to assist in both solving legal issues and managing the expansion process.

• Reorganized a health care system, including securing all necessary tax rulings.
• Merged and liquidated one charitable entity into another.
• Issued tax exempt bonds for numerous schools, health care organizations and others.
• Represented charitable organizations before the Public Charities Unit of the Attorney General’s Office.
• Counseled charitable organizations on maximizing income-producing activities in a way which reduces exposure to unrelated business taxable income.
• Advised health care provider on avoiding the intermediate sanctions penalties.
• Developed programs for charitable organization which reduce or eliminate environmental risk for donated real estate.
• Established and secured tax exemption for a private foundation.