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Articles & Books From U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley
Cheat Sheet / Updated 03-27-2016
If you're forming a nonprofit, it's important to start from a well-informed base. These basic start-up guidelines can get your organization up and running smoothly, and being aware of current tax and finance standards can help your nonprofit avoid legal pitfalls.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
To ensure the success of your nonprofit organization, you need to start with a solid foundation. Take a look at the following fundamentals checklist so your nonprofit is set up properly and legal issues are covered right from the beginning.
Clearly define your mission and its scope: Every nonprofit has a mission.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Non-profit organizations are generally tax-exempt and don't need to file revenue forms, but the Internal Revenue Service still requires lots of information — all to be painfully extracted and meticulously organized on IRS Form 990.
Not every tax form requires a payment of tax. Sometimes information is what the IRS is after.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Issues of executive compensation and governance are closely intertwined thanks to the influence of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). The IRS is always concerned as to whether governing boards of nonprofit organizations exercise a sufficient degree of due diligence in setting the compensation for leaders of their organizations.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
An organization's board of directors is responsible for forming committees when necessary. Committee members must be drawn from the current members of the board itself, so having a talented and diverse board is an extremely important ingredient to the success of an organization. The board's power to form committees is usually addressed in the organization's bylaws.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
U.S. nonprofit organizations are entering an era of the most intense federal and state regulation in history. After cracking down on corporate America by enacting the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) in 2002, lawmakers and enforcement officials are now setting their sights on the country's 1.8 million nonprofits. Many provisions in the Pension Protection Act of 2006 are a direct response to high-profile scandals in the nonprofit sector.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
It's a sad fact of life that volunteer directors of nonprofits run the risk of being sued in the course of carrying out duties for which they aren't paid. Fortunately, many states realize the importance of philanthropy and volunteerism and have adopted laws to protect directors from lawsuits when they're acting on behalf of the organization and within the scope of their authority.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Don't assume that since the federal government doesn't tax most nonprofit income that it doesn't require nonprofits to comply with tax-reporting requirements. Just like for-profit businesses, nonprofits need to report income, file tax returns, and file documentation to make certain their special status isn't being used to the benefit of private individuals or to further non-exempt purposes.
As the number and size of nonprofit organizations continues to grow, NFPs are coming under ever-increasing government scrutiny. Soon Congress will require that nonprofits comply with rigorous accounting and governance standards very similar to those set forth for for-profits in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. If you work for a nonprofit and are concerned about meeting impending changes to tax and finance standards governing NFPs this book is for you.