A nonprofit that plans to do political work—lobbying, proposing legislation, and so on—can receive tax-exempt status from the IRS and state tax authorities as a social welfare organization. At [...]
Copyright law intersects with church governance in a number of important ways. Sermons and other forms of oral or written ministry are subject to copyright. As is the music performed by a church [...]
Regardless of how a church is organized, whether as a nonprofit association or corporation, it should have a governing document that sets out the basic features of its management. Unincorporated [...]
Every nonprofit needs to adopt policies and procedures to ensure that its managers, employees, and volunteers have a clear plan for handling important parts of the organization’s operations. A [...]
Whether through forgetfulness, sloppiness, or conscious disregard, a nonprofit’s management can easily make mistakes that violate the requirements of its governing documents. Such mistakes, once [...]
Since its beginning under George W. Bush, the federal government’s “faith-based initiative” has offered grants to qualified religious organizations to assist them with their charitable work. The [...]
Large gifts to nonprofits sometimes come with strings attached. When a large donor conditions a gift upon also having a voice in management, perhaps with a seat on the board or other meaningful [...]
Nonprofit groups of all kinds, especially churches, often begin their existence as unincorporated associations and only later decide that forming a nonprofit corporation is the right choice for [...]
It’s hard to overstate the importance of reputation to a nonprofit. Donors want to feel good about the organizations they give to. Volunteers prefer to work for organizations they trust and can [...]
In recent years the role of churches as sanctuaries and asylums for people fleeing law enforcement has entered the spotlight. People facing deportation for immigration law violations have [...]