It is a best practice for nonprofits to have a conflict of interest policy to guide them on how to approach conflict of interest transactions. Such a policy will help ensure that, when actual or potential conflicts of interest arise in connection with a proposed transaction, the nonprofit has a process in place under which the relevant individual(s) will advise the governing body about all the pertinent facts concerning …
Recent California Attorney General (“AG”) audits should make every nonprofit board beware the Attorney General. This charity regulator appears to be doubling down on its scrutiny of director compensation. Under the California Nonprofit Corporation Law (the “Nonprofit Law”), the AG has the authority to look into virtually every aspect of a charity’s operations. This broad …
Beware of charity scams. Do your homework before donating. Those are the warnings issued to the public by CNBC in a recent report about fraudulent nonprofits. The CNBC report focused on an unprecedented enforcement action in 2015. The Federal Trade Commission, along with all 50 states and other law enforcement authorities, filed a complaint against …
Have the leaders of nonprofits been overly incentivized to “follow the money,” resulting in a troubling shift in the composition of boards? The answer is yes according to a recent article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review. The trend may be “distort[ing] organization priorities” and may “dilute charitable values.” According to the author, Garry W. …
As the U.S. Open got started this week, The New York Times was more interested in conflicts off the court than on it. An examination of the United States Tennis Association (U.S.T.A.), the 501(c)(6) national governing body for the sport of tennis, revealed that several of the organization’s current and recent board members have benefitted …
Do you remember when, in April, we told you that Florida’s lawmakers were concerned that 11 of the 50 worst charities were based in Florida. Now they are following through on their promise to do something about it. Last month Florida Governor Rick Scott signed into law a comprehensive revision of the state’s charitable solicitation …
