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Interview with Sue Parks of Orange County’s United Way

March 17, 2026 Posted by Casey Summar in Client Profiles

Orange County’s United Way (“OC United Way”) is a human services organization that invests in the communities it serves by delivering education, financial security, and housing programs throughout Orange County, California. OC United Way also operates 211OC, a basic needs referral hotline accessed by over a hundred and thirty thousand residents a year. The Law …

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Interview with Jackie Carrera of the Santa Barbara Foundation

March 17, 2026 Posted by Casey Summar in Client Profiles

The Santa Barbara Foundation (“Foundation”) is a community foundation established in 1928 to serve the needs of the people of Santa Barbara County, California. With nearly a billion in assets, the Foundation offers a variety of giving vehicles, engages in grantmaking, and leads initiatives across multiple basic needs and equitable opportunity focus areas. The Foundation’s …

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Public Support Series 3 of 6: Public Charities and the IRS Public Support Tests: How the IRS Measures Public Support

After identifying whether an organization is a “Donor-Supported” entity (Section 170(b)(1)(A)(vi)) or a “Related Revenue” entity (Section 509(a)(2)), which determines which public support rules apply to an organization, the next critical question is how public support is measured. Many nonprofit leaders are surprised to learn that public support is not evaluated on a year-by-year basis, …

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Public Support Series 2 of 6: Public Charities and the IRS Public Support Tests: Understanding the Two Types of Public Charities

In the prior post in this series, we explored why public support matters and how failure to satisfy the IRS public support rules can result in unintended reclassification as a private foundation. Before an organization can assess whether it is meeting the applicable public support test, however, it must first understand which public support rules …

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Public Support Series 1 of 6: Public Charities and the IRS Public Support Tests: Why Public Support Matters

Not all public charities are alike, and not all rely on the same sources of funding. While many nonprofit leaders understand the basic requirements for qualification under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”), fewer appreciate the ongoing obligation to maintain public charity status through compliance with the IRS public support rules. For boards, …

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What Is a 501(c)(4)? Rules, Examples, and Compliance

November 26, 2025 Posted by socialspicemedia in News

Not all nonprofits are the same, and not all are created for the same purpose. While 501(c)(3) public charities are the most widely recognized, another important classification exists for organizations focused on advocacy, policy change, and civic engagement: the 501(c)(4). These “social welfare” organizations occupy a unique space in the nonprofit sector, blending public purposes …

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