Small Business and Nonprofit News
Board Basics: Keeping Your Story Straight - A Webinar on Taking Minutes
Nonprofit boards use meeting minutes to create a record of corporate actions and to document the board’s decision-making process, making minutes a key subject of oversight for the IRS. This webinar covers best practices for keeping nonprofit minutes, including: when, and by whom, the minutes should be prepared; what information to include; and how detailed the minutes should be. We’ll also cover specific scenarios including conflict of interest transactions, executive compensation, and non-meeting actions where special record keeping rules apply. Join us for a primer on this core governance practice for your organization.
Podcast: Political Activity - What Your Organization Needs to Know
This podcast discusses what nonprofit organizations need to know when thinking about getting involved politically.
Legal Alert: Biennial Reports Due June 1 for D.C. Nonprofits
April 1 is the normal deadline for nonprofits to file their Biennial Report, Form BRA-25, with the D.C. Government's Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs. However, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, nonprofits with reports due April 1, 2020 now have until June 1, 2020 to file.
Podcast: The Tone at the Top
It's a tumultuous time for a lot of organizations. Creating a healthy organizational culture can be difficult. Join Richard Marks, Partner, at the law firm DLA Piper and Regina Hopkins, Assistant Director, at the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center, for a lively discussion on creating a positive culture for your organization, as well as best practices for achieving this.
Nonprofit Legal Alert: Do You Have to Provide Your Employees with an Updated Notice of Hire? (And Have You Done So?)
In 2015, the D.C. Council adopted the Wage Theft Prevention Amendment Act (the "Act"). The Act amended several of D.C.'s wage and hour laws, and stiffened the penalties for employers that fail to comply with the legal requirements. The Act requires any employer to provide new employees with a Notice of Hire form at the time of hiring also if any of your employees receive a pay raise, including a cost of living adjustment, you must provide the employee with an updated Notice of Hire.
Webinar: Intellectual Property Essentials - Identify, Protect, and Profit from Your Innovation (Part 2)
Part 2 of a webinar on protecting your name, brand identity, design, and other intellectual property.
Webinar: On-Boarding New Employees
When onboarding new employees, nonprofit organizations should be aware of the numerous federal and local law requirements. It is equally important to make sure your nonprofit is complying with the requirements of the D.C. Wage Theft Prevention Act. Join Alex Malson and Allison Fepelstein, with the law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, to learn how these legal issues can be addressed as part of your employee onboarding process.
Podcast: Just Say No? A Podcast about Accepting Year-End Gifts
With many donors engaged in end-of-year giving, now is the time to think about your nonprofit’s gift acceptance policies and practices. In this podcast, we discuss the IRS requirements for accepting and dating charitable contributions; special considerations surrounding non-cash contributions; and what nonprofits should include when sending donors acknowledgements of their gifts.
Podcast: Safe Spaces - Maintaining a Safe and Open Work Environment
Join Cynthia W. Boyle, General Counsel-Employment at Willis Towers Watson a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company and Regina Hopkins, Assistant Director at the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center for a podcast on creating and maintaining a safe work environment. Now more than ever, understanding best practices and helpful solutions for creating a healthy work culture and office environment is extremely critical.
Podcast: Managing Conflicts of Interest - How to Keep the IRS Happy
The audio for the 2017 podcast on managing conflicts.
Webinar: Fiscal Sponsorship - Leveraging Your Organization's Creativity & Energy
For some charitable initiatives—including those at the start-up stage and those formed to tackle short-term or one-off projects—forming an independent 501(c)(3) organization might not be a practical or cost-effective strategy. Fiscal sponsorship allows charitable projects to operate under the tax-exempt status of an existing 501(c)(3) organization (the "sponsor"), including the ability to receive tax-deductible donations, without forming an independent entity. The fiscal sponsor may charge a fee to act in this capacity. Fiscal sponsorship arrangements can be an effective way of leveraging the creativity and energy of individuals or groups; for existing 501(c)(3) organizations, sponsoring allied projects can advance the nonprofit's own charitable mission. However, both sponsors and projects must be careful when structuring their arrangement to comply with IRS rules, as failure to do so may jeopardize the sponsor’s tax-exempt status. Join us for a webinar where we discuss the key IRS requirements, the non-delegable duties of sponsors and projects, and considerations for drafting a written fiscal sponsorship agreement.
Podcast: Mirror, Mirror on the Wall - A Conversation about Providing Performance Feedback to Employees
This podcast takes a hard look and the challenges and solutions facing professionals tasked with providing performance feedback to employees.
Legal Alert: New Form I-9
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a new version of Form I-9 on July 17, 2017, replacing the previous revision issued on November 14, 2016. Employers may use the older version of the form until September 18, 2017, at which time they must switch over to the new version. Failure to use the new form beginning September 19 could result in significant fines—which doubled on August 1, 2017—and other penalties
Podcast: The Future is Now - The Strategic Planning Process for Your Nonprofit
The audio for the 2017 podcast on strategic planning.
Podcast: Record Retention for Nonprofits
The audio for the 2017 podcast on record retention policies.
Podcast: When Board Members Don't Attend Board Meetings
The audio for the 2017 podcast on board meeting attendance.