Legal Compliance & Transparency

The General Data Protection Regulation–commonly referred to as GDPR–is a privacy law pertaining to the collection of online data enacted by the European Union (EU) that took effect May 25, 2018. The law affects organizations regardless of geographic location, since EU residents may visit the websites of governments, private companies, nonprofits, or other organizations providing goods and services, and those websites likely collect and analyze online data related to those website visitors originating in the EU (regardless of whether a transaction occurred).

Learn about the importance of an organization's tax-exempt status and the kind of situations that can jeopardize a nonprofit's tax exemption. This resource summarizes issues to be on the look out for and includes links to more information. (National Council of Nonprofits)

Find answers here to some of the most frequently asked questions that nonprofits have about the Adffordable Care Act. (National Council of Nonprofits)

The Handy Reference Guide to the Fair Labor Standards Act in addition to the guidelines on Wages and the Fair Labor Standards Act includes an overview of the FLSA and explanations of minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor. (US Department of Labor)

In the nonprofit arena, charitable solicitation licenses are a necessity for certain fundraising efforts. If you are an organization or individual that asks the public for contributions or donations to support a charitable purpose, a charitable solicitation license ("CSL") is needed, unless specifically exempt by law. As many states have laws regulating the solicitation of funds for charitable purposes, it is important to check the requirements for each state your organization operates in to ensure compliance.

This IRS video course explains eligibility, the benefits of exemption, and how to apply for nonprofit tax status, and an interactive Form 1023 to help you fill out the application. (IRS.gov)

Fact Sheet #17A: Exemption for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Computer & Outside Sales Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act - "The FLSA requires that most employees in the United States be paid at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked and overtime pay at time and one-half the regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 hours in a workweek. [...] Job titles do not determine exempt status.

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) often lacks the needed detail to resolve misunderstandings between a nonprofit and another party. In MOUs versus Contracts, the author suggests ways to approach contracts that are socially agreeable as well as mitigiate legal risk. (Charity Lawyer)

Donation of Intellectual Property: What Does it Look Like? - A four part series explaining the ends and outs of valuation and tax deductibility of donated intellectual property, e.g. copyrighted materials such as artwork, music compositions, software, etc. (Planned Giving Design Center, 2015)

Comprehensive fiscal sponsorship is also known as "Model A" or "direct project" sponsorship and refers to situations where an individual or loose group of individuals approaches the sponsor to become the sponsor's employee or volunteer. (See Fiscal Sponsorship Models Summary to compare other models.)