Putting Things Together: Subsidiaries, Complex Organizational Structures, Joint Ventures, and Joint Funding Vehicles

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35th Annual Nonprofit Organizations Institute, Austin, Texas, 01/19/2018 Co-written and co-presented with John F. Crawford

Charities can enhance the depth and breadth of their operations and impact by utilizing subsidiaries, affiliates, and other joint venture vehicles.  This paper and presentation examine choice of form, tax status of the vehicle, and how different options affect the exempt organization and its tax status, including a look at joint venture and funding vehicles along with fundraising and transfer pricing issues.

Liability and Ethical Considerations of Board Members and Counsel in Fundraising

83826983-2Planned Giving Council of Houston, 2017 Annual Conference, Houston, Texas, 04/27/2017

Serving as an officer or director of a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, or serving as a trustee of a charitable trust, involves acting in a fiduciary capacity.  Likewise, when counsel is representing the organization, he or she does so in a fiduciary capacity.  While fiduciary duties are often considered in the context of governance generally, this presentation considers how the fiduciary duties play out in the context of fundraising along with ethical considerations—those considerations which may not implicate a fiduciary obligation but nevertheless should be understood for ethical practice.  The presentation provides an overview of legal duties of decision makers of Texas nonprofit corporations with a specific focus on fundraising, gift acceptance, and ancillary issues.  Additional information may be found in the related reference outline, Governance of Nonprofits.

Inspecting the Mouth of a Gift Horse: Acceptance of Unusual Gifts

gift-horseOklahoma Nonprofit Law & Finance Conference, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 03/24/2017

This presentation focuses on how to best handle donations of unusual assets, such as tangible personal property, real estate and mineral interests, and closely held business interests.  The elements of a gift acceptance policy and structures for limiting liability associated with these assets once contributed will also be explored.  Additional information may be found in the paper authored by Megan C. Sanders, Gifts from Cousin Eddie: Acceptance, Ownership & Management of Bizarre Assets.