As charitable organizations seek to increase streams of revenue — to provide more services, support more staff or help ensure long-term sustainability — many dabble in sources of business revenue to supplement the financial bottom line. For example, an organization with a pool may wish to rent the pool andRead More…

By Zachary S. Kester, Executive Director and Robert Miller, Program Officer, Charitable Allies Misconceptions abound in the public charity sector. Even those familiar with public charities often fail to understand or are unaware of certain aspects of the law related to public charities. One of the most common misconceptions amongRead More…

Legal jargon can be difficult to read and understand for attorneys and even more so for everyone else. This problem is no less an issue in the nonprofit sector, especially given that many people wanting to start nonprofits are just looking to do good in society and might not haveRead More…

We have dealt with a number of issues for our clients that were the result of “do-it yourself,” “robo-forms,” or “lawyer-in-a-box” type of documents. Here is some information on why these forms are inadequate, specifically in the nonprofit sector.Read More…

The following is an article by TheIndianaLaywer.com about Charitable Allies Executive Director Zachary S. Kester The Indiana Lawyer presented its 2018 Leadership in Law Distinguished Barrister & Up and Coming Lawyer Award Honorees to 30 men and women who represent the strength and future of Indiana’s Legal profession. Among theRead More…

By Zachary S. Kester, Executive Director and Robert Miller, Program Officer, Charitable Allies Many people know that charities can be tax-exempt from many forms of taxation and that their donors commonly receive tax benefits for their donations to the organization. Charities also receive the benefit of a formal structure thatRead More…

By Zachary S. Kester, Executive Director and Robert Miller, Program Officer, Charitable Allies Savvy businesspeople know that the best way to protect personal interests from liability is through incorporating their for-profit business. Incorporating offers many of the same protections for nonprofit organizations. However, errors and omissions of the Board ofRead More…

By Zachary Kester, JD, LLM CFRM, Charitable Allies Spending too much on overhead is bad. But how much is too much? While scholars agree that the 15 percent line implicitly reflected in Part IX of Form 990 is too low, what’s the sweet spot? And, maybe more importantly, what do fundersRead More…

By Zachary Kester, JD, LLM CFRM, at Charitable Allies Last night the National Art Museum of Sport and The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis announced a new permanent home for the NAMOS collection–the new Riley Children’s Health Sports Legends Experience. NAMOS Board President and NCAA VP and CFO Kathleen McNeely graciouslyRead More…

By Zachary S. Kester, JD, LLM, CFRM  With all the coverage of the 2016 Presidential election and then proposed repeal of the Affordable Care Act (popularly known as “Obamacare”), many nonprofits and small employers may be unaware that last-minute legislation gave them the option to offer health reimbursement arrangements toRead More…

By: Zachary S. Kester, J.D., LL.M, CFRM and Laura Fucio, Charitable Allies IRS recognition of a nonprofit’s tax-exempt status is crucial for any nonprofit hoping to receive grants. Most grantors or donors need advanced assurance of the IRS determination of tax-exemption or deductibility to satisfy tax obligations upon them. InRead More…

By: Zachary S. Kester, J.D., LL.M, CFRM Charitable Allies After a hot, muggy summer, fall has come to Indiana.  In addition to bringing cooler temperatures, changing leaves and pumpkin spice flavored absolutely everything, the fall season is a popular one for charitable fundraising.  You have probably encountered an advertisement offeringRead More…

June 14, 2016 By Zachary S. Kester, JD, LLM, CFRM and Kylie Schreiber, at Charitable Allies To their detriment, many nonprofits believe the new overtime rules going into effect on December 1, do not apply to them since they are not business “enterprises.” But this overlooks the reality that “individual”Read More…

By Zachary S. Kester, JD, LLM, CFRM, at Charitable Allies Many nonprofit organizations are pretty good at tracking activity data, such as how many children they served, how many meals they served, or how many people completed a class or training offered. Increasingly, these numbers alone are becoming insufficient toRead More…

By Zachary Kester, JD, LLM, CFRM Many leading nonprofit organizations and experts laud “best practices” to set the bar high in terms of transparent, prudent and ethical operations across many areas. These go beyond the minimum legal and accounting requirements and purport to set a strong foundation of compliance withRead More…

The Todd Academy, Inc. (founded and operated by Sharon Todd, also the owner of Todd Academy Fundamentals, Inc.) was a private school dedicated to serving the unique educational needs of the gifted and talented. Unfortunately, its laudable mission was lost in a haze of mismanagement and deceit. Examples include: Not payingRead More…

Flanner House of Indianapolis, Inc. today took a difficult step and brought an action against Flanner House Elementary School, Inc. and its board of directors alleging nearly $1M in damages for the Flanner School Board’s reckless conduct in improperly overseeing the school. Flanner House and Flanner School are two differentRead More…

By Zachary Kester, JD, LLM, CFRM Recently a charity purchased property to use as a part of its charitable programming. Unfortunately, it was not permitted to apply for a property tax exemption that year because the property sale closed after the May 15th deadline to apply for the tax exemption.Read More…

By Zachary S. Kester, JD, LLM, CFRM, at Charitable Allies In the past few months I’ve received many calls regarding badly behaved Boards, and become aware of at least two Indiana Attorney General investigations into nonprofits. That got me thinking about the top mistakes of nonprofit boards. I am notRead More…

By Zac Kester, JD, LLM, CFRM, at Charitable Allies Nonprofits do such great things. They provide end of life care, fight homelessness, provide free legal services to indigent individuals, honor fallen soldiers, conserve land and water, combat disease, rescue animals, and much, much more. It takes a team to getRead More…

By Zachary S. Kester, JD, LLM, CFRM, at Charitable Allies Sally Sponsor wants to restrict her donation to sponsor a specific child in your child sponsorship program.  Andy Abode wants to be sure Don Displaced directly benefits from his donation to the homeless shelter; Displaced is a homeless man withRead More…

By Zac Kester, JD, LLM, CFRM Good nonprofit organizations seek out community leaders from diverse backgrounds to serve on their boards of directors. As they recruit directors, they know that having the right people with the right skills helps the organization achieve its strategic goals. Nonprofits are tapping lawyers notRead More…

By Zachary S. Kester, JD, LLM, CFRM, at Charitable Allies By now you’ve likely heard of the new IRS Form 1023-EZ, a streamlined Application for Recognition of Tax Exemption that greatly reduces entry barriers for new, small charities. There are some wonderful potential benefits. There are some rather grave potentialRead More…

By Zachary S. Kester, JD, LLM, CFRM The modern nonprofit sector is vibrant and adaptable, especially after coming off the heels of the largest and longest recession in modern history. Many charities are pursuing opportunities to ensure stability by providing services for a fee and by selling goods. Consultants evenRead More…

By Zachary S. Kester, JD, LLM, CFRM, at Charitable Allies Every year in January many nonprofit organizations wisely take time to regroup and assess what worked and what didn’t in the previous year. Now is also an excellent time to review compliance requirements that some nonprofits inadvertently overlook. This checklistRead More…