It's very unlikely that you need to file anything with the state to add new directors. It is likely that your 501(c)(3)'s bylaws contain a provision that sets out the minimum and maximum numbers of directors and how the directors are chosen. To add new directors, your most likely course... View More

An unincorporated association does not need permission from the Secretary of State to give away its property and dissolve, but an unincorporated association that exists for charitable purposes almost certainly needs to get permission from the Attorney General's office. Groups that have assets... View More

The law allows for voting by mail or email, but the question of whether a particular organization can take advantage of those methods depends on certain facts.

To start with "unless prohibited in the articles or bylaws, any action which may be taken at any regular or special meeting of... View More

To answer your first question, "can a nonprofit operate a for-profit," there is nothing that prohibits this and it happens fairly frequently. Depending on the details, the for-profit enterprise can be a wholly- or majority-owned subsidiary of the nonprofit. You will want to be very... View More

It depends.

Let's start with one assumption: that there is no provision in the corporation's bylaws or other governing documents that requires distributions. If the governing body of the corporation has voted to require annual distributions, then the leadership of the... View More

Congratulations on starting your nonprofit. You have chosen an unusual path by using the LLC formation method. One of the first things you will likely want to do is to file a "statement of information" with the Secretary of State -- usually within about 90 days from when you filed your... View More

Even though your church is not a business, in California it was probably organized as a "Religious Corporation" under the California nonprofit corporations law. Corporations in California, even churches, are required to file a "Statement of Information" with the California... View More

You will almost certainly need to re-draft your Articles of Incorporation if you want to convert from a for-profit corporation to a not-for-profit corporation.

First, under Illinois law your new not-for-profit is required to have, as its purpose, one of the allowable purposes listed in the... View More

You can almost certainly get a copy directly (and anonymously) from the New York Attorney General's office website. Go to the AG's office's Charities Bureau online. (https://www.charitiesnys.com/home.html) Enter the name of the 501(c)(3) in the "Search Charities Registry"... View More

It depends. Because you tagged this question with both "business" and "employment," I'm assuming that the profit-sharing contract you are asking about is a contract with an employee of the nonprofit organization. If so, you are dealing with a question involving a topic that... View More

A short answer is "no and yes."

Here's a longer answer: Any corporation in Kansas, including a nonprofit corporation, will generally lose their ability to engage in the purpose for which they were formed once they have been administratively dissolved. That's the... View More

Like almost any good legal question, the answer is "it depends." Generally, an individual person can be given the ability to hire and fire employees without calling for a board vote. But a more specific answer is that you should look at your association's bylaws. Under Maryland law,... View More

The devil is going to be in the details on this, and there are probably dozens of follow-up questions that a nonprofit attorney (which I am) or an intellectual property attorney (which I am not) would ask you. But here are some thoughts.

This type of situation often arises when two or more... View More

A short question that will probably never get you a short answer from a nonprofit lawyer. The IRS calls this "unrelated business income," and the rules about UBI can be pretty complex. Nonprofit lawyers and tax-exempt CPAs spend a lot of time trying to learn and navigate those rules.... View More

There are a lot of issues here. If this were to come into my office, we would probably spend a lot of time just talking about the facts and history before giving any advice. And the advice would depend on whether I am speaking to an officer, board member, donor, member of the public, etc.... View More

There is an office in Los Angeles, but the Secretary of State limits what items can be filed in person at that office. That office "distributes forms and informational materials" and will accept drop off of "corporation name reservation requests," "Articles of... View More

A good question. It's not helpful that courts in California have frequently used the terms "public purpose" and "charitable purpose" interchangeably.

Taking your last question first: the IRS will not likely deny a 501(c)(3) determination if you check the box for... View More

This question raises many of the big issues that nonprofit attorneys work on. You definitely should talk to a local nonprofit lawyer because there are LOTS of issues lurking here.

Issue 1: Are you sure you should be a nonprofit? One thing that a lawyer for nonprofits will probably do here... View More

Here are a couple ways to find a copy of the articles of incorporation. The most direct method is to demand to see them. Under California's nonprofit law, the organization is required to show them to you as a member. If there is a "principal office," they have to keep a copy at... View More

This is a complex question, and there are a lot of variables that might affect the answer that a nonprofit lawyer would give you after looking at this deeply. Let me talk through some of the issues that seem to be at play here, but there might be other issues that are not obvious from the limits... View More