Legal Counsel In All Aspects Unique To Nonprofits

Leaffer Law Group provides expert counsel for the unique legal and business needs of nonprofit organizations and charitable foundations. We advise our clients and their professional advisors on corporate, tax, charitable giving, commercial and related matters. We enable our clients to focus on their essential work, confident that they are supported by solid legal counsel.

Our attorneys have advised hundreds of nonprofits over the past two decades, including:

• Family foundations, community foundations and company foundations
• Scholarship providers
• Hospitals, schools and their supporting foundations
• Environmental and alternative energy groups
• Community development organizations
• Affordable housing developers
• Arts, culture and recreational organizations
• Social service agencies and humanitarian relief organizations
• Animal welfare organizations

Nonprofit organizations operate in a complex and dynamic legal environment, and are likely to encounter a wide variety of potential hurdles. Recent legislation has increased regulation of the nonprofit sector, and the consequences for noncompliance can be extremely adverse. Our firm has substantial experience with the key legal and business issues that are unique to nonprofits, and has the special expertise needed to protect our clients’ tax-exempt status and help them avoid IRS penalties.

We are a consistent and reliable resource for clients and their advisors, counseling them in the following nonprofit law areas:

Tax-Exemption Matters

• Tax-exempt status
• Public charity status (public support tests and private foundation alternatives)
• Private inurement and private benefit rules
• Self-dealing and intermediate sanctions
• Expanded regulation of charities and foundations under the Pension Protection Act of 2006
• Annual tax filings, including Forms 990, 990-PF and 990-T
• Community benefit standards for nonprofit healthcare providers
• Unrelated business income tax (UBIT)
• IRS audits and compliance programs (including executive compensation)
• Advocacy, lobbying and political activities

Corporate Structure and Governance

• Organizational structure
• Articles of Incorporation, bylaws, and corporate policies
• Corporate governance, fiduciary duties, conflicts of interest, director/officer liability and board/committee/staff relationships
• Sarbanes-Oxley “best practices” for nonprofits
• Proxy, voting and membership issues
• Taxable and tax-exempt subsidiaries
• Corporate reorganizations, spin-offs, mergers and dissolutions
• Collaborative relationships including partnerships and joint ventures with for-profit entities

Private Foundation and Grantmaking Issues

• Regulation of private foundations, supporting organizations and donor-advised funds
• Scholarship awards and prizes
• Disaster relief grants and international grants
• Grantmaking and expenditure responsibility
• Termination of private foundation status
• Private operating foundation issues
• Public policy development
• Program-related investments
• Endowment fund management, including UPMIFA requirements
• Charitable pledge work-outs

Fundraising and Charitable Giving Matters

• Fiscal agency or sponsorship
• Gifts of stock, real estate, art, intellectual property, vehicles and other property
• Corporate sponsorships and license agreements
• Charitable lead and remainder trusts, charitable annuities and donor-advised funds
• Renewable energy tax credits and Treasury grant programs
• Colorado raffle laws
• Colorado enterprise zone and childcare contribution tax credits
• Fundraising procedures and regulation of charitable solicitations

Commercial and Transactional Matters

• Contracts and leases
• Liability and risk management
• Low-income housing tax credit financing
• Tax-exempt financing
• Outside general counsel services
• “Virtual” in-house general counsel services

Nonprofits have many of the same legal needs as for-profit businesses, and occasionally those needs fall outside our areas of specialization. In such situations, we leverage our extensive network of contacts and collaborate with other attorneys who bring the additional expertise needed by our nonprofit law clients.