Nonprofit and Tax-Exempt Organizations

Practice Contacts

Nonprofit and Tax-Exempt Organizations

Taft has extensive experience in advising nonprofit organizations, foundations and tax-exempt entities in all aspects of their organization and operation. We have represented over 500 nonprofit organizations, including hospitals and health care organizations, universities, colleges, educational organizations, family and corporate foundations, religious organizations, fine arts and cultural organizations, governmental entities, social service, fraternal, social, and other charitable or nonprofit organizations. We counsel clients on a wide range of issues, including governance, foundations, endowment funds, charitable giving and planned giving programs, and fundraising, as well as tax matters such as unrelated business income, intermediate sanctions, and joint ventures. Taft attorneys also advise individuals, corporations, and tax-exempt entities on the tax and other aspects of charitable gift planning, including charitable trusts and private foundations.

Attorneys in the Nonprofit and Tax-Exempt Organizations practice understand that the laws relating to charities and exempt organizations are increasingly complex and highly specialized. Our attorneys advise a wide range of nonprofit and tax-exempt organizations on the key issues they face.

Whether it is corporate governance, tax matters, corporate transactions, litigation, real estate, or employment matters, our attorneys have the requisite specialized knowledge, judgment, and experience. Our practice includes attorneys who have dedicated their careers to this specialty.

Representative Services

Taft counsels nonprofit and tax-exempt entities in all aspects of their operation and activities, including:

Organization and operation of nonprofit corporations, including advice regarding Articles of Incorporation, Code of Regulations (Bylaws), applying for and maintaining tax-exempt status, conflict of interest policies, trustee and officer liability indemnification, and insurance issues.
Charitable solicitation registration.
Due diligence and expenditure response.
Unrelated business income tax rules, including application of rules to fundraising, corporate sponsored events, bingo and gaming, sale of goods and services, and other business operations.
Participation of tax-exempt organizations in partnerships, limited liability companies, and other joint ventures, and formation of taxable subsidiaries.
Reorganizations, including mergers, consolidations, affiliations, and other combinations, as well as divisions and dissolutions.
Health care issues (see our Health & Life Sciences group for more information).
Planned giving programs, including charitable remainder trusts, charitable lead trusts, pooled income funds, gift annuities (including compliance with disclosure rules for exemption from securities and antitrust laws and state insurance laws), gifts of life insurance and real estate, and gift acceptance policies.
Organization and operation of endowment funds and foundations.
Advising foreign grants.
Organization and operation of family and corporate private foundations and supporting organizations.
Property and sales tax exemption and compliance with other state registration, solicitation, and other rules and regulations.
Fundraising and charitable solicitations, including unrelated business income and state regulation issues.
Tax return reporting and compliance.