Practical resources on the rules nonprofits operate under. Governance and fiduciary duties. Tax-exempt status and public-support tests. Lobbying and advocacy rules. Employment and volunteer compliance. Fiscal sponsorship.
Written for executive directors, board members, and senior leadership who want to understand the frameworks shaping their work.
The Nonprofit Law Primer.
DC Nonprofit Board Governance: What the Law Requires
The DC Nonprofit Corporation Act of 2010 gives nonprofits substantial flexibility to structure their governance. But some rules cannot be changed by the bylaws, and missing them can invalidate board action, eliminate liability protections, or lead to administrative dissolution.
You Do Not Lose Tax-Exempt Status by Becoming a Foundation
Both public charities and private foundations are exempt under section 501(c)(3). The public support test does not decide whether an organization is exempt. It decides which set of operating rules applies, and there are more ways through it than the arithmetic suggests.
Voter Registration, GOTV, & Candidate Forums
Nonprofit executive directors and board chairs planning fall voter engagement should start from one conclusion: good intentions do not protect your organization’s exempt status, but execution does. A voter‑registration drive, get‑out‑the‑vote canvass, or candidate forum stays within the rules only when it is run, and documented, as genuinely nonpartisan.
Issue Advocacy vs. Electioneering: How 501(c)(3)s Stay on the Right Side
Issue advocacy is protected under Section 501(c)(3); electioneering is not. Here is where the IRS draws the line — the seven factors that decide it, and what it costs an organization that crosses it without meaning to.
The Federal Lobbying Disclosure Act: When Your Nonprofit Must Register
Many nonprofits track their 501(h) lobbying spending and assume that covers them under federal law. It doesn't. Here's the two-part test — and the 45-day clock — that actually determines whether your organization must register under the LDA.
Direct vs. Grassroots Lobbying: What Counts, What It Costs
Direct and grassroots lobbying are taxed and capped differently under IRC § 501(c)(3). Here's how CT, DC, MA, and NY nonprofits tell them apart, and what it costs to get the split wrong.
Fiscal Sponsorship: Legal Structure, Risks, and Best Practices
Fiscal sponsorship is often treated as an administrative shortcut, but it's a governance decision with real employment, insurance, and multistate compliance consequences. This piece walks nonprofit boards through the legal models, the risks each one creates, and what the agreement needs to say.
Volunteer Liability Coverage Checklist
A practical checklist for assessing volunteer classification risk and confirming liability coverage under Massachusetts and DC law.
Volunteer Program Agreements & Documentation for Nonprofits: WhatExecutive Directors and Boards Need to Get Right
Many nonprofits run volunteer programs on a single form — or no form at all. That's not a documentation system. A well-structured volunteer program requires a suite of documents: a services agreement, a role description, a background check authorization, confidentiality provisions, and a retention protocol that makes everything usable when it matters. This article walks through what each document does, where programs typically fail, and what the rules look like in CT, DC, MA, and NY.
When Are Nonprofit Volunteers Protected by Anti-Discrimination Law in Massachusetts and DC?
Federal anti-discrimination statutes generally protect employees, not true unpaid volunteers — but courts look past the label. Whether a nonprofit faces liability depends on whether the volunteer relationship is truly gratuitous or functions enough like employment to trigger coverage under federal law, Massachusetts chapter 151B, or the DC Human Rights Act.
Special Education Reimbursement Reform in Connecticut: The Legal and Policy Case
Connecticut law requires a student’s resident district to reimburse charter schools for special education. But one phrase—“reasonable cost”—allowed two districts to pay only a fraction of the bill, until a state ruling and 2026 appeal confirmed that reasonable means actual.
When “Free Help” Isn’t Free: Volunteer Classification and Liability for Nonprofits
Nonprofits often rely on volunteers to keep programs running, but that reliance can create legal risk when a volunteer arrangement starts to look like an employment relationship. This article outlines common classification red flags, explains why stipends require care, and summarizes the volunteer-liability framework under federal law, Massachusetts law, and D.C. law.
What the IRS Requires When Your Nonprofit Sets Executive Pay
When a nonprofit board approves executive compensation without the right process, the consequences don't stay with the organization — they follow the individuals who approved it. This post explains the what the right process looks like, what documentation boards must keep, and what to know in CT, DC, MA, & NY.
Terminating Employees at Nonprofits: What MA and DC Executive Directors Need to Know
At-will employment is more complicated than most nonprofit leaders realize, and termination is where that complexity concentrates. This post covers the key exceptions in MA and DC, whistleblower traps, RIF rules for grant-funded orgs, and what makes a separation agreement enforceable.
Contracts and Grant Agreements: What Nonprofit Leaders Need to Know Before They Sign
Grant agreements are contracts in legal disguise: they bind your organization to deliverables, reporting timelines, indemnity terms, and clawback rights, and the moment to negotiate them is before signing, not after the funder asks for a refund.
The Cost of Complacency: How Nonprofits Lose Their Tax-Exempt Status and How to Keep It
Tax exemption isn't permanent: three years of unfiled 990s triggers automatic revocation, and so do private inurement, excess political activity, and operations that drift from your stated exempt purpose, often before a board notices anything has changed.
The Other Lobbying Rules: State Registration and Reporting Requirements for Nonprofits
Federal 501(h) election covers your IRS exposure, but every state has its own lobbying registration regime, and once your advocacy crosses the state-defined threshold, missing the registration is a strict-liability problem that can shut a campaign down.
Nonprofit Board Fiduciary Duties: A legal guide for directors in MA, NY, CT & DC
Board members owe three legal duties (care, loyalty, and obedience), and while the federal framework is consistent, NY, DC, MA, and CT each define and enforce them differently, with state-specific case law that can leave a director personally exposed.
The Lobbying Rules Nonprofits Get Wrong — and the Power They're Leaving on the Table
Most 501(c)(3) leaders avoid lobbying entirely because they think the rules are restrictive, but the 501(h) election actually quantifies what's allowed, and the limits are higher than most boards realize, leaving real influence on the table.
What Nonprofit Employers Owe Their Employees Under Federal and State Law
Nonprofit status doesn't exempt you from federal or state employment law, which means your wage-and-hour exposure, benefits obligations, and discrimination liabilities are the same as any for-profit employer's, even when you can't pay market rates.
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