Non-Profit Organizations

A non-profit organization (“NPO”) is an organization whose primary objective is to support an issue or matter of private interest or public concern for non-commercial purposes. Nonprofits are often charities, churches or service organizations and may be involved in an innumerable range of areas relating to the arts, early childhood education, politics, religion, research, sports or some other endeavor. Often, these organizations are known as foundations or endowments.

At Ford • Conlon • Gerberding • Grier, we strongly support and believe in the societal benefits that NPOs provide and work with many local organizations to assist their compliance with the state and federal regulations that govern NPOs. As nonprofit organizations attract increasing scrutiny from federal, state, and local regulatory authorities, careful attention to this fast-changing area of the law is necessary to enable these organizations to serve their stated purposes while complying with regulatory restrictions and maintaining their tax-exempt status.

We are well-versed in the issues that dominate non-profit organizations, including qualification of organizations as tax-exempt under the Internal Revenue Code, advice as to unrelated business taxable income, and assistance regarding exemptions for various state and local property and sales taxes, as well as Federal unemployment taxes. In addition, we assist our NPO clients with respect to changes in the law regarding liability of directors, and non-director volunteers and the possibilities for limitation of liability or for indemnification.

For more information on our firm’s Non-Profit practice contact us at 231-946-2700 or 1-800-968-8577.

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