Author Archives: Karen Wu

May 15 is Calendar Year Tax-Exempt Orgs Form 990 Filing Deadline

Karen Wu
Posted on May 14, 2013 by Karen Wu

Every nonprofit organization in the United States needs to be aware that May 15th is the deadline for filing Form 990 with the IRS for any organizations with a calendar fiscal year.  The IRS has been strictly enforcing the automatic … Continue reading →

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Why You Should Care about the Duty of Care

Karen Wu
Posted on May 9, 2013 by Karen Wu

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of giving a workshop on nonprofit board governance at the Ei Forum, a conference for entrepreneurs seeking to start nonprofit or for-profit ventures that will generate innovative, gospel-centered renewal in the community. … Continue reading →

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Commission on Accountability & Policy for Religious Organizations Issues Report

Karen Wu

In December 2012, the Commission on Accountability & Policy for Religious Organizations presented a 91-page report to Senator Charles Grassley addressing various regulatory issues affecting the religious and broader nonprofit sector.  Entitled Enhancing Accountability for the Religious and Broader Nonprofit … Continue reading →

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IRS Guidance on Efforts to Aid Victims of Hurricane Sandy

Karen Wu

On November 7, 2012, the Internal Revenue Service issued several bulletins that relate to charitable efforts to assist victims of Hurricane Sandy. Below is a summary of some of the key announcements. 1. Qualified disaster relief payments will not be … Continue reading →

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Trademark Infringement for Social Good?

Karen Wu

The Nonprofit Quarterly recently posted an article accusing Neiman Marcus of using harsh legal tactics to threaten a nonprofit thrift store that was using its registered trademark, LAST CALL.  The article emphasizes that the thrift store donates all of its … Continue reading →

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Fundraising Compliance in Mergers & Acquisitions

Posted on July 12, 2012 by Karen Wu

For-profit companies that are in the business of providing charitable fundraising services often look to grow strategically through a merger or acquisition, but one of the details that is often overlooked by mergers and acquisitions (M&A) attorneys is proper planning … Continue reading →

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Social Media and Online Marketing for Nonprofits: A Legal Perspective

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Karen Wu

Nonprofits have steadily increased their adoption of social media and other online engagement strategies.  The unifying objective? To convert some of the time individuals are already spending online into supporter loyalty, education, and action. The online marketing strategies being used … Continue reading →

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Regulatory Focus on Cause Marketing Heats Up

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Karen Wu

Our firm has noticed a recent uptick in state charity regulators’ interest in regulating cause marketing activities.  (For purposes of this post, I am primarily referring to promotions in which a for-profit company advertises that the sale or use of … Continue reading →

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Small Orgs Get a Second Chance after IRS Revocations

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Karen Wu

According to recent IRS statistics, more than 272,000 organizations lost their tax-exempt status after failing to file their annual 990 information returns.  Many of those groups are no longer operating, thus relieving an overburdened IRS database of some of its … Continue reading →

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