Thursday, February 5, 2009

My Article "How to Find a Lawyer for Your Nonprofit" Now On the Internet

One of my articles, How to Find a Lawyer for Your Nonprofit Organization, has just been published for use by Step By Step Fundraising.

The article covers the following:

Here are some thoughts on finding, hiring, working with and firing an attorney for a nonprofit organization. A lot will depend on the issue you are addressing. If you are at the beginning of incorporating an organization the talents you need from an attorney are different than one seeking legal help for a grievance by a current or former employee. This article will be general in nature to give you some guidance in selecting an attorney for your NPO.

The basic choice is to find an attorney or small law firm that features or includes representation of charities, nonprofit or philanthropic organizations. The second choice is to seek either an experienced and interested corporate lawyer or a tax lawyer. The third choice is a lawyer with interest in your mission and endeavor who will put in the necessary time to learn the law and to process the papers with all due haste and timeliness.

If you do not know any attorney to help you there are a number of steps you can take to find one locally. You can use all of these listed here or any variations. The sections covered by this article are -

  1. Check the Yellow Pages
  2. Attorney Referral Service
  3. Martindale-Hubbell Directory and Other Sources
  4. Ask Friends and Contacts in the Community and Google the Attorneys
  5. Planning the First Meeting
  6. Legal Wellness Check-ups
  7. Finding a Pro Bono Lawyer
  8. Working with an Attorney
  9. Your Attorney on the Board
  10. Concluding the Lawyer-Client Relationship
  11. Firing a Lawyer
http://stepbystepfundraising.com/how-to-find-a-lawyer-nonprofit/

Step By Step Fundraising states at its web site:

There are many non profit organizations out there looking for fundraising ideas. Many of the fundraising ideas that are featured on this website will work for many groups — large or small — and for a variety of causes. The fundraising ideas presented on this site come from real fundraisers, just like you. You will get the real inside scoop about what works and what doesn’t, saving you lots of time and effort.Italic

My thanks to Sandra Sims, Founder and CEO of Step By Step Fundraising, for making this article available at their web site for free use.

Other Resources:

Developing a Nonprofit Tax Exempt Organization - Outline of First Steps

Selecting and Reserving A Name for Your Organization

Agenda and Minutes of First Board Meetings

Minutes: The Ongoing Record of Your Nonprofit Organization

Your Nonprofit Library Third Shelf – Getting the U.S. IRS to Recognize Your Nonprofit as Tax Exempt

Your Nonprofit Library Third Shelf – See What the IRS Demands of Your Tax Exempt Organization After it is Recognized as Tax Exempt

Fiscal Sponsorship or Agent: A Yellow Light

24 Factors In Developing an Exit Strategy for Nonprofit and Nongovernmental Organization (A Business Plan in Reverse)

1 comment:

Carol Topp, CPA said...

Great article Don! Lots of good links too.
Sandra of Step by Step Fundraising asked me to write a similar article on finding a CPA for your nonprofit. I hope she waits a little while before posting my article since you are a hard act to follow!

Carol Topp, CPA

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