News & Events

November 13, 2009
USE OF DONOR-ADVISED FUNDS
Barbara Rosen will be moderating a panel on Donor-Advised Funds at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the California Tax Bar November 12-14 in San Diego. Please see www.calbar.ca.gov.

May 13, 2009
NONPROFIT BASICS AND FISCAL SPONSORSHIP
Cherie Evans spoke on starting a nonprofit for California Lawyers for the Arts (www.calawyersforthearts.org).

April 23, 2009
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF SERVING ON A NONPROFIT BOARD
Gene Takagi and Cherie Evans presented information on this topic at the Bar Association of San Francisco with a cameo appearance by Sheila Warren.

February 5, 2009
NON-PROFITS AND UNRELATED BUSINESS INCOME TAX:
EVALUATING NON-CORE REVENUE STREAMS
Cherie Evans, Bruce Hopkins, R. Michael Sorrells, and Brenda Blunt participated in a teleconference on recent unrelated business income tax developments. Please see www.straffordpub.com for a CD of this program.

January 17, 2009
WHAT NONPROFITS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GOVERNMENT
REGULATIONS
Cherie Evans and Patrick Sternal presented information on increased government oversight, especially in light of the new Form 990, at the State Bar Section Education Institute in Berkeley. Please see www.legalspan.com for a video of this presentation.

June 6, 2008
INTRODUCING UPMIFA
Cherie Evans spoke on the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act before the Nonprofit and Unincorporated Organizations Committee of the California State Bar. Please see www.calbar.ca.gov for presentation materials.

May 13, 2008
THE NONPROFIT LEGAL CHECKUP
Cherie Evans provided tips for keeping a nonprofit healthy at the Center for Volunteer and Nonprofit Leadership of Marin (www.cvnl.org).

January 28, 2008
LEGAL ISSUES FACING START-UPS
Cherie Evans spoke on forming a nonprofit at The Foundation Center (www.foundationcenter.org) in San Francisco.

January 18, 2008
LIABILITY OF DIRECTORS OF NONPROFITS AFTER SARBANES-OXLEY
Cherie Evans and Lisa Runquist talked about the application of Sarbanes-Oxley to nonprofits at the State Bar Section Education Institute in San Diego. Please see www.legalspan.com for a video of this presentation.

October 24, 2007
STRATEGIC GUIDANCE FOR CHARITIES WITH EARNED INCOME
Barbara Rosen and Cherie Evans spoke on unrelated business income and related topics at CompassPoint (www.compasspoint.org) in San Francisco.

September 28, 2007
WILL YOUR NONPROFIT STILL BE AROUND NEXT YEAR?
Cherie Evans and Lisa Runquist discussed protecting an organization's nonprofit and tax-exempt status at the State Bar Annual Meeting in Anaheim. Please see www.legalspan.com for a video of this seminar.

August 11, 2007
BASICS, BEST PRACTICES, AND TRENDS IN NONPROFIT CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Barbara Rosen moderated a panel consisting of Stephen Schwarz -- Professor Emeritus at UC Hastings College of Law, Andras Kosaras -- Director of Ethical Standards and Philanthropic Outreach at the Council on Foundations, and Gene Takagi -- The Law Office of Gene Takagi at the American Bar Association Annual Meeting.

April 24, 2007
THE NONPROFIT LEGAL CHECKUP
Cherie Evans discussed how to keep nonprofits healthy at The CBO Center (www.cbocenter.org).

November 1, 2006
SAN FRANCISCO NONPROFIT INTEREST GROUP: RECENT TAX LAW CHANGES
Barbara Rosen provided information on recent tax law changes at the California CPA Society Nonprofit Interest Group. Click here to download a pdf of the presentation materials.

August 19, 2006
SO YOU WANT TO START A NONPROFIT?
Cherie Evans gave this presentation as part of Craigslist Foundation's Nonprofit Boot Camp at the University of California, Berkeley. Please see www.siconversations.org for the podcast of this seminar.

In the News ...

NEW APPOINTMENT
Barbara Rosen is the newly elected Chair of the State Bar Taxation Section's Exempt Organizations Committee. The Committee will hold its annual meeting on November 20, 2009 at the Western Conference on Tax Exempt Organizations, to be held in Los Angeles on November 19-20. Please see http://events.lls.edu/eotax/09/index.html for conference information.

DC DELEGATION
Barbara Rosen was a member of the 2009 California Bar Taxation Section's delegation to Washington, DC from May 4-6. She met with Congressional tax staff, Treasury and IRS officials and counsel, the Taxpayer Advocate, and members of the Joint Committee on Taxation.  Barbara co-presented a proposal for regulatory guidance under Internal Revenue Code Sections 508(a) & (b).

ADVISING CALIFORNIA NONPROFIT CORPORATIONS
Cherie Evans co-authored with Patrick Sternal the revised chapter on choice of entity in this book. Please see www.ceb.com for details.

IRS SIMPLIFIES PUBLIC CHARITY RULING PROCESS
IRS will no longer issue advance rulings of public charity status under Sections 509(a)(1) and (a)(2). IRS will issue determination letters granting public charity status, and after the first five years, charities will continue to qualify as public charities based on their public support tests included on Form 990.

UPDATE ON PROFESSOR ROSEN
Barbara Rosen is an adjunct professor at UC Hastings College of the Law, co-teaching a course on nonprofit organization law during spring semester 2007, 2008, and 2009. For more information, see the list of Adjunct Faculty and Course Catalog at www.uchastings.edu. This summer, Barbara will be teaching Exempt Organizations in the Golden Gate University LLM program. See www.ggu.edu for details.

TAXATION OF EXEMPTS ARTICLE ON GROUP EXEMPTIONS
Barbara Rosen and Gene Takagi authored an article entitled "Group Exemptions Demystified" in the January/February 2008 issue of Taxation of Exempts magazine.

IRS ISSUES REDESIGNED FORM 990
On December 20, 2007, the IRS issued its redesigned Form 990, for use in 2009 for the 2008 filing season. See www.irs.gov for details.

CALIFORNIA SIMPLIFIES TAX EXEMPTION
Starting January 1, 2008, organizations with a determination letter from the IRS under Section 501(c)(3) can request California affirmation of tax exemption from the California Franchise Tax Board by sending a copy of the determination letter and Form 3500A in lieu of filing Form 3500. See www.ftb.ca.gov for more information.

GUIDESTAR ARTICLE ON INTERNATIONAL GIVING
Cherie Evans wrote an article on international giving by public charities. See www.guidestar.org to view the article.

PROGRAM ON JOINT VENTURES
Barbara Rosen, Cherie Evans, and Gene Takagi recorded a program on joint ventures between nonprofit and for-profit organizations. See www.law.com for details.

GUIDESTAR ARTICLE ON EXECUTIVE ORDER 13224
Cherie Evans wrote an article on anti-terrorist financing laws and nonprofits. See www.guidestar.org to view the article.

PLEDGE WORKOUTS UNDER SECTION 4958
Barbara Rosen was part of the 2006 California Bar Association Tax Section's delegation to Washington, DC in early May, meeting with members of Congress and their staff, Treasury, IRS Chief Counsel's Office, and the US Tax Court.  Barbara co-presented a proposal for administrative guidance under Internal Revenue Code Section 4958. Click here to download a pdf version of the proposal.