Welcome to your daily briefing on nonprofit developments in Delaware. Today we're covering 5 key stories including updates on delaware nonprofit headlines, background & context. Let's dive in.
2 stories
The IRS provides Delaware-specific filing guidance for tax-exempt organizations operating in the state.
Delaware nonprofit professionals need accurate state-level filing requirements to maintain federal tax-exempt status and avoid compliance issues.
Delaware First Health and the Centene Foundation have launched an open submission period for community-based organizations and providers across Delaware to apply for grant funding through June 13, 2025.
This creates a direct funding opportunity for Delaware nonprofits serving local communities, with applications due next month.
Reach professionals in this market
3 stories
Unrelated business income tax applies when an activity is regularly carried on, is a trade or business, and is not substantially related to the exempt purpose. Common surprises: corporate-sponsored events with naming rights that look like advertising, affinity credit-card royalties that include co-marketing services, and gift-shop sales of items unrelated to the mission.
UBIT exposure can cost both tax and exempt status if the unrelated business becomes substantial. The line between sponsorship (excluded) and advertising (included) is narrow and case-specific.
Form 990 is required to be made public by the filing organization on request and is indexed by ProPublica and others within weeks of filing. Sections most boards underestimate: Schedule J (top-staff compensation), Schedule L (transactions with interested persons), and Schedule O (narrative explanations that "soften" other answers). Donors and reporters read these.
Items that read fine in management's narrative often read very differently in print. Pre-filing review by a non-finance board member catches optics issues that a CFO will not.
Private inurement is benefit flowing to insiders (officers, directors, key employees); it is an absolute prohibition. Private benefit is benefit to outsiders that is more than incidental to the exempt purpose; it is a question of degree. Both can revoke exemption, but the legal analysis differs.
Insider transactions trigger automatic intermediate sanctions even when the exemption survives. Outsider benefit triggers a facts-and-circumstances analysis. Distinguishing them shapes the defense.
Get Delaware nonprofit intelligence delivered to your inbox every morning.
Subscribe FreeView all past issues
Feature your brand across the U.S., Canada, and select international markets and 10 industry verticals.
Become a National Partner