Welcome to your daily briefing on nonprofit developments in Massachusetts. Today we're covering 6 key stories including updates on massachusetts nonprofit headlines, background & context. Let's dive in.
3 stories
The Massachusetts Attorney General's Office has launched an online Charity Registration system for nonprofits to file required registrations.
MA nonprofit professionals can now complete mandatory charity registrations electronically, streamlining annual compliance obligations.
The Massachusetts Attorney General's office has launched an online portal for searching public charities filings.
MA nonprofit professionals can now easily access and verify charitable organization filings to ensure compliance and transparency.
Mass Humanities offers grant programs designed to enrich lives and strengthen society through the humanities for nonprofits, organizations, communities, and individuals across Massachusetts.
Massachusetts nonprofit professionals can access funding to support humanities-based programming that engages communities and advances their organizational missions.
Reach professionals in this market
3 stories
Negligent-screening claims arise not from failing to have a screening policy, but from failing to follow the policy that exists. A documented policy with inconsistent enforcement is harder to defend than no policy at all, because the deviation is evidence of negligence.
Insurance carriers tighten coverage on organizations with screening-process gaps. The cost of consistent enforcement is small; the cost of a single uninvestigated incident can close the organization.
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.
The IRS-recommended COI policy requires (1) annual disclosure by all directors and key employees, (2) a process for review of any disclosed conflict, (3) recusal procedures, and (4) documentation in board minutes. Policies that have only the disclosure form without the review and recusal process do not satisfy the recommendation.
A weak COI policy is a Schedule L disclosure waiting to happen, and Schedule L disclosures correlate with future IRS examination selection.
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