Welcome to your daily briefing on nonprofit developments in Michigan. Today we're covering 5 key stories including updates on michigan nonprofit headlines, background & context. Let's dive in.
2 stories
The Michigan Attorney General's office provides a searchable database to look up charities, public safety organizations, and professional fundraisers.
Nonprofit professionals in MI can use this tool to verify registration status, research competitors, and ensure compliance with state charitable trust regulations.
MI Funding Hub offers Michigan communities a centralized platform to explore grants, access technical assistance, and find tools to support funding applications.
Nonprofit professionals in MI can streamline their grant research and strengthen proposals using resources tailored to local funding landscapes.
Reach professionals in this market
3 stories
Most states require charities soliciting donations from their residents to register before solicitation, regardless of where the charity is based. "Solicitation" includes web fundraising pages accessible to residents, not just direct mail. Compliance gaps surface during state attorney-general inquiries or unrelated litigation discovery.
Penalties range from civil fines to suspension of solicitation rights in the state. Larger consequences include negative coverage in donor research databases that fund foundation grants.
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.
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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