I've always been surprised that the legal team for any nonprofit I've worked for was always very small or nonexistent.
Apparently, that is just the way it is for nonprofits, from large universities (the two I worked for had legal departments of one person) to the smallest agencies.
It is also true that legal counsel is very expensive. Because of this most nonprofits make sure that they have lawyers on the board or even have an advisory committee made up of pro-bono legal advisers from local law firms.
The legal needs of nonprofits aren't that different from those of businesses, ranging from contracts to communications to copyright needs. And a nonprofit can get into legal problems just as easily as any other corporation.
Now, there is a book that can serve as a handy guide to nonprofit managers: Good Counsel: Meeting the Legal Needs of Nonprofits by Lesley Rosenthal (Wiley, 2012).
Rosenthal is the inhouse legal counsel for the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, having served through several years of growth for that organization--growth in fundraising and redevelopment of its physical complex in New York City.
Writing the book was the result of Rosenthal's own desire for a concise guide to nonprofit law. There was none, so she wrote it. In doing so, Rosenthal has taken us on a grand tour of the legal responsibilities and opportunities for nonprofits.
The resulting book is a gold mine of essentials about legal matters that can serve executive directors, board members, and lawyers new to nonprofit law. Good Counsel covers everything from human resource issues, fundraising, and finance, to operations and communications using examples from higher education, cultural organizations and other nonprofits to illustrate key points.
Good Counsel won't answer all of your questions, but it will point you in the right direction and solve many of the day-to-day legal conundrums that may well face anyone working in nonprofit today.
Furthermore, the book is a guide to all the possible legal ramifications of many activities that we take for granted in the nonprofit world. For instance, here is an abbreviated list of the legal aspects of fundraising that Good Counsel covers:
- the differences between unrestricted, restricted and endowment gifts.
- what quid pro quo contributions are, and how they are taxed.
- what information charitable receipts must contain.
- how to handle sensitive donor information.
- the elements of a gift acceptance policy.
- how a pledge and outright gift differ, and how to set up pledge agreements.
- qualified corporate sponsoship payments.
- the relationship between good governance and successful fundraising.
- how, where, and when to register fundraising campaigns.
Good Counsel really takes the fear out of legal questions. Many of us (me included) tend to steer clear of anything about the law just because it all seems so impenetrable. If your eyes have ever crossed puzzling out the legal aspects of copyright or contract law, you'll be relieved to find Rosenthal's explanations written in plain English and even a fun style. Plus there are forms and checklists and lots and lots of bullet points.
There is no doubt that once you have this book in your hands, you'll be grateful, whether you're a development director, the ED, or a "member of the board. Use it as an index and first glance at legal issues and as a guide to when and where to seek additional counsel. The book is not a "tome" either. It is compact and easy to navigate.
Add Good Counsel to your nonprofit management bookshelf and make sure that your entire management team knows about it. It will cure some of your worst headaches
