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Intellectual Property is the intangible rights protecting products of the human intellect, comprised generally of copyrights, trademarks, patents, and trade secrets. Without exception, IP permeates throughout every nonprofit: websites; newsletters; logos; books/articles; music; computer code; unique systems, processes, and methods; campaigns; and more. Often, nonprofits create intellectual property without even realizing it. Knowing how to handle IP is vital for nonprofit Executive Directors and CEOs.

Whether you realize it or not, your organization is constantly engaging in numerous contracts, from your internet service provider, to that new donor management platform to which you just subscribed, to the web designer you just hired to rebuild your website. All of those are contractual relationships that are governed by the law of contracts (and the terms contained within those contracts). Having a clear idea of what contracts you are engaged in and what your obligations are as a nonprofit is essential to long term success.

Your organization simply cannot function without its people, yet your people (and the laws surrounding their employment) tend to be among the most common sources of litigation against nonprofits. However, with a little knowledge and foresight, it does not have to be that way. Here is a brief overview of what employment laws nonprofit executive directors should know about.

If dealing with the IRS makes you feel overwhelmed, you are not alone. Sometimes it seems like the Internal Revenue Service uses a foreign language that you never took in school. We know this and can help translate for your nonprofit. Compliance with the IRS is crucial to keeping your organization above board and in good standing. By making sure to take care of a few relatively straightforward matters, you can ensure your nonprofit maintains that precious 501(c)(3) status. Follow this guide to help keep the IRS happy with your organization.

In our ever-changing world, there is so much to learn about legal requirements for nonprofits. While regularly reading the news is beneficial for staying up to date, it can be overwhelmingly hard to digest. Between taxes, annual filings, employment regulations, and copyright law alone there is a lot for a nonprofit executive director to keep up with. In our upcoming blog series, we will examine four core areas that are imperative for nonprofit leaders to be well-versed in.