Tax-Exempt and Nonprofit Organizations

Whether you’re a charitable foundation, a trade association, an education institution, or a public entity — tax-exempt and nonprofit organizations need sound counsel on gaining and maintaining your tax-exempt status.

We represent all types of tax-exempt and nonprofit organizations in all aspects of their operational, business, and tax affairs. We provide services to keep your organizations running smoothly.

We regularly counsel tax-exempt and nonprofit clients like you in the following areas:

Formation of Charitable Organizations and Recognition of Status

Nearly every day across the country, we work with clients like you to create charitable organizations and seek IRS and state recognition of their tax-exempt status.

Family Foundations

Due to our significant estate planning practice, we represent a number of prominent family foundations on business and tax issues. We regularly create these entities for clients, and provide guidance on investment management and creative philanthropic strategies such as mission-related investing (including program-related investments) and direct programs such as scholarships, prizes, and direct charitable activities. We work with clients on succession planning and dissolving and dividing foundations.

Company Foundations

We have created and advice a number of very active company foundations. While many company foundations focus on coordinating the company’s philanthropic grant-making, we’ve advised a number of company foundations that have provided active support of charities, such as fundraising campaigns, direct charitable activity, employee assistance programs, and scholarships.

Nonprofit Hospitals and Health Care Systems

We have worked with nonprofit health care clients around the country, including multi-entity delivery systems, rural health care systems, managed care organizations, long-term care facilities, academic health institutions, home health agencies, and stand-alone community hospitals and clinics.

Working to protect the interests of our clients, we have been instrumental in developing key precedents in corporate structuring for profit/nonprofit health care joint ventures and cost-based reimbursement. We regularly provide counsel on operational issues such as consolidations, restructuring, compensation and governance, technology, billing and collection issues, compliance (such as anti-kickback laws, Stark law analysis, and clinical trial regulations), licensure, accreditation, credentialing, and peer review.

Tax-Exempt Trade Associations and Business Leagues

We represent a wide range of national, regional, and local trade associations and business leagues — that is, entities that are tax-exempt under section 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code. We primarily focus on representation of trade groups in the health care and insurance industries.

Tax-Exempt Colleges, Universities, and Other Educational Institutions

Colleges, universities, private schools, and organizations serving special needs and at-risk youth rely on our advice regarding special education requirements, unrelated business income tax issues, joint ventures with the private sector, athletic programs, mandated reporting, labor and benefits matters, structuring endowments, intellectual property rights, and cultural repatriation.

In addition, our college and university clients frequently call on us for counsel on public finance matters, general real estate work, and brownfields remediation arising from the substantial real estate holdings of many colleges and universities.

Nonprofit Social Welfare, Advocacy, and Political Organizations

We regularly counsel our nonprofit social welfare, advocacy, and political organization clients on their fundraising activities, federal and state lobbying, charitable affiliates, unrelated business income tax issues, and other aspects of their operations.

Tax-Exempt Public and Quasi-Public Organizations

We understand the diverse and specialized needs of governmental and quasi-governmental entities and organizations, and regularly counsel prominent public-sector organizations, such as state universities, county retirement systems, charter schools, and nonprofit providers of government-mandated services, on tax-related IRS issues.

Representing Tax-Exempt and Nonprofits Before the IRS

In addition to managing your tax planning and day-to-day interactions with the IRS — applications for recognition of exempt status, unrelated business tax planning, organization and reorganization transactions, and the like — we can represent you in large IRS audits in the “coordinated examination” program, tax-exempt bond audits, and participation in IRS National Office ruling projects.

Non-Tax Experience Important to Exempt Organizations

As a nonprofit client, you generally have more concerns on your plate other than taxes. That is why we provide a comprehensive set of non-tax-related services to help you keep your organization running smoothly.

These services include: