Frequently Asked Questions
Boards and Governance
- Can board members be personally liable?
- If the organization has not filed its 990 on time, can board members be liable?
- Should we find a lawyer, accountant or insurance professional to serve on our board?
- What is the role of the audit committee? Do we need one?
- May board members be reimbursed for their expenses?
- What governance policies should our board be considering?
- Our board members can be indemnified and since they are volunteers they are covered by charitable immunity. Do we need Directors and Officers’ Liability Insurance?
- A board member would like us to hire his daughter for a summer job – Is this a good idea?
- What’s the best way to find new board members?
- Our board members have served for a long time. What’s the risk?
- Do board meetings have to be open to the public?
- How can I convince my board that they should be involved in fundraising?
- How can we involve the board in risk management?
- We want to expand our mission to add various activities – how can we do that and still maintain our tax-exempt status?
- We changed our bylaws. Do we have to inform the IRS?
- Our Determination Letter is outdated because our organization just changed its name.How do we get an updated ruling letter from the IRS?
- We’re a small nonprofit with under 25K in annual revenue. Do we have to file an annual tax form with the IRS?
- We’re a church. Do we have to file an annual report with the IRS?
- Is it a conflict if our Executive Director is also on the board as President?
- Our nonprofit needs to retain legal counsel and we are not sure where to begin. Do we need to have a signed agreement with an attorney? Who should the attorney report to? the Board of Directors or the staff of the agency?