Understanding Private Foundations, DAFs, and Other Forms of Philanthropy

Understanding Private Foundations, DAFs, and Other Forms of Philanthropy

Wednesday, May 10 | 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM | Webinar

Presented by: Don Kramer, Esq

Moderated by: Tish Mogan, Standards for Excellence Consultant, PANO

Offered in Partnership with: Nonprofit Issues

*CPE & CLE credits are available for this program for accountants and lawyers; to receive credit you must register through Nonprofit Issues.

Are you a donor, a grant-seeker, a philanthropic manager, or a professional adviser to any of them? If so, you need to know the rules that distinguish various philanthropic structures. Knowing what rules apply — and how to apply them — can make the difference between success and failure of your projects.

This webinar will focus on private foundations and their special requirements, but will compare private foundations with donor advised funds, supporting organizations, and other forms of charitable activity. We will discuss when you might want to form a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization as a “foundation” that isn’t a private foundation.

With private foundations, we will focus on the 1.39% excise tax on investment income (why you need to know the tax basis of property given to you), self-dealing (compared to excess benefits at public charities), the minimum distribution requirement (and a currently legal way to avoid it), excess business holdings, jeopardy investments and socially responsible investments, and taxable expenditures, including the limitations on lobbying.

We will explain:

• Why many “conversion foundations” formed from the sale of charitable hospitals elected to become community foundations to avoid the limitations on lobbying.
• How private foundations can support the lobbying activities of others and provide working capital for economic development.
• How the managers of a private foundation can terminate the foundation but continue the fun of grantmaking.

We will also discuss the private foundation rules not only from the perspective of private foundation managers seeking to comply, but also from the perspective of grant seekers seeking to fit their projects within the limitations of a private foundation’s program.

From a broader perspective of philanthropy, we will discuss the rise in nonprofit journalism, the Chan-Zuckerberg initiative, use of (c)(4) social welfare organizations as an alternative to charity, and how the Paul Newman Foundation resolved its excess benefit holdings issue in a way that might help other private foundations.

*CPE & CLE credits are available for this program for accountants and lawyers; to receive credit you must register through Nonprofit Issues.

Single Login Cost:
$45 per person for PANO Members | $100 per person for Not-Yet Members

Terms of Participation
Your purchase entitles you to a single login. Please do not share the login information with others, as it may interfere with your ability to join. If multiple individuals from your organization would like to view the webinar, please purchase separate tickets for each person or consider a group screening ticket (below).

Group Screening Cost (4-10 individuals):
$150 per group for PANO Members | $333 per group for Not-Yet Members

Terms of Participation
If you have 4-10 individuals interested in viewing the webinar, please have one person register selecting the group ticket. You can then enter the names and email addresses of up to 10 individuals to add to your group ticket.

This option makes the most sense when you have 4-10 individuals interested in viewing the webinar. For fewer than 4 attendees, a single login ticket for each person is the most cost-effective option. For more than 10 attendees, please email Christina at christina@pano.org to discuss options.

Materials & Login/Call-In Instructions:
Materials (PowerPoint and other handouts), along with instructions on how to login and call-in, will be emailed to attendees a few days prior to the date of the webinar. PANO uses Zoom as our webinar platform; you can familiarize yourself with Zoom and/or join a test meeting prior to these sessions.

Can’t attend? All webinar registrants will receive a recording of the webinar following the live session!

About the Facilitator

Donald W. Kramer serves as chair of Montgomery McCracken’s Nonprofit practice group.

Don has more than 45 years of experience dealing with the concerns of nonprofit organizations, not only as a lawyer, but also as a teacher, writer, publisher, and board member. He has worked with nonprofits of all types and sizes, helping structure startup situations and restructure multiorganizational health and educational systems. He counsels on a wide range of nonprofit corporate structure and governance, private and community foundations, continuing care retirement communities, exempt organization taxation, low-income housing tax credit transactions, real estate, charitable giving, and other nonprofit issues.

Don has provided legal services to The Philadelphia Foundation for more than 40 years.

Don serves as the editor and publisher of Don Kramer’s Nonprofit Issues®, a national newsletter of “Nonprofit Law You Need to Know,” which he founded in 1989.

Prior to joining Montgomery McCracken in 1972, Don served as deputy development coordinator and assistant to the mayor of Philadelphia.