Legal Webinar: IRS Form 990: Public Relations Opportunity or Trap for the Unwary?

IRS Form 990: Public Relations Opportunity or Trap for the Unwary?

Wednesday, April 8 | 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM | Webinar

Presented by: Don Kramer, Esq., Of Counsel, Montgomery McCracken, and Editor, Nonprofit Issues | Melissa Sines, Interim Standards for Excellence Director, PANO

Offered in Partnership with: Nonprofit Issues

*NOTE: PANO does not offer CPE & CLE credits for accountants and lawyers. You MUST REGISTER HERE via Nonprofit Issues website if you are interested in these credits. You can reach them at info@nonprofitissues.com.

Because Form 990 tax information returns of nonprofits are instantly available on the Internet, we have said for many years that they can be an organization's most important public relations document.

They can also be traps that lead to confusion, serious adverse publicity, media inquiries, and governmental sanctions.

And, with more funders and potential donors using AI to read and analyze 990s, the stakes for getting this information right are even higher.

This session will view the full (long form) Form 990 on a line-by-line basis, pointing out things that will be important for a potential donor, a regulator, the media, an employee and the all-seeing AI.  It will discuss the opportunities for using the Form to show the world that you are making a difference and utilizing best practices in governance and transparency in your operations.  

Follow your own 990 line by line as we discuss:

• How to enhance your statement of your mission and your program service accomplishments
• The responsibility of filing under penalty of perjury. 
• The magic power of Schedule O
• The presentation of salary information, the most carefully read page of the Form
• The importance of the governance questions
• The allocation of costs and expenses and the “overhead myth”
• The most frequent errors on Schedule A
• And much more

Purchasers will receive a copy of the "Form 990 Compendium," the Standards for Excellence Educational Resource Packet containing sample policies and other important content to ensure your Form 990 can be a strong relational tool with the public, donors, media and the government. Listeners should have their most recent Form 990 available during the program to see how they match up.

Here is what some of the participant’s in last year’s webinar had to say about the program:

• Exceptionally good
• A wealth of great information and advice
• Many great insights and tips
• Materials were excellent

Every respondent to our participant survey said they learned something that they would use in their work. 94% said they would recommend the program to others.

*NOTE: PANO does not offer CPE & CLE credits for accountants and lawyers. You MUST REGISTER HERE via Nonprofit Issues website if you are interested in these credits. You can reach them at info@nonprofitissues.com.

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 attending the webinar, please have one person register selecting one group ticket. You can then enter the names and email addresses of up to 9 other individuals to add to your group ticket. Each person registered will receive their own unique login instructions and may join from wherever is most convenient for them.

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 registrants will receive a recording of the webinar following the live session!

About the Facilitators

Donald W. Kramer, Esq., Nonprofit Issues & Montgomery McCracken

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 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. Learn more about Don here.

Melissa Sines, PANO

Melissa Sines is a dynamic leader and strategist and one of the co-founders of Colmena Consulting. Melissa brings deep expertise to her work with public sector organizations, focusing on building collective vision, nurturing emergent strategy, and developing and holding meaningful spaces for building community, learning together, and supporting leadership at all levels for nonprofit and philanthropy boards of directors, executive leadership, and program and operations staff.

Throughout her career and her work as a volunteer and organizer in her own community, she has touched every part of nonprofit governance and management structure and processes: as a founder, as a funder, as a board member, a committee member, a programs professional, an event planner, an operations and financial professional, a database administrator, a fundraiser, and a volunteer manager. She is a sense-maker, connector, and network strategist that can help navigate the space between what we are and what we have the ability to become – a sector full of people, movements, and organizations that live our values through our work.

Learn more about Melissa here.