Legal Webinar: Special Event Fundraising - Create Your Legal Checklist (2026)

Special Event Fundraising: Create Your Legal Checklist

Wednesday, August 12 | 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM | Webinar

Presented by: Melissa Sines, Interim Standards for Excellence Director, PANO and Don Kramer, Esq., Montgomery McCracken

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.

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: Tuesday, August 11, 11:59 PM

From picking a name and getting a venue, through sending the invitations, getting all the required permits, getting the right insurance, staffing the event, serving alcohol, acknowledging donations, and reporting to the IRS, there are a lot of technical rules to follow. Organizations running special event fundraisers have struggled for years to stay compliant with the law; and now, many new issues have emerged from virtual events over the last few years. Now is the time to put the new rules and the old rules together in planning your next fundraiser!

This webinar will take you through a step-by-step review of key legal issues, from initial planning to final reporting. It will allow you to put together a comprehensive checklist for your specific event, answering questions like:

• Who has to register under the charitable solicitation rules?
• What kind of permits and insurance do we need?
• How do we substantiate gifts and meet the "quid pro quo" rules?
• What do we tell our sponsors?
• May we run a 50/50 lottery or raffle off a “basket of cheer”?
• May we serve alcohol?
• What do we tell donors about gifts for our charity auction? What about those who purchase items from our charity auction?
• Should we get releases from our guests?
• How can we increase safety at the event?
• Do we have to pay staff overtime for working the event?
• How do we deal with volunteers staffing the event?
• Can we use pictures of the event in our annual report?
• How do we report the results on our Form 990?

This webinar is for nonprofit board, staff, and volunteers who have any responsibility for special events, outside event planners, and their professional advisers.

Make sure your next event is a spectacular success – instead of a legal headache!

*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 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.

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: Tuesday, August 11, 11:59 PM

MATERIALS
If applicable, any materials (e.g., PowerPoint and other handouts), will be shared with registrants either the day of or within a few days following the webinar.

LOGIN INSTRUCTIONS
PANO uses Zoom as our webinar platform; you can familiarize yourself with Zoom and/or join a test meeting prior to this session. Login instructions will be included in your registration confirmation email.

RECORDING
All registrants will automatically receive a copy of the recording, along with any materials, within a few days of the live session. Additionally, the recording will be uploaded to PANO’s Online Store for purchase ($45 for PANO Members | $100 for Not-Yet Members) within a week of the live event.

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: Tuesday, August 11, 11:59 PM

About the Facilitators

Don Kramer, Esq., Montgomery McCracken + Nonprofit Issues
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. He 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.

Melissa Sines, PANO + Colmena Consulting
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.

At her core, Melissa’s purpose is to build deep and authentic connections, share knowledge, and be the voice that questions assumptions and challenges the status quo. 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.