Free Training for Non-Profits to File New IRS - 10/22/09

From Public Counsel's Community Development Project...

Revised form 990 Seminar offered October 22, 2009

Public Counsel’s Community Development Project is co-sponsoring a free seminar, called “The Revised Form 990 – Preparing For A New World,” on October 22, 2009 from 7:30 AM – 12:30 PM. The seminar will be hosted at the offices of DLA Piper LLP in Los Angeles, 550 South Hope Street, Suite 2300, Los Angeles, CA 90071. As you know, the redesigned IRS Form 990 significantly changes the reporting requirements for many nonprofit organizations. Now, the IRS wants to know in more detail how your organization sets executive compensation and how much it is paying its executives; how it handles potential conflicts of interest; and whether it has a record retention policy, independent directors and a whistleblower policy. This seminar is designed to walk you through all the new requirements so you will be prepared when you have to file the revised form. Please click here for more details, including RSVP information.

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SAMPLE FORM 990 POLICIES NOW AVAILABLE

Through the release of the revised Form 990, the IRS indicated its intent to continue its scrutiny of the corporate governance policies and procedures of nonprofit organizations. One of the changes to the new Form 990 is that it includes a new section on corporate governance which asks, among other things, whether the organization has adopted a written conflict of interest policy, a whistleblower policy and a document retention policy. Although not required by tax law, the IRS increasingly views such policies and good governance practices as a means to establishing transparency and ensuring compliance.

Public Counsel’s Community Development Project, with the support of the Annenberg Foundation, has designed a sample conflict of interest policy, whistleblower policy and document retention policy for nonprofit organizations seeking to adopt or amend such policies and the pro bono attorneys who represent them. These samples are annotated with explanatory endnotes, including citations to applicable laws, alternatives and recommended practices. To access these sample policies, please click on the links below.

Conflict of Interest Policy – www.publiccounsel.org/cdp/coi_policy.pdf
Whistleblower Policy – www.publiccounsel.org/cdp/wb_policy.pdf
Records Management and Retention Policy – www.publiccounsel.org/cdp/records_policy.pdf