Nonprofit Compliance Summary

• Compliance audits — Annual review of federal and state filing obligations, governance policies, and operational compliance
• Regulatory examination prep — Preparing for IRS examinations, state attorney general inquiries, or audit notices
• Matter onboarding — Quickly assessing a nonprofit client's compliance posture when taking on new representation
• Board reporting — Producing executive-level compliance summaries for board meetings or audit committee reviews
• Risk assessment — Identifying revocation risk, excess benefit transaction exposure, or multi-state registration gaps

• Initial 501(c)(3) applications — This skill assesses existing exempt organizations; use IRS Form 1023/1023-EZ guidance for new applications
• Private foundations — The skill focuses on public charities; private foundations have distinct excise tax and distribution requirements
• Non-U.S. organizations — Analysis is specific to U.S. federal tax law and state charitable solicitation statutes
• Detailed legal opinions — Output flags issues for counsel review but does not constitute formal legal advice

Evaluates IRS Form 990 filing history, exempt purpose alignment, unrelated business income reporting, private inurement prohibitions, political activity restrictions, and public charity status tests. Flags automatic revocation risk from consecutive missed filings.

Assesses charitable solicitation registration status across all states where the organization solicits donations, including digital appeals. Identifies expired registrations, missing annual reports, and pre-registration requirements.

Examines board composition, conflict-of-interest policies, executive compensation approval processes (rebuttable presumption standard), corporate record-keeping, financial controls, and joint venture compliance.

Delivers findings in a three-tier priority system (Critical / High / Routine) with specific action items, deadlines, and statutory citations. Marks uncertain citations for verification and flags legal conclusions for counsel review.

Provides an overall status assessment (Full Compliance / Minor Deficiencies / Significant Gaps), highlights critical issues requiring immediate action, and lists upcoming filing deadlines within the next 90 days.

A nonprofit's board requests an annual compliance review before the audit committee meeting. The skill processes three years of Form 990 filings, state registration certificates, and board minutes to produce a structured report identifying a lapsed state registration and missing conflict-of-interest disclosures, with prioritized remediation steps.

An organization receives an IRS examination notice. The skill generates a comprehensive compliance summary documenting Form 990 filing history, exempt purpose activities, and governance practices, helping counsel prepare responses and identify potential exposure areas before the examination.

A law firm takes on a nonprofit client and needs to quickly assess compliance posture. The skill processes organizational documents, IRS filings, and state registrations to produce an onboarding memo highlighting immediate risks (e.g., approaching 990 deadline, expired state registrations) and long-term governance improvements.

Executive leadership needs a non-technical compliance summary for the board of directors. The skill translates complex regulatory requirements into a clear executive overview with plain-language findings, helping board members understand their fiduciary obligations and approve necessary corrective actions.