LOCATION: Mackenzie House, Trent University, 1600 West Bank Drive, Peterborough

DATE: December 9, 2010 - CANCELLED

TIME: 12:50 p.m. - 2.30 p.m.            

COST: Members: $25.00 Non-Members: $30.00

Note: You must attend this session at the location listed above. If you wish to login from your office/home, please register through www.afpnet.org (US$ 159/member price; US $295/non-member price)

Presenter

Melanie B. Leslie is a Professor of Law at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York City.  Professor Leslie teaches property, trusts and estates and nonprofit law, and is the co-author of a leading casebook on trusts and estates. She has written extensively about the fiduciary duties of trustees and boards of directors. Professor Leslie is a Legal Fellow of the American College of Trusts and Estates Counsel (ACTEC), the current Chair of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Section on Trusts and Estates, and a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York’s section on Trusts and Estates.

Program Summary

When fundraisers assist charitable institutions in identifying potential donors, they typically look first to the organization’s board of directors (or board of trustees).  Directors’ donations of money, goods and services to the organizations they serve ordinarily create no legal risks. But what if a director offers to supply goods or services for a discounted rate, or implicitly conditions a donation on the charity’s promise to contract with a business in which a director has a financial interest?  These types of transactions involve conflicts of interest, and they occur with surprising frequency. For example, last year the Boston Globe reported that Suffolk University executed a $10,000/month contract with lobbyist Robert Crowe’s firm, Wolfblock Public Strategies. Robert Crowe is also a Suffolk University trustee, and a member of the compensation committee that made University President David Sargent the highest paid University President in 2006.  And in April of 2009, Hackensack University Medical Center hired two major law firms to review its governance procedures after it came to light that the hospital routinely did business with board members.  In addition to rendering these charities vulnerable to scrutiny from state and federal authorities, the revelations threatened to undermine public confidence in these important institutions.
  
Many damaging transactions occur because well-meaning board members fail to spot conflicts or neglect to engage in appropriate decision-making processes.  This session is designed to help fundraisers and board members spot conflicts of interest, identify potentially harmful transactions, and formulate procedures to ensure that transactions with board members do not violate state laws or the internal revenue code. We will explore state and federal tax law in detail, including the differences in the rules applicable to public charities (such as universities and hospitals) and private foundations.

Target Audience

This session is designed to be helpful to fundraisers who work with board members who donate funds, goods and services to nonprofits on whose boards they sit. And who lack legal expertise in corporate governance issues.

CFRE Accreditation

Participation in a live session or use of an audio recording of the program qualifies for 1.5 points toward CFRE education requirements.