Nonprofit Organizations

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Nonprofit organizations play a vital role in our communities, providing critical health care, research, educational, and social services and stimulating growth and opportunity beyond the communities they serve. However, with growing needs and limited resources, they often must meet yearly goals with a small internal staff and a lean budget.

At Dickinson Wright, we are committed to assisting our nonprofit clients in meeting their mission locally, nationally, and internationally. Our nonprofit law team provides practical, actionable guidance to nonprofits, counseling clients on both day-to-day issues and large-scale projects.

Our Clients

Our clients come to us from a variety of industries and include:

• Community foundations                 
• Lobbying organizations
• Cultural organizations • Neighborhood associations
• Educational institutions • Nonprofit boards and staff
• Eldercare facilities • Political committees
• Healthcare entities • Private foundations
• Housing facilities • Public charities
• Individuals • Research groups


Our Team

From offices located across North America, including Michigan, Washington D.C., Tennessee, Texas, Arizona, California, and Toronto Canada, our nonprofit team members are engaged professionally and personally with supporting the essential missions of our clients. They are regularly recognized by Chambers®, Super Lawyers®, Best Lawyers®, and other leading evaluating organizations.

Our Services

• Providing a full range of services to help qualify and organize nonprofits, including drafting articles, bylaws, compensation agreements, leases, licenses, and forms for recognition of tax-exempt status.

• Advising on various legal matters, including financing, fundraising, governance, intellectual property, political involvement, recordkeeping, tax, and regulatory issues.

• Negotiating, performing due diligence, and closing significant acquisitions, bonds, and construction projects.

• Assisting with the legal aspects of special projects, including capital campaigns and construction projects, bond offerings, combinations, consortiums, divisions, and dissolutions.

Additionally, our nonprofit lawyers work closely with other practice areas within the firm to ensure that we address and mitigate every potential point of concern that may emerge, including:

Administrative & Regulatory Health Care
Banking & Finance Health Care Research & Academic Institutions
Community Development & Tax Credit Finance                  Higher Education
Construction Intellectual Property
Corporate Leasing
Corporate Governance Mergers & Acquisitions
Land Use & Economic Development Political Law
Education Real Estate
Employee Benefits Taxation
Entertainment, Sports & Media Trusts and Estates

Representative Matters

–Guided tax-exempt and nonprofit organizations through formation and establishment.

–Counseled a variety of corporations and individuals regarding congressional ethics, multi-state lobbying, and gift rule compliance.

–Merged separate foundations into a single foundation contemporaneously with the merger of related health care organizations, including expedited Internal Revenue Service approval of the combination.

–Facilitated commercialization of intellectual property developed by a nonprofit research organization.

–Secured Internal Revenue Service approval of an organization that provides medical assistance in the United States and abroad.

–Created a Canadian nonprofit affiliated with a U.S.-based organization.

–Incorporated a consortium of governmental nonprofit service providers, including hospitals, first responders, and ambulance services.

–Assisted with the division of private foundation for more efficient operation, including expedited Internal Revenue Service approval.

–Converted a nonprofit entity into a for-profit company and vice-versa.

–Provided counsel regarding reasonable compensation, health insurance, and retirement package for the executive of a nonprofit organization.

–Analyzed life lease requirements under the Elder Care Act.
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