FEATURED ARTICLES BY JESS BIRKEN

9/27/2022· Nonprofit Organizations

Nonprofit Scams: Exempt Status And What 501(c)(3) Really Means

By: Jess Birken

Here’s the thing: I wish my clients understood that a nonprofit's public charity status is NOT everything. It might be necessary and important, sure. It helps communicate to donors that the nonprofit is a public charity....But it’s certainly not the end-all, be-all of a successful nonprofit.

8/12/2022· Nonprofit Organizations

Nonprofit Board Member Removal: A Dilemma For The National Endowment For Democracy

By: Jess Birken

Working with nonprofit organizations, I deal with a LOT of people problems. And it makes sense, right? When you ask a group of people passionate about a cause (aka, the board of directors) to come together to make collective decisions…disagreements and confrontations are inevitable.

4/28/2022· Nonprofit Organizations

Feeding Our Future Nonprofit Defrauds Government

By: Jess Birken

Feeding Our Future (FOF) was a Minnesota food assistance nonprofit that was awarded millions in federal grant funds in the past few years. FOF passed those funds through to other small organizations and businesses to provide food to children, primarily BIPOC and immigrant children in the Twin Cities and beyond.

9/28/2021· Nonprofit Organizations

Nonprofit Conflicts: Succession Lessons From The Jeopardy Host Fiasco

By: Jess Birken

So, what does this have to do with nonprofits, you ask? Well, as a lawyer for nonprofits, I've seen lots of organizations go through the process of selecting new leaders – and not all of them do it right, especially when an insider is involved. This Jeopardy host situation reminded me of those cases.

2/19/2021· Nonprofit Organizations

Nonprofit Dissolution: What Do You Need To Know

By: Jess Birken

Dissolution can be a happy occasion (yay, we accomplished our mission!) or it can be very sad and emotional. But no matter what brings a nonprofit to that point, the decision to dissolve is a big one. And, to the surprise of some folks, that decision is just the very beginning of what can be a very long process

3/31/2020· Nonprofit Organizations

Small Nonprofits During Coronavirus (COVID-19): A Four Step Guide To Making The Right Decisions

By: Jess Birken

As schools are called off for the rest of the year, toilet paper flies off the shelves, and shelter-in-place orders are announced, anxieties are high. Everyone is worried about money, jobs, health, how to stay sane in the coming weeks – or at least I'm pretty sure it's not just me! And then there's another layer of worry – the worry that comes with running a small nonprofit in the midst of an international crisis.

1/3/2020· Nonprofit Organizations

How Do You Know Which is the BEST Charity to Donate to?

By: Jess Birken

Lately I've been noticing a lot of chatter on the internet about how you know which charities to donate to. There seems to be a general suspicion that nonprofits of all sizes who are seeking donations are swindling people out of their hard-earned money. Or at least that you can't trust these organizations and that it's easy to make the wrong decision.

11/26/2019· Nonprofit Organizations

Nonprofit Startups Can Learn From The WeWork IPO Debacle

By: Jess Birken

I work with a lot of nonprofit founders, and all of them have a certain kind of pride in their work. And they should! Lots of people have ideas, but there's not that many people out there who are willing to put their time, effort, knowledge, and money into it. We need entrepreneurial founders in the nonprofit sector.

9/25/2019· Nonprofit Organizations

Nonprofit Startups Paperwork: Trust me, the paperwork isn't just paperwork

By: Jess Birken

The reality is, starting and running a nonprofit is more than just the mission-driven work. Taking the time to understand the organizing documents, the Articles of Incorporation and the Bylaws, will help the organization going forward.

8/19/2019· Nonprofit Organizations

The Secret to Starting a Successful Nonprofit

By: Jess Birken

Here's the secret to getting your nonprofit idea off the ground: knowing for sure that it should be a nonprofit in the first place.