In any non-profit organization, the business operations are much different than they are for the average business. Therefore, the legal matters that can arise will also be different, and there are laws that affect you may be different. If you are the director of a child public affair charity, it is important that you get familiar with the laws that could affect you both on a federal and state level. Here is a look at some of the laws that commonly affect child public affairs charities.
The everyday actions of the charity must serve their mission.
As a children's charity, no matter what the type, pretty much everything you do must revolve around your core mission as an entity. This means that anything you do to gain profit for any other reason other than what your mission states could actually be against the law in some states. For example, Minnesota law states:
A nonprofit corporation's purpose and activities must serve the organization's mission to benefit the public, and may not be operated to profit other persons or entities.
Therefore, even doing something as simple as holding a fundraiser to benefit a board member could be deemed as illegal activity, so you really do have to be careful.
The act of engaging in fundraising may require charitable solicitation registration.
Because there has been a lot of scrutiny with non-profit organizations and their attempts at raising money or soliciting money from the public, many states have changed how they allow non-profits to do fundraising. In fact, in a lot of places you now have to register for charitable solicitation with the state and get approved to do so before you can begin any fundraising activity. This registering process also helps combat scammers who pose as a charity from raising funds illegally because the public can clearly view who is registered with the state where they live.
The wages paid to charity employees must be reasonable.
As a non-profit organization, you must keep employee wages in line with industry standards for each position. Otherwise, you could be found breaking the law and could face extreme scrutiny from the public. So for example, your vice president should be paid an income or salary that is normal for someone in their position and the industry. Excessive compensation is considered a waste of publically garnered funding that could otherwise go to support your mission as child public affair charities.
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