March 8, 2001 | Read Time: 1 minute
This guide, written by a lawyer who specializes in nonprofit cases, discusses the laws that govern charity fund raising.
Using simple, straightforward language, Mr. Hopkins shows fund-raising professionals, nonprofit executives, board members, lawyers, accountants, and others not only how to understand the law better, but also “how to work with it and within its boundaries while maintaining and enhancing fund-raising programs.”
The beginning of the book contains a list of numbered questions, which Mr. Hopkins answers in subsequent chapters. Sidebar notes, comments, tips, and cautions are interspersed within the chapters to clarify the law or to note exceptions. Chapters deal with topics such as “intermediate sanctions”—the penalties that are levied when nonprofit officials, donors, board members, and others receive undue financial benefits from a charity—as well as estate planning and postal laws. In addition the book shows how to estimate the worth of real estate, art, and other items that donors might give a charity; when charities need to provide receipts to donors; information about quid pro quo contributions, auctions and other special events, solicitation and other disclosures, and securities and antitrust laws; and what readers need to know about I.R.S. audits.
The final chapter updates readers on changes to the law since publication of the First Legal Answer Book. Mr. Hopkins is based in Kansas City, Mo.
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 1 Wiley Drive, Somerset, N.J. 08875; (800) 225-5945; fax (800) 597-3299; http://www.wiley.com; 274 pages; $49.95; I.S.B.N. 0-471-38773-8.
