Posts Tagged ‘bylaws’

Nonprofit Governance: Law, Practices, and Trends by Bruce Hopkins

In this comprehensive, one-stop resource, Hopkins and Gross deftly summarize the law that exists and explain and evaluate the many good governance principles that have been promulgated. Nonprofit Governance helps leaders and managers of nonprofit organizations, and their lawyers, accountants, and advisors, to:

* Understand the legal backdrop for nonprofit governance
* Sift through the numerous good governance principles and
guidelines
* Select the ones that most appropriately apply to their particular
organization
* Devise suitable policies and procedures
* Improve their operations and effectiveness
* Undertake a comprehensive governance legal audit
* Be in a position to file Forms 990 that cast them in the best
possible light regarding nonprofit governance

Nonprofit Governance is a must-read for anyone facing good governance decisions in a nonprofit organization and is lost in the maze of conflicting principles, ever-increasing policies and procedures, murky law, and the intensity of the IRS in insisting on adoption of various principles in the absence of legal requirements for them.

Bylaws: Writing, Amending, Revising by Joyce L. Stephens

The bylaws, sometimes called constitution and bylaws, is the governing document of the organization. The bylaws specify how the organization will be managed, who shall be the members and how they shall be chosen. This document describes the purpose of the organization and how various matters shall be handled. This book contains: How to write understandable and usable bylaws using a simple and tested formula; how to write and adopt amendments without causing more
problems; how to chair a meeting to consider amendments or a revision; how to instruct committees; how to write and adopt a revision; and scripts for handling these and other motions. The information in this publication is directed to nonprofit voluntary organizations. Organizations which require the help of an attorney to write their bylaws include nonprofit organizations with very large purses, those providing personal or social services which could lead to legal difficulties, condominium and homeowner associations which are
governed by strict state statutes, and business organizations. However, regardless of what type of organization you have, this book will help you to understand the process better, so that you can work with the attorney more knowledgeably.