Conflict of interest and self-dealing

Yes. Conflicts of interest of this type come up all the time. You shouldn’t try to avoid conflicts, because they’re impossible to avoid. At some point, they will come up. The way to handle a conflict is to be trained about what may come up, to be very clear about disclosing them, and to make sure that disinterested, non-conflicted people… Read More

Complimentary tickets are fine. The real issue here is: are they really complimentary, or is it a quid pro quo? Generally, if there’s a good foundation reason to be there, in particular being recognized, you can go. … Read More

May our board pay someone for portfolio management if they are an employee of a company owned or led by a board member and direct descendant of the foundation’s father? Yes, even if the individual being employed to do that work is a disqualified person, paying someone reasonable and necessary compensation to manage the assets of the foundation, regardless of… Read More

A trustee wants to give a grant for their child to attend a private school. The trustee then instructs the school, a legal 501(c)(3), to apply to the foundation for a scholarship grant that will be applied to the specific child’s tuition. Is this self- dealing? This is self-dealing. You’re absolutely prohibited from making a payment that would be earmarked… Read More

You can make grants to any organization or cause if it serves the general public. So, the tax- center answer is, you can make a grant that benefits a charitable class, even if you’re in that charitable class. For example, if you are a breast cancer survivor and you want to use your foundation to support breast cancer research, the… Read More

Are there any regulations on gifts that are accepted by family members? Should we not accept restricted gifts, for instance? You have to be careful about closely held business interests because of the restrictions on self- dealing and who you can sell them back to. There are no laws that explicitly prohibit certain gifts. Restrictions, if they’re for a particular… Read More

Absolutely. There are no rules about what family members can do to support the foundation’s work. So, if the foundation has pledged $10 million to Duke University to build a new basketball stadium, and that is clearly a binding pledge on the foundation, a family member may call up the school and says, “I was going to do this out… Read More

This is really on the line between personal benefit and legitimate foundation business. If there isn’t a justification for the foundation to make the grant, you really shouldn’t use it for this purpose. For instance, if you are an education organization and this is the only grant you make to an arts organization, you should consider if it furthers your… Read More