MCF Member Briefing: Self-Dealing and Conflicts of Interest: What Every Type of Foundation Needs to Know

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Every type of foundation – family, corporate, community or independent foundation – can stumble into issues of self-dealing and conflicts of interest. Self-dealing rules that apply to private foundations are not intuitive, and they are much different from the rules that govern how other kinds of nonprofits can interact with insiders.

Join this session to learn more. Together we’ll delve into the following questions:

• What are common examples of self-dealing? And who is a disqualified person?
• What are common examples of conflicts of interest in the private foundation context?
• What is the responsibility of the board to understand these issues? And staff?

As philanthropic organizations, we work to build trust across the community. The laws around self-dealing and conflicts of interest are designed to help us manage the foundation’s assets for public good. By understanding these laws, we can be trustworthy stewards who are accountable to the community.

Log-in details will be provided in your confirmation email.

Presenter: Heidi Christianson, an attorney and shareholder at Nilan Johnson Lewis PA, brings broad experience working with nonprofit entities including private and corporate foundations.