Resources You Can Use
Legal Question of the Month with Ben McDearmon, Director of Legal Resources
Question: We have a board member who is running for local public office. Is this allowed and, if so, what do we need to be aware of?
Answer: Some foundations have adopted policies stating that any board or staff member running for partisan elected office is expected to resign their position prior to announcing their candidacy in order to avoid the potential appearance of partisanship by the foundation.
On the other hand, there’s no general legal prohibition on someone serving as an elected official and also serving on the board of a foundation or other nonprofit, so some foundations might choose to allow it with significant safeguards in place to ensure there’s no appearance that the foundation is supporting the candidate.
All election-related activities must take place outside of the candidate’s work on behalf of the foundation and without using any foundation resources. The candidate should also avoid referring to their position with the foundation as part of their campaign, and if anyone else does bring up their foundation affiliation, the candidate must clarify that they are running solely in their capacity as a private citizen. If elected, the person would likely be prohibited from receiving any compensation or possibly even reimbursement for expenses, and they may be prohibited from soliciting charitable contributions on behalf of the foundation.
Council members are encouraged to send any legal inquiries to legal@cof.org.
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CF Insights Highlight
Finding the Right Peers with CF Insights
One community foundation suspected that they were “doing too much with too little” without enough staff to manage a rapidly growing donor base. Another was preparing to make a major software systems transition. With CF Insights and Plus Membership, they were both able to find relevant peers with similar experiences to help inform how they approached those challenges, with the support of our team.
If you want to learn more visit cof.org/cfinsights, or email cfinsights@cof.org to request a live 1-on-1 demo.
CF Insights Annual Survey Deadline Extended
Due to popular demand, we're extending the deadline for this year’s CF Insights Survey to Thursday, October 31. This survey is a great way to support your fellow community foundations by helping inform the most comprehensive source of data that foundations use to guide their funds, grant allocations, and operations.
Not the person at your organization who is responsible for this kind of data reporting? Make sure to forward this email to the right people, so that your organization will be represented in this year's CF Insights Survey!
Extended: 2024 Council Awards Nominations
There's now more time to recognize your colleagues for the Distinguished Service Award, Scrivner Award for Creative Grantmaking, and Outstanding Corporate Philanthropy Leadership Award! Winners will be recognized at our annual Member Meeting on November 19. Make sure your nominations are in by Thursday, October 24!
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