If you care about nonprofits and their legal needs, this is your playbook. Never before has the General Counsel of a major organization taken readers on a grand tour that summarizes the legal responsibilities and opportunities of nonprofits. With illustrative examples from human services, higher education, cultural, and other organizations, Good Counsel helps executives, board members, and lawyers avoid mistakes and serve with excellence.

Highly relevant for lawyers and non-lawyers alike, Good Counsel distills to their essentials the legal needs of one million public charities in the United States: nonprofit corporate law and governance, the tax exemption, and business law topics relevant to program, fundraising, finance, human resources, communications, operations, and more.

With focus questions, practice pointers, actionable checklists, work plans, and sample documents, the book and its companion website invite readers to:

• Energize the boardroom with role clarity and trustee engagement
• Boost fundraising activities
• Negotiate contracts that serve the organization’s best interests
• Support a committed workforce with sound employment policies
• Strengthen the organization’s name and protect its good works
• Understand the business model and applicable regulations
• Find the sweet spot for entrepreneurial initiatives
• Lobby effectively . . . without crossing the line
• Start up or step up a network of legal supporters

Good Counsel also reveals how nonprofits and lawyers work together, how they find one another, and how the smart ones leverage their relationships to the greatest benefit of all.