Critical legal information for enhancing and expanding the activities of charitable fund-raisers As the competition for gifts grows increasingly intense, managers and fund-raisers for charitable organizations must learn how to work with tax and business law to optimize their return. Written by the leading legal authority on tax-exempt organizations, this book provides an accessible approach to understanding the various laws and offers solutions to enhance an organization's wealth and effectiveness. Bruce Hopkins clearly explains to fund-raisers the pertinent aspects of the law, enabling them to dramatically increase funding without legal missteps. He also thoroughly details the steps needed to solve the fund-raiser's most pressing legal headaches, including maintenance of tax exemption and public charity status, planned giving, charitable giving rules, unrelated business activities, fund-raiser's compensation, state regulations, and much more. This book provides critical answers to fund-raisers' questions such as: What law basics should every fund-raiser know? Is a charitable organization required to apply to the IRS for tax-exempt status? What are the charitable contribution deduction rules? How do the unrelated business income rules apply to fund-raisers? How does a charitable organization start a planned giving program? What are the important elements of the fund-raiser's contract? What are the contents of a typical charitable solicitation act? Can a charitable organization have a taxable subsidiary? When does a fund-raiser need a lawyer? With its comprehensive coverage of the legal issues that nonprofit organizations face, The First Legal Answer Book for Fund-Raisers is a powerful resource that every fund-raiser must have!