2008 Form 990: Governance, Management, and Disclosure Policies
Legal and accounting departments for charitable and nonprofit organizations might be overwhelmed by the scope of the revised (2008) form 990. If you are like me, digesting information—one page at a time—is helpful in advancing permanent knowledge retention. Over the next few months, I will post on various sections of the 2008 form 990. In doing so, I make two promises to you:
- Our focus will be on the 2008 form 990, not on prior form 990s, not on historical perspectives, and not on related areas of law or regulation.
- Our focus will be on disclosures and requirements most pertinent to legal departments or counsel for section 501(c)(3) organizations.
This post is on written policy and documentation disclosures under 2008 form 990 part VI, section B related to Governance, Management, and Disclosure. In completing the form 990, you should also always review the instructions applicable to each section. In this section of the 2008 form 990, the I.R.S. inquires as to whether the organization has adopted written policies or documentation regarding:
- Conflicts of Interest. 2008 form 990 asks whether at the end of the organization’s tax year, the organization had a written conflict of interest policy. If yes, the form 990 asks whether officers, directors or trustees, and key employees are required to disclose annually interests that could give rise to conflicts, and whether the organization regularly and consistently monitors and enforces compliance with the policy.
- Whistleblowers. 2008 form 990 asks whether, as of the last day of the organization’s tax year, the organization had a written whistleblower policy.
- Document Retention and Destruction. 2008 form 990 asks whether, as of the last day of the organization’s tax year, the organization had a written document retention and destruction policy.
- Executive Compensation. 2008 form 990 asks whether the processes for determining certain executives' compensation include a review and approval by independent persons, comparability data, and contemporaneous substantiation (documentation and recordkeeping) of the deliberations and decision.
- Joint Venture Arrangements. 2008 form 990 asks whether the organization invested in, contributed assets to, or participated in a joint venture arrangement or similar arrangement with a taxable entity during the year. If yes, the form 990 asks whether the organization has adopted a written policy or procedure requiring the organization to evaluate its participation in joint venture arrangements under applicable federal tax law, and has taken steps to safeguard the organization’s exempt status with respect to such arrangements.
