Legal and Financial Issues for Planters
Notes from Bryan Nelson’s talk at Acts 29 Boot Camp
Legal
- Get PO Box
- Check Secretary of State for availability of name
- Prepare and file Articles of Incorporation
- Lets you get insurance
- Business transactions need incorporation (loans, bank accounts)
- Center for Non-profit Creation can do all this (for cost)
- Run by attorney
- Define you legally as non-profit
- Include
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- Where do funds go when non-profit dissolves? Needs to be another non-profit
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- limitation of liability for officers and directors
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- Indemnification – if pastor gets sued, church can pay expenses
- Keep them as simple as possible.
- Prepare By-Laws (Constitution) to flesh out church’s policies and procedures
- Includes things like membership, discipline, elder process, % vote, how business meetings are run, how to make amendments, fiscal year,
- Obtain Federal Tax ID Number.
- Get Business License
- File Tax Exemption
- Have initial organizational meeting
- Adopt by laws
- Select officers
- Approve legal documents
- Select bank
- Get checking account
- Get 501c3.
- Gifts are deductible even without 501c3 but it makes life easier to have
- Have two years after incorporating
- Schedule filings
- May need to renew Articles of Incorporation each year
- Get insurance
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- Require background checks on anyone working with children and youth
- Real property (building)
- Personal property (chairs, furniture)
- May need rider if in non-owned building
- Sexual misconduct
- Directors and officers coverage
- Need sexual misconduct prevention policy
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- Obtain copyright licensing (CCLI)
- Facilities land-use
- Conditional use permit ?
Financial
- Bookkeeping
- QuickBooks (not ideal)
- Excel
- Process
- Not everything has to be in by-laws
- Designated benevolent giving
- Gifts given to non-profit are not supposed to be for the benefit of an individual
- Designation is simply suggestion, church makes final decision
- Directed gift isn’t technically tax-deductible
- Payroll
- Get payroll company (FreeChurchPayroll.com)
- Budget
