Article Archives >> Risk and Reward >> March 16-April 15, 2011

Myths About Nonprofit Liability
and Risk Management
By Melanie Lockwood Herman

Excerpt
Nonprofit organizations hold a certain mystique for many people. After all, these organizations were founded for charitable or educational purposes, and their ultimate goal is to improve the quality of individual or community life. Thirty or forty years ago, nonprofit organizations benefited from charitable immunity, under which the courts held nonprofit organizations immune from all tort actions. Charitable immunity stemmed from a belief that a charity’s resources should go to fund good works, not to pay for someone’s injuries. Over the years, the courts have abolished charitable immunity in most states, and today, the legal system generally requires that nonprofit organizations take responsibility for their actions and for the actions of their agents — people acting on the organizations’ behalf, such as employees, volunteers, and, sometimes, clients.

Full Text

Article Archives >>Risk and Reward>> March 16-April 15, 2011