I am on the board of our 501(c)(3) nonprofit animal rescue where the president and treasurer have recently resigned. When we looked at the books we discovered that grant funds for spay neuter had been used for other purposes that we are not sure of. According to the terms of the grant, the funds were to be used for spay neuter only and if not used by December 2012, unused funds were to be returned. One of our Board members has now decided that we need to replace these funds and say nothing. What is the possible damage for such action and if the funds cannot be replaced, how does this jeopardize our future applications for grants?

Does a nonprofit organization that has never filed for tax exemption at the federal or state levels have to provide its tax returns to the public upon request? If so, what is the legal citation/authority for this? Would they file something other than a Form 990, like a typical for-profit corporate tax return that is not public?

Our nonprofit corporation has not held regular board meetings in accordance with its bylaws. In addition, there was no annual general meeting last year (nor has one been posted this year) to elect officers for positions with expiring terms. The president says that we are under a moratorium because the bylaws are under revision. Aren't the existing bylaws in place until amended in the manner prescribed in the governing document(s)?