The Attorney General of New York has permanently barred the former CEO of the Foundation for Jewish Philanthropies in the Buffalo area from serving in a fiduciary capacity for any charity active in New York state after finding that the CEO misused approximately $3.1 million in donor advised and other funds held by the organization.

How many chances should a court give a nonprofit corporation to obtain an attorney before dismissing its case for lack of counsel as required by state law?

Apparently five specific urgings over more than three months is enough. A Court of Appeals in Indiana has affirmed a trial court dismissal, without further leave to comply, against a Fort Wayne nonprofit that failed to obtain an attorney to represent it in contesting a City order to demolish its vacant and deteriorating building.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the First Amendment severely circumscribes the role that civil courts may play in resolving church property disputes and that religious bodies should decide for themselves, without state interference, matters of church government as well as those of faith and doctrine.  If a church is hierarchical, a civil court should defer to the final authority within its hierarchy, according to the rule.

A life-long collector and dealer of African art, who worked for several years as the director of African art for the Sotheby’s auction firm, has been denied a charitable contribution deduction for a gift of art that was not substantiated by a qualified appraisal and not excused by “reasonable cause and not willful neglect.”

Total assets held by donor advised funds across the country rose to $234.06 billion in 2021, an increase of 39.5% over the prior year, and continuing a steady annual increase in values from a total of $112.8 billion in 2017, according to the latest annual report from the National Philanthropic Trust issued in late November.