Foundations
Employing Financial Resources to Improve the Community
Getting Started
Clark Nuber can help you determine what kind of charitable vehicle best suits your purposes.
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Private Foundations
A private foundation is typically started by an individual, family or corporation and has the primary purpose of making charitable grants to individuals and organizations. Private foundations do not generally direct charitable activities. They pay excise taxes and are subject to strict regulations and a high degree of government scrutiny. We can guide you in understanding and complying with foundation rules on an ongoing basis. -
Private Operating Foundations
A private operating foundation is any private foundation that directly conducts exempt activities (educational, religious, cultural, etc.) rather than primarily making charitable grants to others. They are subject to many of the same rules and restrictions as private foundations. Clark Nuber can assist you in understanding the special rules faced by operating foundations. -
Public Foundations
A public foundation is a nonprofit organization that receives at least one-third of its annual income from the general public (including government agencies and foundations). Public foundations may make grants or engage in charitable activities, but grantmaking is typically their primary focus. They are easier to set up and administer than private foundations and are not as highly regulated. This is an area in which Clark Nuber also has special expertise. -
Donor Advised Funds and Supporting Organizations
For clients who desire a more active giving vehicle, donor-advised funds and supporting organizations have different advantages and limitations than do foundations. We can help you decide which is right for you and introduce you to institutions that offer these types of charitable giving vehicles.
Foundation Services
Broad experience with foundations of all kinds makes Clark Nuber the go-to firm for your accounting, tax and audit needs. Whether your primary purpose is grantmaking, community development or conducting educational, religious or other charitable activities, we can help you achieve your goals. Increasing government scrutiny and growing endowments with complex and highly diversified investment portfolios make it more important than ever that foundations engage qualified accounting professionals.
Here are some of the industry-specific areas in which we can help you:
- Accounting services
- Board development and education
- Excise tax on net investment income
- Federal tax diagnostics
- Grant file documentation and taxable expenditure penalty abatement
- Grantmaking (including expenditure responsibility grantmaking)
- Self-dealing
- Tax compliance and planning
Foundation Solutions Powered by Foundation Source
Clark Nuber is proud to be associated with Foundation Source, the nation’s leading provider of support services for private foundations. Its comprehensive online management tools allow you to focus on your foundation’s mission rather than on back-office tasks. Foundation Source provides a single place to keep track of tax records, articles of incorporation and other materials. Their large database of charitable organizations, combined with automated grant documentation and payment, makes granting easy. Together, Clark Nuber’s tax services and Foundation Source’s innovative foundation management tools provide an unbeatable solution. FOUNDATION SOURCE LOGIN