We are pleased to share a wonderful summer camp ministry resource, focused on child safety and provided courtesy of Evangelical Council for Abuse Prevention (ECAP). Falling squarely within ECAP’s important mission, its Camp Child Safety Guide helps pastors and ministry leaders to proactively vet summer camp options and to promote optimal child safety from a child abuse prevention perspective.
Churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, and other houses of worship have long enjoyed Section 501(c)(3) public charity status, with resulting exemption from IRS Form 990 filings, availability of clergy housing allowances, and religious liberty protections. When, why, and how should other faith-based organizations affirmatively seek IRS reclassification as a “church” – or as an “association of churches” or “mission society” – with similar tax and other legal benefits? The following article addresses such questions extensively, including applicable tax considerations, corporate governance aspects, legal requirements for housing allowance, employment discrimination aspects, and other resulting implications. We hope this deep-dive guidance will help those who are interested in religious tax reclassification. This article was co-authored by W&O Partners Sally Wagenmaker, Ryan Oberly, and Paul Winters and was previously published in Thomson Reuters’ Taxation of Exempts Journal (Jan./Feb. 2022)
All nonprofits should maintain confidentiality of medical information related to their employees, program participants, and volunteers. Is such information subject to “HIPAA?” For many organizations, the answer is no – HIPAA does not apply across the board to all medical information generally. But privacy concerns may nonetheless warrant protection of such sensitive information. Such protection may be acutely important amidst current COVID times, with individuals’ medical information the subject of intense interest to employers, government agencies, and others.