Charitable Nonprofit Organizations
This work is ALI’s first project restating the law of charities. This area of the law implicates many subjects, including the laws of trusts, corporations, property, and state and federal constitutions. Although some of our projects, most notably the Restatements of Trusts, include Sections that address charities or mention nonprofits generally, none addresses the topic in a comprehensive manner.
To the extent possible, this Restatement sets forth a single law for charities regardless of whether they are corporations, unincorporated associations, or charitable trusts, or whether they take some other legal form that a charity may adopt. The importance of the charitable sector to the U.S. economy, the civic life of its residents, and the aspirations of its people make it critically important to provide comprehensive legal guidance to the people who donate to, benefit from, govern, and regulate charities. This Restatement was published in 2020.
A great deal of wealth in our society is controlled by the institutions that are the subject of this Restatement. The rules governing these institutions have traditionally received less scrutiny than those governing for-profit corporations. And volunteer nonprofit boards are often much less knowledgeable about their responsibilities than their paid, for-profit counterparts. This project is designed to fill an important gap. (Excerpted from the Forward of Tentative Draft No. 2 by ALI Director Richard L. Revesz)
Reporters
Jill R. Horwitz
Reporter, Restatement of the Law, Charitable Nonprofit Organizations
Jill R. Horwitz is a legal scholar and health policy expert who is addressing some of the most pressing law and policy issues of our day, including the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, and the impact of hospital ownership on the delivery of medical services. The University of Michigan is where she was a Professor of Law and Co-Director of their Law and Economics Program. Professor Horwitz is a highly productive scholar who has published in law journals, health policy journals, and economics journals. Her scholarly interests focus on the legal regulation of health care organizations, nonprofit organizations, law and economics, and tort law.
Nancy A. McLaughlin
Associate Reporter, Charitable Nonprofits Restatement
Nancy A. McLaughlin’s research focuses on conservation easement, tax, and nonprofit governance issues and she writes and lectures extensively on these issues. She is a member of the Board of Directors of Utah Open Lands, a member of the Habitat Protection Advisory Committee of the Wildlife Land Trust, and a member of the Lands Protection Committee of Vital Ground, which works to protect grizzly bear habitat. She consults with land trusts, landowners, government entities, federal and state regulators, and others regarding conservation easements and nonprofit governance issues, and she blogs about conservation easement current developments on the Law Professors Nonprofit Law Blog.
Marion R. Fremont-Smith
Consultant, Charitable Nonprofits Restatement
Marion Fremont-Smith has been associated with the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government since 1998, where she directs research on governance and accountability of nonprofit organizations. She is the author, most recently, of Governing Nonprofit Organizations: Federal and State Law and Regulation, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2004. She has published two other books and numerous papers on government regulation and taxation of nonprofit organizations.
The ALI Adviser is intended to inform readers about the legal topics and issues examined in many of ALI’s current projects; posts do not necessarily represent the position of the Institute taken in those projects. Posts on The ALI Adviser are written by ALI project participants, ALI members, and outside sources. Completed work is available to purchase online.
