Melissa Scholz, Author at Scholz Nonprofit Law

COVID-19 Response Q&A on Thursday and Other Updates

By Melissa Scholz|2020-05-22T20:11:53-05:00May 20th, 2020|COVID-19|

Join the Scholz Nonprofit Law team for more updates and tips as we focus on PPP loan forgiveness and workplace reentry. This Thursday, May 21st at 10am, we will host another session of the COVID-19 Response Q&A to review and troubleshoot the forgiveness application, give tips on policies for reopening nonprofit workplaces and programs, and be available to answer other questions. Register here. Feel free to email questions in advance to Melissa, Jeff, or Sarah. Find the application here: PPP Loan Forgiveness Application Additional Q&A webinar opportunity tomorrow, Wednesday May 20th at 2pm. You also are invited to a Q&A hosted [...]

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Update on EIDL Online Application

COVID-19, Nonprofit

Update on EIDL Online Application

By Melissa Scholz|2020-04-29T14:58:31-05:00April 29th, 2020|COVID-19, Nonprofit|

The EIDL program (run through the SBA online portal) recently received an additional $60 billion in funding from Congress. At this time, we are aware that the SBA has not re-activated the online EIDL application at SBA.gov. It appears SBA is working through an existing back-log of applications before reopening the application process. We will keep an eye on it and let you know if it opens up.

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Updates, Our Upcoming Webinar & Weekly Summary

COVID-19

Updates, Our Upcoming Webinar & Weekly Summary

By Melissa Scholz|2020-05-22T20:12:08-05:00April 20th, 2020|COVID-19|

Dear clients, friends and Madison nonprofit community: We continue to think of you and focus our efforts on digesting the ever-changing news during this difficult time. To be more mindful of everyone's limited time and effective in our efforts to help nonprofits, we are scaling back our posts through this channel to a (mostly) weekly format to highlight new developments from the week. We will highlight the resources and articles added to our website throughout the week with links to the fuller content. Additionally, we will use this channel to announce urgent news as it is available. This week, [...]

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Expanded Incentives for Charitable Giving

COVID-19, Public Charity

Expanded Incentives for Charitable Giving

By Melissa Scholz|2020-04-16T23:31:06-05:00April 16th, 2020|COVID-19, Public Charity|

You may have heard a lot about the CARES Act and its direct financial assistance for small businesses, nonprofits and employees. The CARES Act includes a number of other important provisions, including ones that encourage charitable giving from both individuals and corporations. We are already seeing individuals and businesses contribute to the COVID-19 response in important ways – these incentives can help encourage more of that. Above-the-line charitable contribution deduction. Under this new charitable giving incentive, individuals can deduct up to $300 of donations, even if they don’t itemize on their tax return. This means that a lot more [...]

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SBA Loan and Employment Guidance

COVID-19, Employment, Nonprofit

SBA Loan and Employment Guidance

By Melissa Scholz|2020-04-16T23:31:19-05:00April 8th, 2020|COVID-19, Employment, Nonprofit|

Hello friends and colleagues, Thanks to the support of the Madison Community Foundation, over the past two days, Scholz Nonprofit Law has hosted several seminars on the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Support Act (“CARES”), and related options for financial support and sustainability during these challenging times. If you want to listen to a recording of the seminar, see here. We focused our seminar on two topics (i) SBA loan programs available to nonprofits, and (ii) employment challenges nonprofits are facing. Jeff Femrite discussed (i) the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loans (which may be totally forgiven if used [...]

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CARES Act Impact on Nonprofits

COVID-19, Employment, Nonprofit

CARES Act Impact on Nonprofits

By Melissa Scholz|2020-04-16T23:31:31-05:00March 29th, 2020|COVID-19, Employment, Nonprofit|

Dear clients, better known as friends and colleagues: We know this is a difficult time for so many, personally, as well as for your organizations. Know that we’re concerned and thinking of you! We are keeping track of opportunities for assistance for nonprofits and will keep providing information as it becomes available (and we have the chance to digest it). For today, below is a brief summary of provisions of the federal Coronavirus, Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that apply to nonprofits. As we learn more details, we will keep updating the Scholz Nonprofit Law blog. The [...]

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COVID-19 Wisconsin’s Safer at Home Order — March 24, 2020

COVID-19

COVID-19 Wisconsin’s Safer at Home Order — March 24, 2020

By Melissa Scholz|2020-04-19T00:26:39-05:00March 24th, 2020|COVID-19|

Summary of Emergency Order #12 – Safer at Home Order In an attempt to slow the infection rate of COVID-19, on March 24, 2020, the State of Wisconsin issued Emergency Order #12 – Safer at Home Order (the “Order”). The purpose of this Update is to help our clients and friends better understand issues created by the Order. It is a general summary, and is not intended to be comprehensive. If you have questions, or need assistance navigating the specific requirements of the Order, please call Jeff Femrite at 608 692-0310 or send Jeff an email at [email protected]. Capitalized [...]

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Deadline for Form 990: May 15, 2019

Nonprofit, Taxes

Deadline for Form 990: May 15, 2019

By Melissa Scholz|2019-04-29T14:53:28-05:00April 6th, 2019|Nonprofit, Taxes|

This is your reminder with helpful tips All tax-exempt organizations, including 501(c)(3)s, 501(c)(4)s, and 501(c)(6)s, must file a version of the Form 990 with the IRS. Many of you on this list will qualify to file the "Form 990-N," which is a simple 5-10 minute process. You should be aware that if you do not file a Form 990 in 2019 and also did not file one in 2017 and 2018, your organization will lose its tax-exempt status and you will have to reapply with another application and filing fee. When is my Form Due? The Forms 990 are due 4 months and 15 days after the [...]

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Repeal of the Johnson Amendment

501(c)(3), Nonprofit

Repeal of the Johnson Amendment

By Melissa Scholz|2019-04-25T00:08:53-05:00April 3rd, 2017|501(c)(3), Nonprofit|

I frequently like to remind our 501(c)(3) clients about the importance of advocating on their issues through lobbying and the legitimacy of their role in doing so. But when we encourage lobbying, we point out the distinction between lobbying on issues and the prohibition on political activity. The rule against political activity has been known as the Johnson Amendment because it was added to the tax code under his administration. As you likely know, President Trump has proposed to eliminate that distinction and allow all 501(c)(3)s to engage in electoral politics - - i.e., support or oppose a candidate [...]

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Keep It Moving Forward

Events

Keep It Moving Forward

By Melissa Scholz|2019-04-25T00:07:57-05:00November 29th, 2016|Events|

Dear colleagues: I’ll be honest. November has been a tough month. I was thrilled when the short Thanksgiving workweek arrived and I could retreat to my home and family - - cooking and cleaning never looked so good. I’ve indeed enjoyed a few days at home, with my two older daughters home from college. As we celebrated Thanksgiving with friends, we stayed focused on all we have to be grateful for and, mostly, avoided the discouraging topic of politics, which has become so divisive. With a little breathing space, I took time to read the recent New Yorker interview [...]

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About Melissa Scholz