What Land Trusts Need to Know About the New IRS Form 990

 Date:  March 23
Time: 3:00 pm - 4:30pm ET
Cost: $50 per connection

Session Description

Beginning in 2009, tax-exempt organizations will be required to file a new, more comprehensive Form 990.  The revised form requires substantial new disclosures regarding virtually every aspect of an exempt organization's operations, including specific disclosures relating to conservation easement transactions, and, in many respects, is more like an SEC disclosure document than a tax return. All land trusts who file the Form 990 will need to undertake significant work to be prepared for filing the new form. A land trust that does not prepare for the new form risks substantial adverse attention from the public, the IRS, the attorneys general in the states where it conducts operations and whistleblowers who seek financial gain.

This session will provide participants with an overview of the significant changes to the Form 990 and guidance for implementing governance policies and practices preferred by the IRS. Participants will be better equipped to prepare the new Form 990 in a manner that will avoid adverse attention and turn the Form 990 into a positive public relations tool for their organizations.

Audience

Land trust board members and staff who are responsible for completing the organization’s Form 990.

You will Learn:

1. When your land trust will be phased in to reporting under the    new Form 990.
2. The good governance concepts that provide a context for many of the disclosures that are required in the new Form.
3. The key changes to the structure and content of the Form of particular interest to land trusts.
4. The key areas of interest to the IRS, including governance policies and practices, compensation, interested person transactions, conservation easements, and fundraising.
5. How to properly position your land trust for the first filing of the new Form.

Instructors

Konrad Liegel

Konrad Liegel is a partner with K & L Gates in Seattle, Washington. Konrad advises on conservation, land use, environmental, real estate and charitable organization matters. He has worked with private landowners and land conservation organizations to preserve and steward a wide range of property. He has formed and advised dozens of charitable organizations, and serves as counsel to the Cascade Land Conservancy (a regional land trust in Washington State).

Konrad has contributed to several Land Trust Alliance publications and is a frequent speaker at Land Trust Alliance national and regional conferences. Before law school, he lived in Wisconsin where he administered an ecosystem restoration program for wetland, prairie and savanna ecosystems at the International Crane Foundation, and prepared a land use and vegetational history of the private reserve that includes Aldo Leopold's "shack."  He holds a B.A. from Carleton College, a J.D. from Cornell Law School, and is listed among the Best Lawyers in America.

Cordelia A. Glenn Grabiak

Cordelia Glenn Grabiak, an attorney with K &  L Gates in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, focuses on representing tax-exempt organizations. She provides counseling on corporate, transactional, and federal and state tax matters, including formation and organization, securing and maintaining tax-exempt status, governance, corporate reorganizations, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures with tax-exempt and taxable organizations, excess benefit transactions and private inurement and private foundation compliance. Cordy is a frequent speaker on nonprofit issues, including changes to IRS Form 990, and is on the board of directors of Travelers Aid Society of Pittsburgh, Inc. She holds a B.S. from Georgetown University and a J.D. from George Washington University.

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