How many people must be on the board of directors of a U.S. nonprofit organization? Non-legally-savvy individual in Pennsylvania (PA) in the U.S. here. I've been learning a little about nonprofit corporations recently, and have had trouble finding a definitive answer to the question: How many people must be on the board of directors of a U.S. nonprofit organization? I understand this is ill-defined and state dependent; to be more precise, I'm most interested in finding out: What is the minimum number of distinct people that are required to be on the board of directors at the time of filing of incorporation documents for a PA nonprofit corporation? What is the minimum number of distinct people that are required to be on the board of directors by the IRS at the time of a nonprofit corps. 501(c)(3) application (in order to possibly be granted status)? I'm mainly interested in the minimum number of people, so if e.g. three &quot;titles&quot; or &quot;positions&quot; are required on the board in PA, but they can all be filled by one person, I am trying to ask the question whose answer would be 1 in that case. I'm interested in the answers to these questions, but only insofar as those answers can be justified by: Official documentation or guidance from the IRS or PA government State or federal laws or Relevant cases that might motivate a suggested de facto answer. For context, I've tried to search for the answer to these questions, and mostly found via google a slew of articles, blog posts and tutorials written by independent non-government sources, and from those sources I've found a few different answers, even among the reputable-looking sources. I'm looking for evidence that can make one confident that a particular answer is correct, if such an answer exists. The closest I have come is finding official-ish looking sources that mention the issue, but don't stipulate an exact requirement. For example This handbook from the PA attorney general's office: https://www.attorneygeneral.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/nonprofitbooklet.pdf says In order to avoid the appearance of impropriety, it is best not to give one individual too much control over the corporation. [...] A corporation may have as many officers with as many different titles as it deems necessary. which suggests an nonprofit corp. with one board member might come under scrutiny or be frowned upon. However, it's unclear to me what relation this document has to the actual law, aside from of course reflecting the opinions of one individual who is involved with upholding it in practice. This document: https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/LI/consCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&amp;ttl=15&amp;div=0&amp;chpt=57 seems to reference part of PA state law (but maybe I've been duped and this is just some person's website...), and Subchapter C Section 5723. seems to explicitly discuss my question. It states: The board of directors of a nonprofit corporation shall consist of one or more members. The number of directors shall be fixed by or in the manner provided in the bylaws. If not so fixed, the number of directors shall be the same as that stated in the articles or three if no number is so stated. Which seems to suggest 1 director may form a perfectly valid board for a PA nonprofit corporation. I have not found the official documentation or guidance for any relevant IRS regulations pertaining to 501(c)(3) status, only third parties claiming various things about what that guidance is. Any help on these questions would be much appreciated!
The law related to the internal organization of corporations is a matter of state law. You cite the correct authority: The board of directors of a nonprofit corporation shall consist of one or more members. The number of directors shall be fixed by or in the manner provided in the bylaws. If not so fixed, the number of directors shall be the same as that stated in the articles or three if no number is so stated. 15 Pa. Stat. and Consol. Stat. Ann. § 5723 (West). The statement of the state attorney general is merely a suggestion. Although, in an entity with audited financial statements the audited financial reports must disclose that the organization lacks &quot;adequate internal financial controls&quot;. But, non-profit entities such as charitable trusts or &quot;corporations sole&quot; (such as most legally distinct entities in the Roman Catholic Church) have only a single person with full control over everything that a Board of Directors does. The IRS likewise does not impose a minimum number of directors for a 501(c)(3) organization, or for any other kind of corporation. Nothing in the relevant statue requires that it have more than one, and many non-profits (e.g. probably a majority of churches) have only one director.
They can't simply keep the money; that's against the law. But in a situation like this, it's easy to get lost in the bureaucracy. The company may be in violation of different laws, re: For Your Information | United States Department of Labor, so you can try pointing this out in another email or letter. The threat of the Feds or other enforcement agency looking into the matter may make something happen. Or, try this: find the CEO (or a similarly high-ranked executive) on LinkedIn; many have open messaging in interest of good PR. Message/email them and carefully (and nicely) explain the situation. (A CEO will likely have an assistant monitoring their LinkedIn account. But, there are many stories of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos personally responding to emails.) Someone will make it happen and the employees who have not been helpful will be in hot water.
As is often the case, the answer is "it depends." In this case, it depends on: 1) When the condo was organized. Washington law says that all condo associations organized after July 1, 1990, "shall be organized as a profit or nonprofit corporation." Since incorporation is a legal requirement for these condos, the Board must file for incorporation, regardless of whether members approve. NOTE: Washington law does not impose any penalty on condo associations that do not incorporate. https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=64.34.300 2) What your By-laws say. As I recall, before July 1, 1990, Washington law did not require condo associations to incorporate. If I am right, the Association does not have to file for incorporation. Whether the Board has to get approval from the members before filing for incorporation depends on your Association's By-laws. The By-laws tell who has the power to make which decisions. 3) It may be worth it for you to talk to an attorney who specializes in condo law about your condo association. Washington law imposes many requirements on HOAs, and many HOAs ignore these requirements. An attorney can give you practical advice about bringing your condo into compliance with these requirements.
"Legal requirement" can and in this case simply means "it's what is required in order for us to be reasonably able to offer you this service", noting that it would be unreasonable for such a dangerous business to operate, when one moron slipping and suing them could put them out of business. It's a little surprising that you've never had to sign a waiver before, but there are quite a number of similar waivers out there, such as REI (Seattle), The Edge (Vt), Croc Center (Coeur d'Alene), YMCA (MI) and U. Nebraska. They all have in common the requirement of a signature (indicating that you've waived your right to sue them), birth date, date of signature. This is the bare minimum that's required to have a valid waiver, and more info would be better (to uniquely identify the customer out of the 1000 John Smith's in the state and 500,000 in the US). If you break yourself and try to sue, they will trot out the waiver to put an end to the suit. Name, address, phone number and birth date do a long ways towards proving that the person who signed the waiver is indeed you.
The private organizations, in difference to international organizations (the organizations, members thereof are the countries) or the countries are not subjects of international law. They are also not a subject of criminal laws, so they technically can't break the law. The people can. If the actions of such organizations will break some laws, the people staying behind that organization will be made responsible. Either it will be single individuals, or the whole organization might be declared criminal (such as mafia or a gang) and there everyone, including stakeholders or casual employees/contractors might be subjects to interrogation, arrest and sentence. As for the problem you describe, when the organization made something illegal under one jurisdiction, and the stakeholders are sitting in other country, where such actions are not illegal, they might only partially be safe. They might be arrested not only in the country where the legal actions are taken, but also in third countries, that have extradition agreements with that country.
In an extreme hypothetical situation: at a meeting where there is a quorum present, there are 50 members qualified to vote in attendance. An issue comes up for a vote, and 45 people abstain, 3 vote yes, 2 vote no. Would this pass 3 to 2, or is there some overriding part of &quot;majority present and voting&quot; that I am just not understanding? The measure would pass 3-2. The words mean what they say. Quorum requirements prevent the small number of people voting from being unfair.
Someone has pulled a sample motion of this type off of PACER (the public access Internet portal to civil filings in federal court). The example is more formal and structured than a lot of state court motion practice would be, however (e.g. few state court's require or encourage motions with a table of contents and a table of authorities). This example is 36 pages long, and many states don't even allow motions to run for more than 10-15 pages without leave of the court to do so in advance. There is a New Jersey federal court example here which is also on the formal and fussy side (although, in part, because the motion isn't just an arbitration motion and is also raising several additional unrelated issues which if omitted would cut it in half). See also one here. Another example, from a California state court, is closer to the mark for a typical state court filing. A court that handles residential landlord-tenant matters is probably even more &quot;casual&quot; and probably expects motions to get to the point more quickly. The core content is probably solid, although it would have to be customized to reference the state law statutory and procedural rules rather than the federal rules of civil procedure, and to analyze and set forth the facts of your case rather than those of some random person whose pleading is linked. This would also have to be adopted to state court practice standard, which typically uses different formatting for captions, signature blocks, whether or not line numbering is required, etc., and is often subject to other requirements. Some require that a certificate of service be filed as a separate document, while others routinely incorporate it in the main document. Many state courts require that a proposed order be submitted with a motion as a matter of state or local court rules, a few states require a cover sheet to be filed with motions, many states require you to confer with the other side in the case and to recite their position opposing or supporting the motion, or something in between, before filing it, and some courts require you to notify them once the deadline for a response has passed, regarding whether an opposition has been filed to the motion's request for relief or not. Similarly, some states courts require that motions be &quot;verified&quot; (i.e. have their allegations confirmed under oath) or supported by an affidavit setting forth the factual matters alleged in them. New York State structures a lot of motions as &quot;orders to show cause&quot; in which the court preliminarily reviews the relief requested and issues an order telling the other side that it will do something if they don't file an objection showing good cause for the court not to rule in that way by a given day, which must be formally delivered (i.e. &quot;served&quot;) upon the other side by a deadline. I don't know if New Jersey local motion practice is similar. Many court systems also charge a &quot;new case&quot; filing fee for motions to compel arbitration that does not apply to other kinds of motions. Ideally, you'd want to review some motions (about pretty much anything) to get a feel for how this is usually done in New Jersey.
Anyone who is an employee as defined in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA), 29 USC 201 et seq.(or parallel state minimum wage laws) and is not within the scope of an exemption to the minimum wage law, must be paid minimum wage. The relevant question is whether or not the person is an employee who is not exempt from the minimum wage requirement as defined in the FLSA. The question is a mixed issue of fact and law in which the characterization given to the relationship by the company and the person doing the work is one factor, but not the only or the controlling factor, in determining employee status. The exact nature of the work governs whether the FLSA's minimum wage requirement applies or not. For example, "employee" is defined for puroses of the FLSA at 29 USC 203(e) to exclude "any individual employed by an employer engaged in agriculture if such individual is the parent, spouse, child, or other member of the employer’s immediate family" and certain kinds of volunteers. Piecework pay is allows under certain limited circumstances by 29 USC 207(g) when the usual result is that reasonable workers earn the minimum wage. Tipped employees (which is a form of revenue sharing) also receive special treatment. Most of the exemptions are found at 29 USC 213. Most relevant to your question is 29 USC 213(a)(1) which includes an exception for an "outside saleman" who is paid on a straight commission basis, and 29 USC 213(a)(5) and (a)(6) which contain exclusions for certain farming and fishing occupations. Straight commission compensation without regard to the minimum wage is generally not permitted with regard to an employee who is an "inside salesman" (e.g. someone who works at a retail store in a mall or at a phone bank for a telemarketing company), or for anyone other than an outside saleman in non-agricultural jobs. Independent contractor status generally depends upon the degree of control that the company has over the manner in which the work is performed, the assignability of the contract to do the work, and the extent to which the worker does work for many different companies on a contract basis while complying with employment related laws for the contactor's own employees (e.g. worker's compensation). The working for many different companies on a contract basis prong of the test is frequently controlling in practice. Six of the main factors considered by the Labor Department in determining independent contractor status are discussed in Fact Sheet #13. A true independent contractor may be paid on a revenue sharing basis without regard to minimum wage, although in practice, if this results in the independent contractor earning less than minimum wage, there will be strict scrutiny of the practice. Typical independent contractor arrangements that would be allowed would include an attorney working on a contingent fee basis, or an independent broker or realtor working on a straight commission bais. More often than not, a true independent contractor is someone you couldn't even imagine being an employee subject to minimum wage laws of the company in light of the overall relationship and often this will involve a business to business contract, rather than a business to a non-professional individual contract with only personal services involved. There are some safe harbor provisions that if met can insure independent contract status, but it is very common for someone who legally is an employee to be misclassified as an independent contractor in an attempt (often futile if the matter is pressed by regulatory or tax officials) to avoid compliance with laws incident to the employment relationship.