Legal infrastructure for 501(c)(3) organizations, foundations, and social impact entities — priced to reflect our commitment to mission-driven work, not our willingness to cut corners on it.
Nonprofit Division pricing is intentionally 30–40% below our equivalent entrepreneur tiers. This is not a discount — it is a commitment. Mission-driven organizations deserve access to the same quality of legal counsel as the most well-resourced businesses. The RLG Access Fund makes that possible.
From 501(c)(3) formation through ongoing governance, RLG provides the legal structure that lets mission-driven organizations focus on their work without legal exposure threatening it.
Articles of incorporation, bylaws, IRS Form 1023 and 1023-EZ support, state registration, registered agent, and initial governance documentation. Your legal structure is the foundation everything else stands on.
Conflict of interest policies, board resolution drafting, annual corporate compliance, officer transition documentation, and board governance best practices. Board accountability is a legal obligation, not just a best practice.
Grant contract review and negotiation, fund restriction compliance, grant reporting legal considerations, and restricted vs. unrestricted fund management guidance. Grant funding comes with binding legal conditions.
Trademark registration for program names and organization brand, copyright for publications and curricula, IP licensing for branded initiatives, and trade secret protocols for proprietary program models.
Service agreements with vendors and contractors, partnership MOUs, facility and event contracts, fiscal sponsorship agreements, and collaboration documentation. Every organizational relationship carries legal weight.
Staff employment agreements, volunteer liability waivers, contractor classification guidance, FMLA compliance, HR policy development, and volunteer program documentation. Growing a team — paid or not — introduces legal obligations.
These are not rare edge cases. They are recurring patterns that RLG sees across mission-driven organizations of every size — and the consequences are real.
Many nonprofits form with boilerplate bylaws — or none at all — and never update them as the organization grows. Bylaws govern how decisions are made, who has authority, and how disputes are resolved. When a board conflict erupts, a leadership transition occurs, or a major donor questions governance, the quality of your bylaws determines whether the organization survives the moment intact. Gaps in bylaws become legal vulnerabilities that are difficult and expensive to resolve after the fact.
Board disputes without clear governing documents have ended organizations. Funders conduct governance due diligence. An organization that cannot demonstrate sound internal governance loses credibility, funding, and in extreme cases, its exempt status.
Restricted grants carry legally binding conditions on how the money can be used. Organizations that fail to maintain proper fund accounting — or that redirect restricted dollars when cash flow is tight — are not just making an accounting error. They are breaching a contractual obligation to the funder and, in some cases, violating IRS requirements. This issue is rarely discovered during normal operations — it surfaces during an audit, a program evaluation, or a funder relationship that has gone sideways.
Fund misuse can trigger grant clawbacks, funder blacklisting, and IRS scrutiny. Organizations with a history of restricted fund violations often find future funding relationships dramatically more difficult — regardless of program performance.
IRS Form 990 is a public document. It reports board meeting frequency, governance policies, and whether the organization has a written conflict of interest policy. Organizations that operate without these basics — or that file inaccurate 990s — expose themselves to public scrutiny, donor skepticism, and regulatory review. Board governance is not optional for 501(c)(3) organizations; it is a condition of exemption.
The IRS can revoke 501(c)(3) status for ongoing failure to meet governance standards. Prospective major donors, institutional funders, and government grantors routinely review Form 990 as part of their due diligence. What they find there is a direct reflection of how the organization is managed.
Program names, curricula, publications, training materials, and organizational brand have real value — and are protectable under trademark and copyright law. Many nonprofits assume their mission-driven nature or good reputation is sufficient protection, or that formal IP registration isn't worth the investment. When a similar organization or commercial entity begins using a confusingly similar name or curriculum, the response options are limited without prior registration.
IP disputes cost organizations donor goodwill, grant relationships, and organizational resources that are rarely available in abundance. A program name built over years can be challenged by an entity that registered the mark first — regardless of who was using it first.
Grant agreements are contracts. They contain reporting requirements, fund restriction clauses, audit rights, clawback provisions, and in some cases, intellectual property ownership terms that affect the organization long after the grant period ends. Most nonprofits sign these agreements under funding pressure and timeline constraints without legal review — and many discover the binding terms only when a condition is triggered.
The legal obligations in a grant agreement do not become less binding because the organization needed the funding. Audit rights, clawback clauses, and IP transfer provisions can follow an organization long after the grant has closed. What an organization agrees to in a grant contract is what it will be held to.
Executive directors and founding leaders often serve as the legal and operational hub of a nonprofit — signing contracts, managing funder relationships, and making governance decisions. Organizations without documented succession protocols, officer authority structures, or transition plans are highly vulnerable when leadership changes. The departure of a key leader can render basic organizational functions — banking, contract signing, regulatory filings — temporarily non-functional.
Funders who have a relationship with a founding leader may not automatically transfer that relationship to their successor. Contracts signed by an officer whose authority was never formally documented may be challenged. Succession planning is governance — and governance is a legal obligation.
Nonprofit Counsel on Call is RLG's ongoing retainer program for 501(c)(3) organizations that need consistent outside legal counsel — structured, selective, and priced through the RLG Access Fund at 30–40% below our standard entrepreneur rates.
Ten member maximum across all tiers. Application required. The program is designed to function as an embedded legal partner — not a reactive vendor you contact when something breaks.
View Program Details →Governance templates, IRS compliance support, grant agreement review, and foundational nonprofit legal resources.
Apply for DetailsBoard governance consulting, grant negotiation support, employment policy review, and compliance calendar management.
Apply for DetailsFull outside general counsel support, board training, federal/state compliance management, and organizational transaction support.
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