Charities, Institutions, and Nonprofits

Egan, Flanagan & Cohen has a significant history representing and working with non-profit institutions. We have represented local religious charities since our inception nearly a century ago. We are adept at navigating non-profit creation, corporate governance, and dissolution issues. We regularly deal with cy pres both administratively and in petitions filed with the Supreme Judicial Court.

We routinely advise boards of directors, trustees, executive directors and other fiduciaries to develop gift acceptance and conflict of interest policies, demystify and implement best board practices, and work with in-house personnel to ensure corporate housekeeping and tax exemption filings are in order. We are adept at gift administration and donor relations, helping clients receive and steward hundreds of millions of dollars.

From religious institutions to public libraries, private colleges to sober homes, our charities, non-profits and institutions practice is a fixture in the western Massachusetts legal community, and it is with great pride that we continue to expand its legacy with a growing team of talented lawyers dedicated to this important practice area.

Planned Giving Advice is a major component of the legal services we provide to Massachusetts charities and non-profits. We work with non-profit boards and development professionals to establish, review, and improve planned giving programs across the Commonwealth. Our clients include educational institutions, religious institutions, and other charitable non-profits of all sizes. We can help draft simple gift agreement or help develop and implement a brand new planned giving program. Our team works directly with donors’ counsel to support our Clients as they steward strong relationships. We also provide programs to educate in-house staff, directors, and donors about opportunities for Planned Giving and education about the administration process. Finally, we work with our Clients to establish bespoke in-house processes to identify issues, minimize costs, and maximize gift recovery.

A key feature of our Planned Giving Practice is EFC’s Gift Management Program. Our Gift Management Program offers non-profit Clients consolidated oversight, management, and compliance relative to estate settlement, trust administration, deferred giving vehicles, life insurance, and life income gifts. Our Gift Management Team offers efficient review of gift instruments, diligent monitoring to ensure timely payment, and evaluation of the administration process to make sure residuary amounts are maximized. Our Gift Management Team works with our estate administration professionals to handle estate administration where a decedent’s family cannot or declines to assist, and we can also lead cy pres initiatives, claims evaluation, endowment audits, and even provide litigation support in the rare instance it is required. Our goal is to provide efficient and tailored service to our non-profit Clients, working hand-in-hand with development and planned giving teams to help grow and protect our Clients’ legacies.

For more information, contact Katie M. McDonough, Esq. or email PlannedGifts@efclaw.com.