Originally posted in the Legal Alert published by DC Bar Pro Bono Program Community Economic Development Program and reposted with their permission.
In February 2011, Mayor Gray signed into law the D.C. Nonprofit Corporation Act of 2010. The legislation overhauls the laws governing nonprofits organized under D.C. law. It is the first substantial change to the D.C. Nonprofit Code since 1962. The new law applies to nonprofit corporations formed under the 1962 D.C. Nonprofit Code, effective January 1, 2012. There is a delayed effective date for so-called "Old Act" companies formed under the pre-1962 Nonprofit Code.
One of the most important changes the new Nonprofit Code makes is that now officers must comply with a new fiduciary responsibility. Under the Nonprofit Code, an officer now has a duty to inform. This means that the officer must provide other officers and the Board of Directors with all the information they need to carry out their responsibilities.
In addition, an officer must inform a superior officer or the Board of Directors if the officer believes that another person within the organization has breached his or her duty to the organization or has committed a violation of the law involving the nonprofit.
In order to help nonprofits understand exactly what this new duty to inform entails, the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Program has prepared a legal alert which spells out in more detail exactly what is expected by the new duty to inform; who is subject to the new requirement; and what steps the nonprofit should take in order to comply.
If you have any questions about the alert, please contact Regina Hopkins at rhopkins@dcbar.org or Darryl Maxwell at dmaxwell@dcbar.org.
See also our previous post in November on the new act.
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