Hitting the Ground Running
Month In Review | May 2026
April marked a transition that happened faster than expected. We moved from building to operating, actively serving clients, delivering programs, and watching the work land in real time. The demand for legally informed governance guidance is real, and it is becoming more visible by the week.
We also underestimated the pace of it. Some of our internal systems are still catching up, and we have been building infrastructure in parallel with client work. The current focus is making the experience as clear and consistent as the work itself.
Thank you for the messages, referrals, and thoughtful encouragement that came in during our first months of operations. The response to this work has meant a great deal.
COMMUNITY UPDATE: WHAT WE’RE HEARING
Our first cohort of the Living Bylaws Studio is underway, and one pattern emerged clearly in April: organizations are often operating on shared assumptions about authority and process that are not reflected anywhere in their governing documents.
Everyone in the room believes one thing about how decisions get made. The bylaws say something different, or nothing at all.
That gap is a governance problem, and it tends to surface at the worst possible moments.
We also heard two recurring challenges from leaders throughout the month.
The first is structural. Directors are stepping into board roles without a clear framework for what the role actually requires.
The second is operational. Organizations are struggling with how to handle conflict, reporting, and decision-making boundaries in a way that is both lawful and workable.
Both issues are shaping what we build next.
As we plan our next free training, we would love your input. What feels more immediately useful right now: (i) director onboarding (governance fundamentals for new board members) or (ii) workplace integrity (strategies for reducing employer liability risk)?
Reply or comment and let us know.
GOVERNANCE & LEGAL COMPLIANCE BRIEFING
What the IRS’s New Transparency Initiative Signals for Fiscal Sponsors
On April 23, 2026, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the IRS announced a “transparency initiative” focused on revising Form 990. While the stated goal is to detect misconduct and reduce fraud, the areas of focus (government funding, grants, and fiscal sponsorship) raise legitimate questions about how this will be applied in practice.
Although presented as a transparency measure, the initiative centers on funding structures commonly used by advocacy and social impact organizations. That focus raises reasonable questions about whether scrutiny will be applied evenly across the sector.
What matters most here is the signal.
The announcement signals that fiscally sponsored projects and their oversight structures will receive closer attention. Fiscal sponsors should ensure that form matches function.
Every fiscal sponsorship arrangement should be documented in a written agreement that clearly describes the relationship and its terms. Oversight responsibilities should be defined and visible in practice, not merely implied. The fiscal sponsor is legally responsible for the funds, and that responsibility must be reflected in how the relationship is actually managed over time.
The bottom line: if your fiscal sponsorship structure is doing real work, the documentation should show it. If you are uncertain whether the structure would hold up under scrutiny, that uncertainty is worth paying attention to now, not later.
State of Nonprofits 2026: The Data on Where the Sector Stands
The Center for Effective Philanthropy released its State of Nonprofits 2026 report, drawing on a February 2026 survey of 380 nonprofit leaders across the country. The findings are stark.
Two-thirds of nonprofit CEOs report concerns about their organization’s financial stability. The share operating at a deficit rose to 39 percent, up from 22 percent in 2022. Nearly three-quarters report increased demand for services.
At the same time, foundation funding, which many organizations hoped would help offset accelerating public funding losses, has not fully closed the gap.
The governance dimension here is real.
Organizations navigating funding disruption without clear financial controls, documented grant agreements, reserve planning, and board-level visibility into the numbers are more exposed, not just financially, but legally and operationally. Pressure tests governance systems. This is the moment when structure either holds or does not.
Compliance Reminder: Form 990 Filing Deadline
For organizations operating on a calendar year, the Form 990 filing deadline is May 15, 2026.
If your organization has not filed and has not requested an extension, that deserves immediate attention. Three consecutive years of missed filings results in automatic revocation of tax-exempt status.
Routine compliance obligations are often the first place governance strain becomes visible. Missed filings rarely happen in isolation.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Our newsletters are a core part of our work to increase legal literacy among nonprofit leaders. Here is what we published in April.
Bylaws Are More Than What You Think They Are
If you think of bylaws as paperwork you filed once and forgot, this piece will reframe that assumption. Bylaws define authority, decision-making pathways, and organizational accountability. They become most important precisely when something goes wrong.
This piece explores the idea of “living bylaws” that reflect how organizations actually operate in practice.
Governance Is Stewardship. Full Stop.
This piece lays out a core principle behind all of our work: governance is not separate from stewardship. It is how stewardship becomes operational.
Boards protect mission through structure, process, oversight, and disciplined decision-making. When organizations operate outside those structures, legal and governance risk expands quickly, even when intentions are good.
You Can’t Manage Risk You Don’t See
Most organizations do not discover governance gaps during strategic planning sessions. They discover them during conflict, crisis, turnover, or financial stress.
This piece examines the relationship between authority, visibility, and defensible decision-making, and why organizations cannot manage risks they have never clearly identified.
The Board That Finally Got Its Act Together
In April, we officially launched The Stewardship Standard, our case-based governance series examining how governance failures unfold in practice.
The first issue analyzes a nonprofit board that attempted to rebuild after a period of inactivity but failed to follow its own bylaws around resignation, quorum, and meeting authority. A court ultimately invalidated every action that followed, including board appointments and contracts.
One structural failure unraveled everything built after it.
WHAT WE’RE BUILDING
This fall, we are launching the GLOW Library™, a membership-based governance and legal resource library designed to help nonprofit leaders strengthen organizational infrastructure over time.
The library will include:
Policy templates, governance tools, resolutions, operational documents, and implementation resources designed to support practical governance work
Courses and legal explainers focused on the rules, obligations, and governance frameworks that shape nonprofit operations and board oversight
Live discussion sessions, lunch-and-learns, and guided programming designed to help leaders work through governance and operational questions in real time
If you would like early updates when membership information becomes available, you can join the waitlist.
CLOSING
Over the past month, one thing became clearer.
The work is not theoretical, and the leaders doing it are not waiting for perfect conditions. They are making decisions now, with the structure they have.
The question is whether that structure is actually there when it needs to be.