Elizabeth M. Schmidt, a professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has published a new book aimed at helping nonprofit leaders navigate legal requirements and responsibilities. Titled “Rules of the Road for Nonprofit Leaders: Using the Law to Achieve Your Mission,” the book is part of Georgetown University Press’s series on philanthropy, nonprofits, and nongovernmental organizations.
Schmidt’s work is intended as a practical guide for those leading nonprofit organizations. In her preface, she writes, “This book is an attempt to explain nonprofit law to current and future nonprofit leaders in a way that speaks to their active and ethical natures.” She continues, “This is no easy task, as the law is full of nuances, and if I tried to explain all the nuances, the book would no longer be clear to the readers. Instead, I have tried to strike a balance between being general enough to be understandable and specific enough as to not be misleading. The book is a basic translation of the law, which should provide nonprofit leaders with a general framework for understanding what nonprofit leaders can do within the boundaries of the law.”
The book addresses challenges faced by both large and small nonprofits in dealing with advice from various professionals such as lawyers, accountants, money managers, MBAs, public relations experts, and fundraising consultants. According to Schmidt’s analysis, these pressures are particularly acute for smaller organizations with limited resources.
Schmidt organizes her guidance into eight precepts designed to help nonprofit leaders avoid legal problems while focusing on their missions:
1. Keep the mission front and center.
2. Govern wisely.
3. Fill the coffers.
4. Go into business?
5. Treat your friends and colleagues well—just not too well.
6. Advocate for your cause.
7. Complete the paperwork.
8. Know how to change course.
Each chapter restates relevant laws and regulations that apply to nonprofits. Topics include fiduciary duties of board members and officers; handling donations and grants; earned revenue; fair compensation; advocacy; lobbying; political campaign intervention; documentation; and public disclosure.
In her concluding chapter, Schmidt calls for reforms in nonprofit law that would clarify boundaries around charitable purposes—distinguishing them from commercial or political activities—and simplify rules regarding charitable deductions and donor-advised funds. She also suggests reconsidering distinctions between private foundations and public charities: “Congress created this distinction because it assumed that § 501(c)(3)s remaining under the control of a single person or a small group of people needed more rules with stricter remedies than organizations that are more accountable to the general public,” she writes, but “[a]lmost every provision that private foundations must follow now has a counterpart in the public charity world.”
Schmidt encourages nonprofit leaders to seek professional help when necessary but positions her book as an accessible resource written in plain English.
“This article first appeared in the Giving Review on August 4, 2025.”
