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Fennemore Craig has represented many of the nonprofit and tax-exempt organizations that have shaped the Southwest for decades. In the last decade, we have witnessed an explosion in the level of regulation and scrutiny of tax-exempt organizations. Escalating scrutiny from the IRS, Congress, state regulators, watchdog groups, and the media require nonprofit leaders to run a gauntlet of constantly changing laws and regulations. At the same time, tax-exempt organizations are expected to be more transparent then ever before and to adhere to evolving best practices.

The lawyers in Fennemore Craig’s Nonprofit and Tax-Exempt Organizations law practice are committed to representing nonprofit and tax-exempt clients on a daily basis, not as a side practice. Our depth and collective years of experience representing nonprofit and tax-exempt organizations is unsurpassed in the Southwest.

The nonprofit and tax-exempt sector is broad and diverse and Fennemore Craig’s clients reflect that diversity. Fennemore Craig’s tax-exempt and nonprofit clients include community and other grant-making foundations; hospitals and healthcare providers; trade associations; nationally and internationally federated organizations; churches and other religious institutions; arts organizations and museums; public, private and charter schools; organizations promoting the use of electronic health records and data exchange; colleges and universities; supporting organizations; social welfare organizations; organizations involved in lobbying and political activities; veterans organizations; and tribal and governmental entities. Our attorneys also advise individual clients regarding their charitable gifts including drafting complex gift agreements such as endowment gifts, naming rights gifts, and charitable remainder trusts and charitable lead trusts.

Our Nonprofit and Tax-Exempt Organizations practice group includes members of Best Lawyers in America, Southwest Super Lawyers, the American College of Tax Counsel and the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, as well as the past chair of the Section of Taxation for the State Bar of Arizona. The partners in the practice are “AV” rated attorneys by Martindale Hubbell (the highest rating available), which signifies substantial experience and recognition by one’s peers for professional accomplishment.

We have a specialized niche practice; however, as part of a full-service firm with offices across the Southwest, we are able to coordinate legal services across the full spectrum of our client’s legal needs. In consultation with attorneys from our corporate, mergers and acquisitions, real property, labor and employment, estate planning, intellectual property, employee benefits, tax and other practice groups, we offer a coordinated approach to providing legal services to our tax-exempt clients. We even act as outside general counsel for a number of our clients providing a coordinated, seamless approach to solving their legal issues.

In addition to our work on behalf of our clients, we are committed to serving our communities through volunteer and leadership positions in a range of organizations and by serving on various governmental and non-governmental bodies. For example, our group includes current and former members of the board of directors and committees of the Arizona Community Foundation, Childsplay, Phoenix Public Library Foundation, Arizona Foundation for Women, Diversity Leadership Alliance, Protecting Arizona’s Family Coalition, Awakening Seed School and the Accademia Dell’Arte to name a few. Our attorneys are also frequent speakers at various conferences and are active members in bar association groups and committees including: the Exempt Organizations committee of the Tax Section of the American Bar Association; the Arizona Grantmaker’s Forum, ASU’s Lodestar Center, Arts and Business Council’s Business on Board program; the Arizona Charter School Association; the Southwest Conference of Foundations, and many more.