Ramsey County Law Library Blog

Nowadays we are all pretty wary as to which businesses and individuals we choose to trust.  An understandable outlook in a time of fraud and identity theft, we may not have the same high standards when it comes to nonprofits. After all, it’s counterintuitive to our principles that an organization purporting to exist for a good cause would be up to anything other than good causes.  Unfortunately, not every so-called nonprofit has such good intentions.  Or it may have the best intentions, but also faulty administration and a poor track record to match.  Or it may generally do good work, but have cracks in its system that lead to performance problems and allow funds to leak out. 

The Law Librarian is always sad to hear people’s experiences with area organizations wherein they didn’t get the help they hoped for. If you have had a bad encounter with a nonprofit organization (or what you were led to believe was a nonprofit), you may want to contact the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits (MCN) to let them know.  If you think your rights as a consumer have been violated by a nonprofit, consider filing a complaint with the Minnesota Attorney General.  Going forward, how can a person investigate a nonprofit’s reputation before dealing with them?  According to this New York Times article,you may want to look at investigative resources like Charity Navigator and Guidestar.  And the Better Business Bureau has been shining a light on shady operations for years.   

If you regularly work with Minnesota nonprofits, be aware of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits’ featured publication, Principles & Practices for Nonprofit Excellence .  They also publish the 2014 Minnesota Grants Directory if your nonprofit is in need of funding assistance.   Finally, if you are looking to make a career change and think you would like to work in a nonprofit setting, see their excellent job board link.