Nonprofit Conflict of Interest Policy

A Nonprofit Conflict of Interest Policy is a document used by nonprofit organizations to describe what situations might create a conflict of interest for their Board members, officers, principals, managers, and key employees. This policy document also describes the procedures that must be undertaken if a conflict or potential conflict is present.

These types of policies are generally very boilerplate. That means that they do not vary from organization to organization. That is because the situations that constitute a conflict are not unique to any organization - a handful of certain situations must be avoided by all nonprofits.

Conflicts involve situations where the key actor may be motivated by something other than their work for the organization - for example, if they are receiving payment from another source for a transaction involving the organization.

This Nonprofit Conflict of Interest Policy will cover all common situations that may present a conflict.

How to use this document

This document is quite simple. It will only request the name of the organization, its president, and its secretary, as well as the date of implementation and whether the organization is a 501(c)(3). As mentioned above, the reason more information is not requested is because these documents tend to be the same between organizations and variance isn't needed. In fact, variance usually is not a good idea, as common conflict situations may be missed.

The completed policy describes exactly how a conflict of interest is defined according to the organization and how key actors can report potential conflicts.

When this policy document is filled out, it should be adopted by the Board through a resolution and then given to all key actors to sign and acknowledge.

Applicable law

Although not technically required, a Nonprofit Conflict of Interest Policy is an important thing to have for organizations that have been granted 501(c)(3) status by the Internal Revenue Service. A document like this indicates to the IRS that the organization is legitimate and seeks to avoid private interests.

How to modify the template

You fill out a form. The document is created before your eyes as you respond to the questions.

At the end, you receive it in Word and PDF formats. You can modify it and reuse it.