In early 2019, after accepting the role of Executive Director of the newly launched Napa Legal Institute, I was challenged by a board member to explain our vision for the organization. Eager to convey that I had done my homework, I quickly rattled off the official mission statement of Napa Legal Institute:“The mission of Napa Legal Institute is to provide corporate, tax, philanthropic, and other non-litigation legal and financial education to protect and advance the missions of nonprofit organizations aligned with the Catholic Faith.”

By better understanding the formative nature of our institutions we are better able to recognize the social crisis we face as a nation. From rising divorce rates and broken communities to our polarized politics and culture, it’s clear that what we’re facing is a breakdown of the institutions that traditionally serve as the framework of our social lives. But what does it mean to recommit to our institutions, and why is that important?

In the early part of the 20th century, tax-exempt organizations were subject to few government regulations. Prior to 1969, organizations did not even have to apply to the IRS to receive federal tax-exempt status. Similarly, for many years, tax-exempt organizations did not file any annual return with the IRS.However, five events at the turn of the century revolutionized the way the public and the government view nonprofits.

In DeOtte v. Azar, a federal district court case in Texas this past summer, a federal court issued a new permanent national injunction robustly protecting employers and individuals across the country who object to paying for contraceptive health insurance coverage in their health insurance plans. It is understandable why one may have thought that the issue of protecting nonprofit employers who have religious objections to contraceptive coverage was resolved long ago.

The Napa Legal Nonprofit Toolkit identifies and explains, in plain English, the steps needed to establish a faith-based nonprofit, including legal creation and federal tax-exemption. The objective of the toolkit is to clearly articulate the path to successfully establishing a faith-based nonprofit, so that those who wish to fill a need in their community through a nonprofit program or entity are empowered to do so.