Your Relationship With the Regulators

The likelihood that your involvement will improve the outcome of a conversion is enhanced by organizing early, bringing together as many organizations as you can, being clear in your concerns and recommendations, and involving the media. But from the outset, you should keep in mind that your relationship with regulators will be very important. While there are different regulators across the country with their individual viewpoints on the necessary level of community involvement in conversions, many view the community’s role as crucial and will welcome the opportunity to include your voice in the process.

What You Can Do If A Regulator Is Involved:

Offer to meet with the regulator(s) to determine how s/he views public participation in a conversion, the timeline for approval, and whether documents will be made public.
Try to become a formal party (PDF) to any administrative hearing. If unsuccessful, attend the hearing and work with the media to raise community awareness of the conversion.
File position papers with the regulator and request that these be considered a part of the public record of the conversion.
Maintain communication with regulators throughout the review process.
Participate in public hearings and court proceedings.

Unfortunately, there are states where conversions occur with no oversight by a regulator. You can still be involved however, to ensure that the charitable assets are not lost.

What You Can Do If There Is Not A Regulator Is Involved:

Make a public request that the Attorney General file a cy pres petition in court before allowing the conversion to occur.
File an administrative petition requesting that the Attorney General proceed with the cy pres filing, if the Attorney General is not willing to file the petition.
Make a public request that the Attorney General inform the public and those interested about the cy pres petition prior to the filing, allowing for the community to participate.
Make a public request that the Attorney General evaluate the conversion to determine if it is in the public interest.
Inform the public and the media about your requests and keep them informed of your progress.
If the nonprofit has filed seeking court approval to convert, seek legal assistance to ask the court’s permission to intervene in the proceeding to represent the community’s interest.

Even with significant involvement by the community and efforts to improve the conversion, however, it is unrealistic to imagine that all regulators will have the same reaction to your involvement. You may run across a regulator’s office that does not see that it has an important role.

What You Can Do If A Regulator Is Not Getting Involved:

Work with the community to prioritize your issues.
Be clear about what you want the regulator to do.
Contact the media to get coverage on the issue.

Checklist of Questions to Ask Your Regulator (PDF)