Belin Consulting is a small consulting firm that specializes in providing advice and assistance to charitable foundations (technically called “private foundations”) and their donors, trustees, and officers. Most of our work is for clients in the New York and Los Angeles metropolitan areas. We also serve clients in Italy.
A distinguishing feature of our firm is that we only take on work that fits within the specific expertise of our principal, Daniel Belin. All of our work is performed with his hands-on involvement. We are friendly, direct, and responsive to the needs of each individual client, as our clients are our paramount concern and receive our full attention.
We often are asked to give examples of work we have done for our foundation clients, for their trustees and officers, and for individuals who are contemplating the formation of a foundation but wish to consider alternatives that might better suit their objectives. A number of examples are set forth on the Services We Offer page.
A hallmark of our approach to our work is that we always are mindful that the foundation trustees, officers, and managers are the ones who make decisions regarding how the foundation’s funds are to be invested and expended and who should be credited for the philanthropic work that they do. Our role is to enable them to better carry out their mission in compliance with the maze of laws and regulations that impact their activities and in accordance with best practices and current standards of professionalism.
Mr. Belin brings forty years of advisory and practical experience to his work. Over that period he has provided foundations and a variety of other not-for-profit organizations with multifaceted support as a lawyer and then as a consultant. Through all of this work, he has applied the broad practical experience he has gained through years of service as a board member and officer for a variety of nonprofit organizations.
Charitable Foundations: The Essential Guide to Giving and Compliance
by Daniel N. Belin
Foundation trustees and officers bear the legal obligation to ensure that moneys entrusted to the foundation for charitable purposes will be used for those purposes. However, highly complex statutes and regulations set forth numerous requirements and prohibitions. How can officers and trustees recognize when rules are about to be violated or know what questions to ask to elicit key information about an issue?