Ed Chaney focuses his practice on advising a broad range of nonprofit organizations on key tax and corporate matters, including organization formation and governance, 501(a) tax exemption and ongoing compliance, charitable giving, program-related and impact investing, and complex organizational structures, transactions, and corporate transitions.
He has extensive experience in advising philanthropic organizations on operational and tax compliance matters, including donor advised fund operations, private foundation grant making, and program-related investments. He also advises on the tax requirements for supporting organizations, the structuring of substantial charitable gifts, and the governance of endowment funds. He has counseled philanthropic clients of many sizes and forms, including community foundations, small and large private foundations, national donor advised fund sponsors, and university-related foundations.
Ed also regularly advises a wide variety of operating nonprofits on their governance, tax compliance, and transactional needs. Clients have included community economic development organizations, issue advocacy organizations, colleges and universities, charter school management organizations, performing arts organizations, industry associations, social clubs, and many more.
Ed speaks, writes, and teaches frequently on the law of nonprofit and tax-exempt organizations. Among other engagements, he regularly presents at the Georgetown University Law Center CLE’s Representing and Managing Tax-Exempt Organizations, the University of Texas School of Law CLE’s Nonprofit
Organizations Institute and provides annual legal updates for the North Carolina Center for Nonprofits and the North Carolina Network of Grantmakers.
Prior to attending law school, Ed worked for ten years in the nonprofit sector, serving as a program director, executive director, and board member with a number of tax-exempt organizations.
He lives in Carrboro with his wife and enjoys photography in his spare time.