As many as 400,000 nonprofit organizations are weeks away from a doomsday. At midnight, May 15, an estimated one-fifth to one quarter of some 1.6 million charities, trade associations and membership groups will lose their tax exemptions, thanks to a provision buried in a 2006 federal bill aimed at pension reform.” said Stephanie Storm

In 2006, the Pension Protection Act was passed, and within the Act was a provision giving the IRS the authority to revoke tax exemptions for groups that did not file for three consecutive years. (Before this law, only organizations making $25,000 or more had to file.) The three years will be up next week, and many small organizations may be surprised, even though the IRS has made a great effort to get the word out. Probably most at risk are small organizations that have been inactive for a period of time.

The IRS needs a way of tracking organizations, but “It’s going to be an unholy mess once these organizations realize what’s happened to them,” said Diana Aviv, president of the Independent Sector, a nonprofit trade group.

For detailed information on the filing of form 990 with the IRS go to http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=218550,00.html

Delaware has a unique court, the Court of Chancery, which is world-renowned for its jurisdiction in corporate matters. This court is a main reason for Delaware’s preeminence in the field of corporate law. Because of the speed and predictability that comes from experience, as well as a wealth of published judicial decisions, Delaware has emerged as the nation’s “corporate capital.”

Competition from other states is rising, however, as they observe the revenue produced for the state from its status as a top legal venue for corporate law. Over the decades, Delaware has carefully cultivated corporate statutes to make them more attractive to corporations than those of other states. In an effort to continue this, Delaware’s Court of Chancery has developed a system that could allow for binding arbitration. This will allow companies to present arguments privately to a judge from the court and get a decision in a timely manner, instead of the lengthy process of going to trial. The arbitration process is confidential and not available for public record; this is especially important when dealing with proprietary information such as technology and patents.

Eric Ruth of The News Journal writes, “Under the new rules, the rivals can choose to sit down privately with a judge from the court — or, as they are called, a chancellor — present their arguments, and let the arbitrator decide the outcome. The goal is to resolve the matter in 90 days — Chancery Court cases have been known to last a year or two before even reaching trial.”

Delaware’s efforts to broaden the scope of Chancery Court and make the arbitration process confidential, timely, and affordable, will keep the state on the cutting edge as the nation’s “corporate capital.”

I recently got an iPhone and am addicted to checking out the app store for the latest and greatest. I have been thinking a lot about how businesses go about creating an iPhone app for their business. Check out this great article on DesignSponge with a clear explanation of the process. Below is an excerpt:

First things first—come up with a solid idea.

It’s probably best to do a bit of research to find out what Apple will and will not allow in the App Store. Then do some keyword searching—with 150,000+ apps out there, chances are someone else already had your great idea. That being said, if there’s a chance for improvement it could be worth a try.

When we created the Virtual Zippo Lighter App at Moderati, we had the idea long before the iPhone even existed. We did a “rock lighter” wallpaper years prior, and had been in the works with licensing images from Zippo. When we were pitching the app idea to Zippo a couple other lighter apps had just launched. My boss said to me, the thing that’s going to make this one the best is the design. The strategic licensing effort on the part of the marketing department also certainly had something to do with the success of the app.

Okay, so you have a great idea, then what?

Just like any other multi-media design project, you’re going to want to start by making a list of features your app will have. Chances are your list might get a bit long, so remember that “less is more” can be applied to new design mediums. Group features into clusters that make sense, and remove things that don’t really enhance the user experience or add to the final product (just because the iPhone can do something, doesn’t mean your app has to).

With your features listed, next you’ll want to mock up your product and do a bit of UI design.

Taking all the features into consideration, you’ll have to figure out an elegant way for users to actually use the app. Either by sketching on paper or creating simple shapes on the computer, think about how it will function, what users will see first, and what users will click on most. Remember that people are impatient, so it’s best to minimize the number of clicks. When thinking about elements on a page, and the order of things, keep in mind that instinct and learned behavior play a part for the user (for example, “forward” is usually on the right, and “back” is usually on the left).

Then, it’s page-flow time. When setting up your design and how everything will be connected, instead of thinking of it as a website (open-ended, scrollable, kind of limit-less), think of it more like a DVD menu interface (limited set of features that get straight to the point). Unlike a website, your app isn’t going to have breadcrumbs or a URL at the top helping you find your way back, so be sure the user can figure out where they are at all times, with shortcuts to important features. Adding a “Home” button is much, much better than forcing the user to click “back” a good number of times (if it were me, at that point I’d just choose to hit “End”).

Read the full article HERE.