More than one hundred individuals representing over fifty Lakewood schools and charitable organizations gathered at Yeshiva Orchos Chaim this past Wednesday evening to learn more about the nuances of running nonprofit organizations.

The two-hour educational seminar featured three top professionals from the accounting and tax fields who specialize in working with nonprofit organizations. Speaking in layman’s terms and answering audience questions, the presenters gave a detailed overview of the many rules and requirements involved with operating a 501(c)3 organization.

This seminar is part of a broader effort by the Lakewood community to host “Community Conversations” events, where residents get together to address vital issues affecting Lakewood and the region.

Judah Kupfer, Esq., an in-house compliance officer at Citigroup, Inc., which has over 200,000 employees and annual revenue of some $70 Billion dollars, was one of the presenters. Mr. Kupfer is a highly experienced nonprofit tax attorney, and he handed out copies of a 270 page highly detailed “Guide for Nonprofit Organizations” that he developed to assist nonprofit administrators.

“We put much work into making this information easy to read and understand,” said Mr. Kupfer. “Managing a not-for-profit is a very complex job in today’s world. I want those in leadership positions to understand the many requirements involved with running a nonprofit. Meeting those requirements helps them help others, which is our end goal.”

David (Ari) Hutman, CPA, and partner at Hutman & Hutman CPA firm in Lakewood, was another presenter. “Most people who run nonprofits choose that profession because they care deeply about other people. They don’t choose it as a professional career. As their nonprofits grow their administrative burden grows and they have to start to learn so much information,” he said. “I want administrators of nonprofits to know that it’s not complicated, running a great organization and helping people comes down to good record keeping, good data management, and retaining the right professionals.”

Another presenter was Corporate and Tax Attorney Miriam Vishnepolskaya, Esq. She skillfully guided the audience through tax laws and regulations dealing with operations and employment. Her presentation focused on allowable tax benefits, and relevant limits and rules.

One line captured the collective advice: “Don’t make decisions without knowledge,” concluded Mr. Hutman. “If you have a question, make sure to ask your attorney or CPA.”

Additional Community Conversations educational seminars for the public on compliance and ethics issues will be held in the weeks ahead.

BIOS OF THE SPEAKERS AT THE EVENT:
JUDAH I. KUPFER, ESQ.

Judah I. Kupfer, Esq. is an in-house counsel and compliance officer at Citigroup, Inc. Mr. Kupfer previously served as staff counsel in the legal and government affairs department at Agudath Israel of America. He has a broad range of experience advising a variety of nonprofits regarding issues of tax, nonprofit law, bank/regulatory, civil liablility, and criminal law matters. He coordinated and presented at more thatn a dozen CLE/CPE accredited seminars in cities across the United States on behalf of organizations including Agudath Israel, the National Council of Young Israrel, Torah Umesorah ( The National Society for Hebrew Day Schools) and COPE Educational Services. Mr. Kupfer is a regular contributor of legal and tax articles featured in the The Nonprofit Quarterly and the Hamodia newspaper. He continues to serve on the admininstrative board of Agudath Israel of America Legal Support Services, LLC.

Before joining Agudath Israel’s legal team, he clerked at the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Eastern District of New York and practiced law as an associate at the law firm of Allen & Overy LLP, in each of their white-collar criminal defense and banking & finance groups.

Mr. Kupfer earned an L.L.M. in taxation from New York University School of Law. He obtained his Juris Doctor, magna cum laude Brooklyn Law School where he served as Notes and Comments Editor for the Brooklyn Journal of International Law, and earned his Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, from Touro College.

Mr. Kupfer is licensed to practice law in New York and New Jersey and is admitted to appear before the U.S. Tax Court, the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, and the District of New Jersey. Mr. Kupfer can be reached via email at jkupfer1@gmail.com.

MIRIAM VISHNEPOLSKAYA, ESQ.

Miriam Vishnepolskaya is a tax attorney and principal of Marina Vishnepolskaya, Esq., P.C, a tax law firm with offices in New York City. Ms. Vishnepolskaya counsels employers and executives on a wide range of executive compensation matters, including drafting cash and equity-based compensation plans, employment and severance agreements and other compensation arrangements, and compliance with related employment and tax laws. She counsels qualified plan clients on plan administration, design, qualification and reporting requirements and on matters pending with the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Labor. Ms. Vishnepolskaya advises not-for-profit organizations on all aspects of corporate governance and tax matters, such as unrelated business taxable income, grant-making, fundraising, parsonage and applying for and maintaining the tax exemption. She also counsels business entities and investors on domestic corporate and international tax planning and structuring of financing arrangements.

Ms. Vishnepolskaya is a member of the distinguished Bloomberg BNA Compensation Planning Advisory Board, “the industry’s top source for thought leadership” in ERISA, executive compensation and employee benefits law, which oversees the publication of the Bloomberg BNA Tax Management Compensation Planning Journal, and of the New York City Bar Association Non-Profit Organizations Committee. Ms. Vishnepolskaya is a frequent lecturer and author of numerous articles and a book chapter in these areas, and has contributed to bar association reports on various aspects of federal income tax laws. She may be reached by e-mail at mv@mvesq.com.

DAVID “ARI” HUTMAN, CPA

Ari Hutman is a Certified Public Accountant, and founding partner of the noted firm of Hutman & Hutman LLP, based in Lakewood, NJ. He started his career at Kanarek and Co., one of the largest accounting firms in Lakewood, where he prepared and reviewed thousands of tax returns for a varied array of clients ranging from individuals to complex multi-state corporations, and rose to the position of Senior Tax Manager. During that time, he noticed that while many accounting subspecialties had numerous professionals well versed in the specific complexities of their sector, even large firms had very few accountants who were intimately familiar with the IRS regulations for non-profits.
In 2008, he founded the firm Hutman and Hutman LLP. While the firm provides a full range of accounting services to all types of clients, Ari heads a department dedicated exclusively to the non-profit sector. Ari has invested years of research to develop his expertise in the reporting requirements for non-profits and other qualifications to maintain tax-exempt status. He has thus become a repository of information for the field.

Ari has hosted seminars and webinars which have been attended by school administrators from around the country, as well as tax professionals from leading national firms. As such he has become a resource for nonprofits around the country. He can be reached via email at David@hutmancpa.com.
Ari is a graduate of Beth Medrash Govoha, where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees.