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Biography
Donald W. Kramer serves as chair of Montgomery McCracken’s Nonprofit practice group.
Don has more than 40 years of experience dealing with the concerns of nonprofit organizations, not only as a lawyer, but also as a teacher, writer, publisher and board member. He has worked with nonprofits of all types and sizes, helping structure startup situations and restructure multiorganizational health and educational systems. He counsels on a wide range of nonprofit corporate structure and governance, private and community foundations, continuing care retirement communities, exempt organization taxation, low-income housing tax credit transactions, real estate, charitable giving and other nonprofit issues.
Don’s representative clients include The Philadelphia Foundation, The Kendal Corporation, Pennswood Village, Central Susquehanna Community Foundation and Woods Services.
Don serves as the editor and publisher of Don Kramer’s Nonprofit Issues®, a national newsletter of “Nonprofit Law You Need to Know,” which he founded in 1989.
Prior to joining Montgomery McCracken in 1972, Don served as deputy development coordinator and assistant to the mayor of Philadelphia.
Selected Representations
- Served as counsel to the Berwick Healthcare Corporation in the sale of a nonprofit hospital to the for-profit Community Health Systems as well as in the creation of the Berwick Health and Wellness Foundation, now known as Central Susquehanna Community Foundation
- Assisted in the sale of the nonprofit Brandywine Hospital to Community Health Systems
- Represented numerous nonprofit organizations in multiple matters of corporate restructuring to protect assets and centralize strategic planning and implementation
Selected Publications
- Quoted in “Put Hershey funds to good use,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, December 6, 2016
- Quoted in “Readers: Startingly rich Milton Hershey School should expand mission with $12B” The Philadelphia Inquirer, December 2, 2016
- Quoted in “The Pa. Attorney General has tried to fix Hershey Trust for years. Will this probe be different?” The Philadelphia Inquirer, July 8, 2016
- Quoted in “Visit Philadelphia could have recovered embezzled funds with insurance,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 4, 2016
- Co-author of Nonprofit Leadership and the Law, published by Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, 2000 (updated in 2001)
Selected Speaking Engagements
- Speaker, Montgomery McCracken’s 29th Annual “This Year in Nonprofit Law,” November 20, 2019
- Speaker, “Leadership Moments,” Arts + Business Council of Greater Philadelphia’s (ABC) Business on Board, May 2019
- Speaker, “Law & Ethics: Board Roles and Responsibilities,” Arts + Business Council of Greater Philadelphia’s (ABC) Business on Board, January 2019
- Speaker, Montgomery McCracken’s 28th Annual “This Year in Nonprofit Law,” November 13, 2018
- Speaker, “Law & Ethics: Board Roles and Responsibilities,” Arts + Business Council of Greater Philadelphia’s (ABC) Business on Board, January 2018
- Speaker, “Nonprofit Fiscal Health Check: Maximizing Operations with Sound Governance,” The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia, December 2017
- Speaker, Montgomery McCracken’s 27th Annual “This Year in Nonprofit Law,” November 2017
- Speaker, Montgomery McCracken’s 26th Annual “This Year in Nonprofit Law,” November 2016
- Speaker, Montgomery McCracken’s 25th Annual “This Year in Nonprofit Law”, December 2015
- Faculty member, “The Planned Giving Course,” Partnership for Philanthropic Planning of Greater Philadelphia, April 2015
- Course planner, “Protecting Your Charity in Charitable Giving,” PBI Nonprofit Series, March 2015
- Speaker, Montgomery McCracken’s 24th Annual “This Year in Nonprofit Law”, November 2014
- Speaker, “Board roles, responsibilities, and governance structures,” Chester County Library System, October 2014
- Speaker, “Crafting More Powerful Gift Acknowledgments,” Planned Giving Day, Partnership for Philanthropic Planning of Greater Philadelphia, October 2014
- Speaker, “State Charitable Solicitation Statues:Everything You Wanted to Know But Were Afraid to Ask,” PANO, October 2014
- Presenter, “Nonprofit Mergers, Acquisitions and Affiliations,” Nonprofit Issues, March 2014
- Presenter, “What non-union employers need to know about the NLRA –and it’s alot,” Nonprofit Issues webinar, February 2014
- Speaker, Montgomery McCracken’s 23rd Annual “This Year in Nonprofit Law,” November 2013
- Presenter, “State Charitable Solicitation Statutes: Everything You Wanted to Know But Were Afraid to Ask,” Nonprofit Issues webinar, October 2013
- Speaker, “Lobbying and Electioneering for Nonprofits,” Nonprofit Issues webinar, September 2013
- Speaker, “Lessons Learned from the Freeh Report,” Montgomery McCracken’s Forum for Colleges and Universities, March 2013
- Presenter, “Safeguarding Your Nonprofit Organization-What You Need to Know,” January 2013
- Speaker, Montgomery McCracken’s 22nd Annual “This Year in Nonprofit Law,” November 2012
- Speaker, “Pennsylvania Tax Exemptions for Nonprofits – Is Your Charity Prepared to Defend Its Tax Exemption After a Recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court Case?,” Pennsylvania Bar Institute (PBI), July 2012
- Speaker, Montgomery McCracken’s 21st Annual “This Year in Nonprofit Law,” November 2012
- Presenter, “Representing Non-Profits for Non-Specialists,” American Bar Institute (ALI-ABA), June 2011
Community Involvement
Don serves as a member of the board of directors of the Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations. He has taught nonprofit law at The University of Pennsylvania Law School, the School of Social Policy and Practices at The University of Pennsylvania and Eastern University. He is the director of the Philadelphia Council for Community Advancement and also serves on the board of the Philadelphia Fire Department Historical Corporation.
Honors & Awards
- Listed in Pennsylvania Super Lawyers 2019- Nonprofit Organizations
- Listed in The Best Lawyers in America© – Non-Profit/Charities Law
- Listed as Lawyer of the Year in the 2014 edition of The Best Lawyers in America© – Non-Profit/Charities Law, Philadelphia
Academic Achievements
A graduate of Princeton University, Don received an A.B. degree with honors in 1960. At Princeton, he was chairman of The Daily Princetonian. In 1964, he earned an LL.B. degree from Harvard Law School, where he served as president of the Harvard Law Record.