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• Nonprofit Support Services
• David Atkin
• Historic Landmark
• Our Workplace
• PROFILE: "Saving the planet, one camel at a time"
NONPROFIT SUPPORT SERVICES works exclusively for nonprofit organizations, and we are specialists in all aspects of
nonprofit law.
Our office motto is "Helping The People Who Change The World," and that is how we view our job. We passionately believe in
and support the vital work done by our nonprofit clients - who feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, help the sick and
injured, eliminate poverty, protect the environment, work for worldwide peace and cooperation, support the rights of
indigenous peoples, protect human and civil rights, prevent cruelty to animals, defend the innocent, protect human health
and safety, enrich society with art and music, operate schools and educate the young, expand religion and spirituality,
promote economic justice and economic opportunities, encourage socially responsible business, and provide opportunities for
people to share and enjoy their social and recreational pursuits - and in all of these ways make this a better world. We
do everything we can to help each of our nonprofit clients accomplish its own unique and important mission.
We are uniquely specialized and able to provide nonprofit organizations with high-quality legal advice and organizational
guidance in an area of law often overlooked, or practiced as a "sideline" by other lawyers. It can be a costly mistake to
assume that every attorney is familiar with the many different state and federal laws governing nonprofit corporations.
Nonprofit corporations are governed by a wide variety of unusual laws and complex IRS regulations that are very different
from those that govern for-profit corporations. Our law office has the expertise and experience needed to give quick, and
definitive answers to any questions or problems involving nonprofit law or nonprofit organizations.
We provide legal, organizational and financial assistance to hundreds of nonprofit organizations located throughout Oregon,
across the country, and around the entire world.
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DAVID ATKIN - Director and Attorney for Nonprofit Support Services
David Atkin is the Founder and Director of Nonprofit
Support Services. David has been deeply involved in the nonprofit sector for over 35 years, and has worked with thousands of
nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit Support Services, his law office, has been providing specialized legal services for
nonprofit organizations for over 17 years.
David is a recognized expert on nonprofit law and he regularly presents seminars and workshops on nonprofit law topics to a
wide variety of audiences. David has been a planner and coordinator for the Oregon State Bar's Continuing Legal Education
Seminars on Advising Nonprofit Corporations in 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004. He also regularly gives specialized seminars
for CPAs and other professionals who advise or lead nonprofit organizations, including seminars specifically for schools and
churches.
In addition to his JD in Law, David has a BA in Biological and Environmental Sciences, an MA in Environmental Management, and
a certificate of specialization in Environmental and Natural Resource Law. He was an adjunct Professor at the University of
Oregon Law School for many years, where he taught Public Land Law, Indian Law, Water Law and a variety of other courses for
the Environment and Natural Resource Law Department.
In addition to his legal work in the USA, David also works with many international nonprofit organizations in third world
countries. He frequently works in Outer Mongolia, where he helped the government develop an entire new system of environmental
laws following the collapse of their previous Soviet style government. When he can get away from the office, David likes to
travel to Outer Mongolia to go riding across the Asian Steppes on the back of a horse or camel, staying and sharing traditional
life with Mongolian nomads.
David's wife Lori shares his passion for nonprofit work and protecting the environment. Lori is the Associate Director of
Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (E-Law), and she travels around the world regularly to work with public interest
organizations and public interest lawyers and scientists in developing countries.
David worked as a Smokejumper for the U.S. Forest Service for ten years, parachuting into remote mountainous areas to fight
forest fires. He is a trained and experienced outdoorsman and loves camping, scuba diving and white-water rafting.
David also loves carpentry projects, and has designed and built two houses - doing virtually all of the design, carpentry,
plumbing and electrical wiring work himself. David, his wife Lori and their two young sons share a passion for country life,
and they love to spend time working and playing on their family farm in southern Oregon.
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OUR OFFICE BUILDING IS A HISTORIC LANDMARK: The Historic Skinner House
Our office building is a lovely and interesting house that has been formally recognized as a Historic Landmark in Eugene, called
the "Historic Skinner House." The Historic Skinner House is a classic, almost completely intact Craftsman Bungalow that was built
for Milo and Emma Skinner in 1920-1922.
Its Bungalow architectural style was developed in this country as an American alternative
to the excesses and pretentiousness of the ornate Victorian and Gothic architectural styles favored in England and Europe and
frequently copied by the rich upper class in America. The Crafstsman Bungalow architectural style was intended to encourage a
more democratic, open, casual and sensible style of housing for the American middle class, and intended to be a physical manifestation
of the more equalitarian American values.
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A SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE, PROGRESSIVE WORKPLACE
Nonprofit Support Services strives to create a progressive workplace that stresses social responsibility and respects the needs
of all who work here. We are a "family friendly" office that provides the flexibility needed by people with young children
and aging parents and we try to meet the demands made by evolving family responsibilities and stages of life. We provide
generous paid vacation time and flexible leave for our staff, and encourage them use the time for family, special interests
and travel because we know that people who achieve an interesting balance between their work and play are happier and more
productive.
Our staff also enjoy spending time together and often plan activities such as game days, office lunches, holiday parties, and
summer "lunch circles" in which we rotate hosting lunches for each other in our homes and gardens.
To encourage community involvement and support, our office matches charitable donations from our staff of up to $100 per year,
and we give our staff paid time off to work as volunteers for local nonprofit organizations.
Finally, we strive to be an environmentally sustainable office. We have installed solar photovoltaic panels on our roof to
generate the electricity we use, and practice conservation by using energy efficient lights and appliances, and by recycling
everything possible. David drives an "ultra low emissions vehicle" gas-electric hybrid car for his business travel to meetings
and Board Training Seminars around the state.
PROFILE: "Saving the planet, one camel at a time"
David Atkin was interviewed by Jeff Wright for the May 4th, 2005 Register-Guard.
You can read the article here: David Atkin article (PDF, 134K)
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