Now that charities are required to fill out a new version of the Form 990 -- the informational tax return that organizations file each year with the Internal Revenue Service -- some organizations are beginning to get a better understanding of its new requirements.

Yet too many charity trustees have not grasped that the new 990 makes substantial new demands on them, experts say. They may not realize that board members must now take a much more active role in setting conflict-of-interest, compensation, and other policies. No longer can charity trustees or chief executives dismiss the 990 as a tax form to be filled out by the chief financial officer and blessed by the audit committee.

Join us on Thursday, February 18, at noon Eastern time for a live discussion on the top things trustees need to know about the revised tax form-and how executives can help their boards fulfill their new responsibilities.

You can join the conversation by clicking on the window below or you can read the archived version, which will be available after the discussion.

The Guests

Jimmie R. Alford is founder and chair of the Alford Group, an Evanston, Ill., fund-raising consulting firm. He has served on the boards of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the Giving Institute, and Indiana University Center on Philanthropy's Fundraising School.

Thomas K. Hyatt, a lawyer in the Washington office of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, specializes in ensuring that nonprofit organizations comply with federal laws.