[TriLUG] Upcoming vote on TriLUG non-profit status

[Jos Purvis]

 On Mon, 31 Jan 2011, matt at noway2.thruhere.net wrote:

> According to the link mentioned below, it seems as if the majority is
> leaning towards dissolving the non-profit corporate status siting that it
> does not seem to be providing much benefit these days.
>
> In order the group make an informed decision, it looks as if the best
> thing would be to review the recording of the meeting.  However, this may
> not be practical for everyone.

As one of the unfortunate souls involved in the early process of
incorporating as a non-profit, the trilug.org page does a good job of
summarizing the original purpose for incorporating as a 501(c)
non-profit: the receipt of donations of money and hardware from local
businesses and citizens who might not otherwise donate without the tax
advantage. Receiving those donations from companies in particular is
often dependent on being a 501(c), because it demonstrates to their
corporate auditors that the resources in question were donated to a
legitimate group.

The trilug.org page certainly seems to have a strong opinion in favor
of dissolving the 501(c) status, and it sounds like the arguments are
rational. It would be very wise for the steering committee to check
quickly to make sure the group will not lose access to any current
privileges as a result of de-incorporating. Be sure to check things
like meeting space, server hosting, server hardware, bandwidth, and
activity funding, verifying with any company that donates or offers
those to the group on any basis that de-incorporating will not make a
difference to the group's ability to receive those resources. Should
the group opt to retain 501(c) status, it might be a good idea to
discuss the idea of creating a more permanent position to track that
status: in many groups, the Treasurer's position is occupied more or
less permanently by someone who keeps up with the work
year-in/year-out in order to provide more continuous coverage.
Alternately, the group might consider the possibility of not electing
the entire steering committee every year, to provide more continuity
(I haven't kept up--apologies if this is already done).

    Just some (rambling) thoughts,

    Jos