[TriLUG] Upcoming vote on TriLUG non-profit status

[Joseph Mack NA3T]

On Tue, 1 Feb 2011, matt at noway2.thruhere.net wrote:

> I am also getting the impression that the current SC is 
> feeling at least a bit overwhelmed with the amount of work 
> involved

AFAIK we are a 501(c)(3). From postings from that time, I 
remember someone at IBM helped with the setup. Presumably 
the people who setup the 501(c)(3) are no longer around (Jos 
in CA?), leaving techies to handle the whole thing.

The amount of work to become a 501(c)(3) is enormous 
compared to the work to maintain the 501(c)(3) status (at 
least to my non-lawyer, non-accountant mind). If we can't 
maintain our status as a 501(c)(3), because we don't have 
the knowledge/skills/resources, then unincorporating will be 
irreversible - we won't have the resources to reincorporate.

So as well as "how big are we?" another question is "do we 
have/can we get/how much do we have to spend, to have the 
resources to maintain our 501(c)(3) status?". If we don't, 
and I presume this is the problem the SC has been dealing 
with, then we don't have any choice in the matter. How much 
does it cost to have someone external do our books and 
submit our tax return each year? I'd assume it's in the 1k$ 
range. Do we have that much money to spend on maintaining 
our status?

I don't know Matt's skills here that are relevant to 
maintaining the 501(c)(3) status. Are there other people in 
TriLUG with relevant skills?

Joe

-- 
Joseph Mack NA3T EME(B,D), FM05lw North Carolina
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