[TriLUG] TriLUG non-profit status?

[Joseph Mack NA3T via TriLUG]

On Tue, 15 Sep 2026, Maryam Abkar via TriLUG wrote:

Hi Maryam,

> once upon a time TriLUG was registered as a non-profit, if anyone knows 
> the details of who registered us as such,

too far back for me. Alan Porter will know

> whether that's still active/

no.

The SC let it drop 10-15 years ago, by not paying the annual fee. At the 
time the SC was almost non-functional and it's a wonder that TriLUG 
survived. There are forms that have to be filed every year with the State, 
to show your finances and to prove that you are still operating under the 
501c(3) charter. Unless you're into bureaucracy, these are a pain. Some 
people have no problems with such forms. If you have someone like this in 
the club, you are very lucky. Technical people usually have no time for 
such things.

> if we are able to cheaply reactivate it, please let us know!

you have to start again from zero. The path is long. You can look up the 
requirements somewhere (the IRS?), but you start with a provisional status 
and have to do a lot of reporting for the first year at least, and then 
after another year or two, you get the real 501c(3) status and the amount 
of reporting drops. You have to understand the financial requirements to 
operate as a 501c(3) - TriLUG fits easily, but you need to know where the 
edges are.

The non-profit status only gets you

o donations are tax deductable for the donor

o organisations that deal with more than pocket change in finances don't 
get taxed, but still have to put in their 501c(3) forms.

If you have annual dues and put on events where the money is funnelled 
through the club, and property is involved (the club has assets) then 
being a 501c(3) is useful. If the club has money (eg bank accounts), then 
you need to/it's helpful to be a 501c(3).

For something like TriLUG (or a kid's soccer team) it's best if the club 
doesn't own anything (needed gear is provided by individuals on a per 
meeting basis) and money for pizza etc is handled on the fly like as it is 
now. Any money that gets moved around must be between people, not with one 
of the parties being TriLUG. So donations for pilot go to Brian, not to 
TriLUG.

Joe

-- 
Joseph Mack NA3T EME(B,D), FM05lw North Carolina
Don't upgrade a working machine - it won't work any
better - it could work worse; it may not work at all.
Homepage http://www.austintek.com/ It's GNU/Linux!