[TriLUG] TriLUG non-profit status?

[Aaron Joyner via TriLUG]

I am not a lawyer, and you should not take legal advice from this list.
That said... here's my advice.  :)

Being CSL Exempt primarily means you don't have to pay the annual fee and
have limited annual bookkeeping requirements.  There are corresponding
limitations on what you can accept and do (eg. <=$50k in donations, can't
pay the officers, etc) which historically TriLUG fit into very
comfortably... but there are a few little gotchas like only accepting
in-state donations (we have a few out-of-state members, don't put a donate
button on the website).  I am specifically being relatively imprecise in
this message because I don't want someone to read this and charge off
without doing some research and reading.  It's not difficult, but you
should read the rules to avoid fines, penalties, and their associated
stress. This will also allow you to sign the relevant NC state paperwork
with a clear conscience.  The big risks are criminal or fraud changes, but
in NC that requires criminal intent ("mens rea"), so as long as you're
trying to do the right thing you're safe from that in the eyes of the law,
in my very limited understanding.

Aaron S. Joyner

On Tue, Sep 15, 2026 at 7:05 PM Joseph Mack NA3T <jmack at trilug.org> wrote:

> On Tue, 15 Sep 2026, Aaron Joyner via TriLUG wrote:
>
> > If you search for "Starts with: Triangle Linux" you will find this short
> > entry (also visible at this link
> > <https://www.sosnc.gov/online_services/search/charities_profile/9876897>,
>
> > I've chosen not to include a few fields here from that longer entry,
> > like the phone number): CSL Legal Name:  Triangle Linux Users Group CSL
> > Type:  CSL Exempt Organization Status:  Expired
>
> I didn't know about this.
>
> I thought TriLUG was a 501c(3). Apparently there is a CSL Exempt
> Organisation. I have no idea what that is. It sounds less formal than a
> 501c(3), but I presume you have bank accounts and property.
>
> I was the treasurer for the NC Sysadmins for a while. The people who'd
> started the organisation had all left and I didn't know the financial
> basis we were operating under, so I just lay low.
>
> I was involved in a ham radio club for a while and the rules were very
> clear: all money exchanged is between people and the club has no assets.
>
> Unless you can guarantee that you'll have someone who is prepared to do
> the paper work, for the indefinite future, it would be a lot easier just
> to keep running the club the way it's going now.
>
> 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!
>
>