See note at end... Ben Scott wrote: > On 8/22/07, Ed lawson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> Actually, I believe I said 501(c)(3). >> > > Ah. Okay. I know someone had said that 501(c)(3) is/had become > harder to qualify for (i.e., limiting it to more traditional > charities), and that 501(c)(6) might be more appropriate. I had > thought it was you, but I could easily be wrong on that -- it was a > few years ago at this point. Maybe it was maddog; maybe someone else. > > >> It is unclear to me how the members would constitute a collection >> of entities or persons with a common business interest the promotion >> of which is the main focus of GNHLUG. >> > > Well, I thought I addressed that in my notes. The short version is > that "business interests" is fairly broadly defined, and that just > "promoting Linux" seemed like it would qualify. At least, that's my > interpretation of information on the IRS website. > > >> Unless there is some reason to believe there will be lots of money >> flowing through the coffers of GNHLUG, the whole exercise might be >> academic anyway. >> > > I rather suspect so, which is why I just went ahead and registered > the EIN anyway, rather than bringing the question before the board > first. > > While I haven't looked too far into the filing requirements at this > point, the general idea appears to be that one gets the EIN first, and > then files for tax-exemption. It appears an organization is allowed > to never get that far, and to change things later. > > My impression was that the filing requirements for a 501(c)(3) are > significantly stricter than for a 501(c)(6). The major payback being > that donations to a 501(c)(3) can be tax deductible for the donator, > which of course encourages donations. Both types allow the > organization to be exempt from paying taxes on donation income. > > >> Perhaps a check with other similar organizations to see if the have >> applied for 501(c) recognition and if so what entity was chosen and why >> would be productive. >> > > Good idea.... anyone have any contacts with existing orgs they could > pursue in that direction? I suppose I could just crack the phone book > and start calling org's at random, but that seems crude. > > -- Ben > _______________________________________________ > gnhlug-org mailing list > gnhlug-org@mail.gnhlug.org > http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-org/ > Carole's company (Rivendell a.k.a. Learning Networks Foundation) is a 501(c)(3) and will act as a fiscal agent for similarly minded organizations.
One of the issues we discussed (during a summit meeting here) about 501(c) status is that a 501(c)(6) allows us to lobby the government (and some of our activities re: open voting, DMCA, ... can be construed as "lobbying" regardless of what we think). A 501(c)(3) organization cannot do any lobbying. And you are right. The process for becoming a 501(c)(3) is a lot harder than to be a 501(c)(6). --Bruce _______________________________________________ gnhlug-org mailing list gnhlug-org@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-org/
