[luau] Ladies and Gentlemen

[R. Scott Belford]

On Friday 27 December 2002 05:46 pm, Brian Chee wrote:
> far out...I did the non-profit educationally oriented corporation MANY
> years ago for the Hawaii Netware Users Group (HINUG) but alas, interest in
> Netware waned and the group died. However the tax exempt status was
> great....however there were a couple gotchas that I'd like to pass on.

I love Novell.  Well done with that initiative.  Well done.

>
> 1.    You MUST run at least 1 general meeting a year and it must be run by
> something like Robert's Rules of Order.
> 2.    At that general meeting, two things MUST happen:
>     a.    An advisory board of directors must be voted upon and the
> installed after voting
>     b.    A rollover resolution for funds obtained but not spent in the
> past fiscal year, be rolled over to the next fiscal year to help fund
> overall long term goals of the organization.
> 3.    The minutes of this meeting must be published or be available for
> public inspection.
>
> If you can do all three, then it works and donations are legal....if you
> don't....then the IRS will have a conversation with you.

Many thanks for the tips.  I will have to do more reading.  The application 
for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status does not depend upon by-laws defining any 
organizational structure.  I did not see anything about funds rollover.  We 
are applying for this as a volunteer based charitable organization, so 
perhaps some of the requirements are different.  Now that you have said this, 
I am definitely going to scour the "man" pages to be sure that I am not 
overlooking anything.

>
> Oh yeah...I made the suggestion about donating to UH since this issue came
> up now....that way the donation can be made and whoever can get a donation
> letter this tax year.  However, having said that, I am FULLY in support of
> the group getting non-profit status and yes ALL the donations should go to
> the group. However, I would still suggest that donations that will
> eventually go to a school, be donated directly to said school.  If you're a
> class-c corporation and the gear is two years old or less...there is a
> special tax credit if it goes to a K-12 educational institution.

You are a good man to offer the immense resources of UH.  Something that I 
discovered and posted to the list a little bit ago was the fact that an 
organization such as ours, which is already a legal, charitable non-profit, 
can legally accept donations.  Our application for tax-free status only has 
to be made if we collect more than  $5000 in a year of operation.  While I 
have gone ahead and applied for the 501(c)(3) tax-exemption status, we can 
legally donate to ourselves this year.  I can write you a letter.  I 
certainly intend to deduct the few expenses that I have incurred in the 
incorporation steps.

HOSEF
PO Box 392
Kailua, HI 96734
808.230.8845

scott