[Businessmtg] non-profit status

[Steve Rankin]

Hi Emee, et al,

As Emee noted, her Area held several large events annually and was a taxable
business before incorporating as a non-profit.  Naturally, making that kind
of change is going to have complications and hiccups that ASP would not
have.   


1.  PAGES of By-Laws?  No.  By-Laws? Yes.  

2.  Hire an attorney?  Doing so MAY make it easier, but it is Not required.
Attorneys don't make money by making things simple.  As I've already noted,
I've reviewed the application for non-profit status and I didn't find it
particularly challenging.  While ASP is complex compared to a f2f meeting,
it is dirt simple compared to most NPO's.  I don't see why ASP couldn't
accomplish the incorporation and NPO application without hired
representation.

3.  Hire an accountant?  Definitely Not required.  My District didn't have a
CPA - I did the accounting when I was DR.  My Area had a CPA - he wasn't
earning his keep, so I fired him and did the accounting, including filing
the annual IRS tax returns because the Area was large enough to require
that.  FYI, my books passed 3 internal audits and a full-blown major audit
easily.

4.  Permanent physical address complete with a person present during normal
business hours?  Not required.  My District didn't have a staff, nor did my
Area.  The official address of the corporation was the garage of one of the
Past Delegates.

I'm sure that an Area could make incorporating a seemingly impossible task.
My Area was certainly capable of doing that with some issues.  OTOH, many
Districts and Intergroups and other small Al-Anon service entities are
incorporated and it didn't take piles of money or a laundry list of
officials to get the job done.


Hugs,
Steve




-----Original Message-----
From: businessmtg-bounces+steve=serenitysys.com at asp-afg.org
[mailto:businessmtg-bounces+steve=serenitysys.com at asp-afg.org] On Behalf Of
Emee Arthur
Sent: Sunday, July 04, 2010 8:50 PM
To: steve at serenitysys.com
Cc: ASP Business
Subject: [Businessmtg] non-profit status


Should ASP work toward incorporation as a non-profit organization? 


Hi Everyone,
What would ASP benefit by becoming non-profit incorporation? 

Our f2f Area Assembly went through this non-profit process and 
there was much more to it than any of us expected. It took over two years to
complete.
The savings on taxes are great since the Area holds several large events
during the year.
 
ASP has none of these events or large expenses though, do they?   
If we decide to do this we will need to draw up pages of by-laws, hire an
attorney, an accountant, and also
pay for a permanent business mailing address (one with an actual person
there
during regular business hours, not a PO Box). Unless there is a reason I am
unaware of,
I would not suggest filing for non-profit status for ASP. I believe it would
be a lot of 
unnecessary trouble.

I opened a new bank account for our District with an EIN number and typed up
some Articles of Organization.
Why can't an EIN be used? 


Emee





































































































































































































































  
 		 	   		  
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