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Non-profit club. To be or not to be....
- Thread starter DiscBunny
- Start date
check with Friends of Sedgley Woods or FSW in Philly
The 503c I helped start took over a year of work with a lawyer, It is not a fun process.
WSDGA.orgNicedGuy
Par Member
My club, WDGC, just got our NFP approved this month. We applied last September so it is a long process but we were able to do it without a lawyer.
What type of non-profit do you want to be?
It all depends on what type of non-profit do you want. If it is important that any donations to your organization qualify as a tax deduction for your donors, than you need to form a 501-c-3. This type of non-profit will also require the most effort (i.e. time, legal and accounting competency) to form and run. And by far requires the most reporting to the IRS.
If the tax write off isn't as important to you, a 501-c-7 or similar (community sports club) is easy to form, operate and the IRS paperwork is tons lighter!
If the tax write off is important to your sponsors, you can have them make the donation directly to the parks dept (they usually qualify or have a foundation that does) and earmark it for your course, etc.
I have formed several non-profit disc golf orgs, and operate one to this day. I have templates for articles of incorporation for both types of organizations and would be glad to talk with you about your situation. :hfive:
It all depends on what type of non-profit do you want. If it is important that any donations to your organization qualify as a tax deduction for your donors, than you need to form a 501-c-3. This type of non-profit will also require the most effort (i.e. time, legal and accounting competency) to form and run. And by far requires the most reporting to the IRS.
If the tax write off isn't as important to you, a 501-c-7 or similar (community sports club) is easy to form, operate and the IRS paperwork is tons lighter!
If the tax write off is important to your sponsors, you can have them make the donation directly to the parks dept (they usually qualify or have a foundation that does) and earmark it for your course, etc.
I have formed several non-profit disc golf orgs, and operate one to this day. I have templates for articles of incorporation for both types of organizations and would be glad to talk with you about your situation. :hfive:
aardvarkious
Birdie Member
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2010
- Messages
- 277
I formed one in Canada. It was super, super easy. Cost ~$100, took about 5 hours or work to form, takes very little to maintain the status. The only hitch we ran into when we incorporated was that the department in charge didn't like all of our bylaws: they called and told me exactly what to do different.
A non-profit and a charity are two different things, the main difference being that a charity can give tax receipts for donations while a non-profit cannot, Keep in mind that (at least around here) for charitable write offs for donations are really only important for individuals. Businesses will probably get advertising in return (you put their logo on a tee sign or thank them on your website), so they cannot write it off as a charitable donation anyways. Instead, they write it off as a marketing expense. So for them, it makes no difference if you are a charity or non-profit. So I suggest just being a non-profit, as that is way easier to maintain.
The big advantages to becoming a formal non-profit:
A non-profit and a charity are two different things, the main difference being that a charity can give tax receipts for donations while a non-profit cannot, Keep in mind that (at least around here) for charitable write offs for donations are really only important for individuals. Businesses will probably get advertising in return (you put their logo on a tee sign or thank them on your website), so they cannot write it off as a charitable donation anyways. Instead, they write it off as a marketing expense. So for them, it makes no difference if you are a charity or non-profit. So I suggest just being a non-profit, as that is way easier to maintain.
The big advantages to becoming a formal non-profit:
- parks departments, businesses, and other entities are way more likely to work with you. Many won't if you aren't formally incorporated.
- there are legal protections. Now, without an incorporated club, if someone gets hurt at something you organise they can sue you and take your house. If you are working on behalf of an incorporated club, they sue the club and get its bank account
- you have laws and by laws that govern you now: those come in handy if there are any controversies down the road
- your club can get a bank account
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2009
- Messages
- 4,352
Becoming a non-profit seems like it is:
1. a pain
2. necessary to become more legitimate with local gov, businesses, money people.
Our club is definately interested, but we want to make sure it's the right thing to do legally and financially. I'm glad to get anyone's input and have a club meeting on Tuesday that I'm gathering info for. Anything you can share would be helpful.
Thanks guys!
1. a pain
2. necessary to become more legitimate with local gov, businesses, money people.
Our club is definately interested, but we want to make sure it's the right thing to do legally and financially. I'm glad to get anyone's input and have a club meeting on Tuesday that I'm gathering info for. Anything you can share would be helpful.
Thanks guys!
JRW III
Double Eagle Member
You may want to form a 501-c-7 to start out with. Then, at a later time, you can always convert to a 501-c-3. Being a 501-c-7 will give you just about everything the 501-c-3 will (formal organization for legitamacy) except for the fact that donation to your club will not be tax deductible for the individuals & businesses that are donating to you.
My guess would be that if you polled all of the DG clubs who have non-profit status, the significant majority would be a a 501-c-7 (or similar) and not a a 501-c-3.
My guess would be that if you polled all of the DG clubs who have non-profit status, the significant majority would be a a 501-c-7 (or similar) and not a a 501-c-3.
VictorB
* Ace Member *
We've been a registered not-for-profit organization for years. I don't think it's that difficult to achieve that status in Missouri.
With that being said, I do know it's quite a bit more work to become a tax exempt NFP organization (which we are not)
With that being said, I do know it's quite a bit more work to become a tax exempt NFP organization (which we are not)
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