The Board of Directors voted to seek 501c3 status at its January 10, 2022 meeting.

Vision Statement

In order to remain sustainable for many years to come, we need to become a 501c3. Having this non-profit status will not only allow us to raise funds in a new way, but it will also allow us to review and streamline our processes to better serve women today and tomorrow, as well as our community at large.

Workshop Purpose: A collaborative working approach to examine our current committee structure and determine what changes need to be made to most efficiently support the vision and sustainability of our Club. Considerations: which committees are standing committees that help manage ongoing board activities; which committees can be classified as working groups, a branch of a standing committee; which committees are ad hoc, a temporary task force created to oversee a specific project or event.

We can accomplish this together! The future success of the club depends on your ideas and input, so please be a part of it. Let's make this a lively and productive meeting. Respond using the button below so that we can plan our set-up accordingly. Please contact me if you have any questions, ljhanson33@gmail.com 

Thank you!

Laurie Hanson, President

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Presented at the February 8, 2022 Member Meeting

Why 501c3?

• Despite changes to tax law (standard minimum deduction) there ARE members for whom the tax advantages of charitable giving still apply
• From an estate planning perspective, it is important
• If we want to do a capital campaign to do the much-needed improvements to our building, the 501c3 status imperative
• For companies from whom we’d seek a donation (i.e., as an auction item or raffle or door prize) it’s important that we are a 501c3. Many have guidelines that ONLY allow donation to a c3 (not a c4, even though we’re “non-profit”).

But I thought...

...we had to have 2 boards:

Only if we were to have a “foundation”

...we couldn’t because we own a building:

Because the primary income from our building is not related to our charitable cause, it is conceivable that income COULD become taxable IF it were to exceed our building expenses. Based on current projected needs for the building it is unlikely this will happen in the foreseeable future.

...we lost our status:

Yes, we did. We were perceived as more of social club than a charitable organization. Upon review of our By-laws there were a few red flags, which made that perception understandable. However, we DO give a fair amount of money and provide a high enough level of community service that we would qualify as a c3. We simply need to streamline our By-laws and do a better job of documenting the service we provide to the community.

Ok, so how do we do this?

1. Create a new corporation This means revising our Articles of Incorporation, By-laws, and Committee Structure to reflect “best practices”. This is where we are right now. Provides us with the opportunity to streamline our practices and procedures In the end we will have the formal bylaws, which are filed with the IRS, and operating guidelines, which are our internal use for things like rental policies, social meetings Creates a sustainable structure for our future
2. Members vote to adopt new 501c3 corporation – we can then file with the IRS
3. Members vote to recommend dissolving the 501c4 in favor of a 501c3 structure
4. Board votes to transfer assets to the new corporation

Steps 2, 3 & 4 can all happen at the same meeting

TIMELINE

Membership Meetings - All are welcome!

✅•February 8, 2022 – Why 501c3 presented at General Member Mtg

✅•February 16, 7:00 PM - Workshop (1 of 3)

✅•February 23, 7:00 PM - Workshop (2 of 3)

•March 2, 7:00 PM - Workshop (3 of 3)

•March 8, 6:30 PM

– Member Evening Meeting: Continue 501c3 discussion (review committee structure, work on policy guidelines, such as lunch meetings, rental policies, infrastructure)

•April 5, 11:30 AM

– Member Lunch Meeting: Continue 501c3 discussion

•May 10, 11:30 AM

– Member Annual Meeting: Member vote on 501c3