Hello,
The easiest way to incorporate in Washington is to get the minimum number
of people, I think 5, and then just fill out the online form.
To get 501(c)(3) if an organization has been registered for three years
without failing the yearly report or having members go wild, then the bar
to get non-profit status is greatly lowered.
If I were to propose a route going forward, it would be this:
1. As soon as three supporters are identified, send an email requesting
usergroup status. There is really no review process for this and it is just
something that is granted on request. The group's history far exceeds
expectations of applicants.
2. If five supporters can be identified to sign on to incorporate, apply
as a non-profit organization and operate indefinitely with no budget and
few projects. Have the work of the chapter be endorsement of
community-organized events, and possibly oversight of coffee funding which
is accepted not by the chapter but by an individual organizer if funds are
ever needed at all.
3. If five people either want non-profit status and wish to pay $2500 or
seek pro bono filing, then they could do that. Otherwise if the five
supporters just wait three years after filing the price and complexity goes
way down and they could do the paperwork themselves. Otherwise, the
organization could persist indefinitely without nonprofit status and so
long as it never touched money there would be no concerns.
The major reason for incorporating in my opinion is getting and managing
funding for coffee and pizza 2-3 times a year for meetups. Being able to
fund coffee and pizza greatly increases the ability to have partnerships
with other nonprofit groups and volunteer communities, and managing the
reporting of receipts for pizza meetups throughout a single year is the
gold standard for proving at the entry level that the management of a new
organization is not crazy.
yours,
On Wed, May 28, 2014 at 4:01 AM, ENWP Pine <deyntestiss(a)hotmail.com> wrote:
Yes, I can be a group contact.
I agree that chapter status is a ways off. I am mostly thinking about the
liability protection we would get from incorporating along with the
eventual benefits of 501(c)(3). Bylaws to start can be simple. If the user
group evolves into an organization that accepts grants, runs programs, and
so on, we can evolve the governance accordingly.
I have a little experience with these issues. I may be able to connect us
with law students or attorneys who can help at reduced or no cost if
needed. Fortunately, as as an incipient organization with no money, our
needs are simple. Hopefully the organization will grow. (:
There seem to be many mission-aligned user groups and organizations in the
Seattle area, and it sounds like our Portland friends are experiencing
success with events, so this is a good start. (:
Pine
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 26 May 2014 09:45:49 -0700
From: anotherbelieverwp(a)gmail.com
To: wikimedia-cascadia(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Subject: Re: [Wikimedia Cascadia] Cascadia page on Meta, and organizing
ourselves
Glad to see interest in formal organization. Perhaps we can continue this
conversation at Meta?
I, too, think we could have a successful application to obtain user group
status. This would mean official recognition from the Wikimedia Foundation,
provides funding opportunities, and is a step towards chapter status.
Before we worry about bylaws, etc., I think we should focus on user group
recognition.
Pine, Mako, would you two be interested in being co-contacts for the
Wikimedia Cascadia user group? I can be one, too, which makes three
already. I had hoped to get some people together for an in-person Cascadia
meetup at the upcoming WikiConference USA, perhaps for the purpose of
putting together a user group plan. Perhaps this is easier to do remotely
since there is already interest.
Jason
On Sun, May 25, 2014 at 5:25 PM, ENWP Pine <deyntestiss(a)hotmail.com>wrote;wrote:
I may have some time in the next few weeks to get us more organized on
Meta. Becoming a user group looks relatively lightweight and I think we
would qualify if we put in an application. Of course, anyone else who wants
to curate the Meta pages and submit a user group application can do so!
If we start to do regular business, especially with people outside the
immediate Wikimedia volunteer community or if we start to accept grant
money, I think we should incorporate for liability protection and tax
reporting reasons. Being an unincorporated nonprofit association that gets
sued, such as because someone in our group made a copyright violation,
would be bad. Also, incorporation may provide us more ability to get grants
and in-kind contributions especially if we qualify for 501(c)(3).
Incorporation is not difficult but it involves some time for applications
to be created and processed. What gets tricky is selecting board members,
drafting bylaws, and doing other necessary administrative work beyond the
capacity of volunteers, so we'll need to think about that when the time
comes. We are small enough now that all active participants could be board
members, but if we scale to 30 members we will likely need an elected
board. That is a good problem to have, and the Affiliations Committee can
provide guidance for us throughout the organizing process.
http://nonprofit.about.com/od/faqsthebasics/f/unincorporationassociation.htm
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affcom
Pine
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user:bluerasberry on Wikipedia
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