Paperwork

[bjarvis]

I've spent the past couple of evenings working on the application to the IRS for 501(c)(3) status for DC Diamond Circulate, the corporation we've formed to host the 2009 IAGSDC square dance convention in Washington, DC. If the application is successful, not only will DCDC not have to pay income tax but we will be able to give tax-deductible receipts to donors and be eligible to receive grants from most foundations & organizations.

Of course, nothing this useful is ever easy. In order to proceed, I have had to prepare:

• a conflict of interest policy for the board members;
  
• a form for declaring potential conflicts of interest;
  
• a description of program to provide goods, services to individuals;
  
• a description of program to provide goods, services to groups;
  
• officer qualifications, job descriptions, etc.;
  
• descriptions of fund-raising programs;
  
• a list of states, jurisdictions in which we are fund-raising;
  
• a draft budget for the current and next two years; and,
  
• a draft balance sheet for the rest of this year.
  

At least I already had the articles of incorporation and by-laws on hand.

It's times like this I remember that I really don't particularly like filing forms and writing grant proposals. The sad part is that I'm actually pretty good at it. Go figure. At least the home stretch on this particular draft is in sight... I just need feedback from various other committee members on the drafts created thus far.

Going to sleep now...

Comments

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

There is indeed a Canadian equivalent, but I've never had to process the paperwork for such so I can't say how painful it might be. The basic guidelines for obtaining charity status in Canada are here (http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tax/charities/policy/cps/cps-024-e.html). The PDF form is here (http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/t2050/t2050-01e.pdf).

At a glance, the US and Canadian documentation is largely the same: copies of the incorporation articles, by-laws, lists of board officers/directors/trustees, recent profit & loss statements, current balance sheets, statement of purpose with documentation demonstrating its implementation, minimal involvement in politics, etc..