Quote Originally Posted by Nokomis View Post
We're in the process of incorporating as well.

Irulan - are you an officer in your club? I'm curious about the decision and workload connected with 501(c)3 status.. on first analysis we found that to be a poor fit four our club, but I'm curious to get some working examples to better understand the choice.
I was just elected for a third term of president.
Our club is focused on advocacy and trail building. Translate that to needing grants to fund stuff. You really can't apply for grant funding unless you have a 501(c)3. We had potential corporate sponsors telling us, "what, no 501? Bye".

The 501 application is a pain in the butt. It's your typical IRS form with 100 pages of instructions for a 10 page application. It requires a set of bylaws, a copy of the state incorporation, other things. We got in when the fee was $150, it's since gone up to $400 I think. The process is lengthy: once they get your application, you get a letter acknowledging that your have applied, it can take up to year+ to get approval. The designation is retroactive for 48 months tho. AFAIK we do not have to reapply every year with the state.

Since then, IMBA ( our national affiliate) has initiated a "chapter " program which will enable clubs to use their 501 instead of having to apply for their own. I wish that had been available sooner but oh well.

Having the 501 not-for-profit has really legitimized our organization. People (read: authorities, land managers) take us seriously when they know we have that designation.

In the last two years we've gotten four grants:
$2200 Conservation ( tool ) grant from REI
$1000 Kona Free ride Grant
Non monetary RTCA grant from the National Park Service
Software grant from ESRI to get ArcGIS for $100 ( retails for $2500)

Our group -
www.fttrc.org

hope this helps.