discuss: Volunteer Match affiliation
Subject:
Re: [discuss] Volunteer Match affiliation
From:
Rick Moen ####@####.####
Date:
29 Oct 2008 08:48:26 +0000
Message-Id: <20081029084732.GC30358@linuxmafia.com>
Quoting Jean-Daniel Dodin ####@####.####
> I try to have us affilited by VolunteerMatch, and it seems we a going
> forward.
David Lawyer knows quite a bit about that, so you should confer with
him. Here's text from VolunteerMatch Help, item "Can My Organization
Join VolunteerMatch?":
VolunteerMatch encourages all community service organizations to
register on our site. The following organizations are welcome to join
the VolunteerMatch community:
1. Organizations with 501(c) tax exempt status
2. Government entities within the United States, including public
schools and libraries
3. Organizations with state-level tax exemption
4. Organizations fiscally sponsored by another organization with 501(c)
status
5. Registered political campaigns
6. For-profit hospices, hospitals, long-term care facilities and schools
Organizations located outside of the US are welcome to register and post
opportunities on VolunteerMatch. As we do not offer a formal
international program, opportunities outside of the US will only be
visible to a small percentage of VolunteerMatch users.
Organisations will, as a practical matter for dealing with the
VolunteerMatch online forms, almost certainly need to register their
existence with the USA Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in order to get an
Employer Identification Number (EIN), because VolunteerMatch appears to
insist that you provide an EIN to register your organisation.
Because it's not apparent to laymen (I used to do accounting and finance
work, many years ago), I'll explain the term "501(c)". That's part of
the section of the United States Code (the code of Federal primary law)
that established the IRS: Title 26 of the US Code is the "Internal
Revenue Code. Within that title, section 501, paragraph c (written "26
U.S.C. 501(c)") is where non-profit organisations are defined.[1]
There are quite a few sub-categories of 501(c) non-profts -- 28 of them,
in fact. The best-known are:
501(c)(3): Charities operated exclusively for religious, charitable,
scientific, literary, educational (etc.) purposes --
classic charities. (There are very stringent restrictions
on what this class of group is permitted to do, and the
groups must also be incoporated before IRS will grant this
status.)
501(c)(7): Recreation or social groups
501(c)(6): Business leagues and guilds.
501(c)(4): Civic and social-welfare groups.
501(c)(8): Fraternal societies that pay for members' care.
501(c)(10): Fraternal societies that don't.
All 501(c) organisations are exempt from USA Federal income taxes
(though, unless your group is earning a substantial amount of revenue,
IRS simply doesn't care and won't go after it for income taxes).
Applying for IRS recognition of one's nonprofit group's 501(c)-whatever
tax-exempt status is, itself, pretty expensive and there's typically
many months of delay before you get your "determination letter".
> I'm in relation with them by mail. On the registration form, I gave
> the UNC adress (in the "physical location"), but of course explained
> what we are. even proposed to affiliate from my own (french) LUG.
>
> and I received this:
>
> "Hi Jean-Daniel,
>
> If you are affiliated with UNC Chapel Hill, provide documentation and
> we can get you approved.
>
> Regards,
> Dee
> The VolunteerMatch Team"
I'm just guessing that tney're assuming you're going to try to qualify
on the basis of UNC having 501(c) tax-exempt status. I'm pretty sure
the UNC is 501(c)(3).
But I'm pretty sure LDP is not "affiliated" in the sense VolunteerMatch
is going to require for that sort of membership.
[1] Please see also http://tldp.org/HOWTO/User-Group-HOWTO-7.html#ss7.1,
subhead "United States of America".
