...it may be a semantics thing, but I believe that anyone can claim their
organization is non-profit (and hopefully their accounting would show that).
However to have "tax deductible status" is another thing... That requires
being recognized and listed as a 501c non profit corp. by the Government.
("401" I believe is for retirement savings :-)Once they have been approved and recognized by the USA government (and the IRS) , a procedure that can take a couple years for most small entities, they can then give receipts for donations and the reciepts will be accepted for tax deduction purposes. Most people will require that you be recognized by the government before they believe you are a legitimate non- profit and subsequently give you grants or donations. Not only do you ave to jump a bunch of hurdles to become recognized by the government, but you also have to continue with certain guidelines and are open to audits to verify that indeed you are following procedures. However just be aware, that its a fuzzy line regarding what percentage of monies taken in are used for what. I dont recall off the top of my head, and please correct me if Im mistaken, but you can have a very considerable percentage of donations used for "administration" (I want to say 40% ?) and still be classified as a NPO. My org uses less than 3% for admin, so I didnt become an expert on the limit :-) Also paying for outside services if they are within your mission statement could be allowed, hence providing a mechanism to channel monies almost anywhere you want, within reason. Example; if your mission is to expand the teaching of demeter, then hiring speakers to do so would probaly be acceptible. hope this was useful bob SLF >. Can one claim > nonprofit status unless they are "certified" as such by the government? >
