On 11/24/2016 11:47 AM, Bryan Richter wrote: > On Thu, Nov 24, 2016 at 08:10:47AM -0500, Stephen Michel wrote: >> >> On November 24, 2016 4:52:08 AM EST, mray wrote: >>> >>> Unrelated to the above we may want to note that we are a non-profit >>> coop. It can be a short mention but it would adds a lot to the >>> credibility. - Maybe even set that straight right from the start so >>> it does suppress peoples thoughts about our "business model" behind >>> all this while they watch? Or put it in the end and together with >>> naming our name and slogan? >> >> No opinion. > > We can't do this, because we aren't a non-profit, nor are we a co-op. > Those are outstanding goals. And after talking to an expert at SeaGL, > I sort of get the feeling they require a lot of rework to become > achievable.
I agree with the concern, but you seem to be misunderstanding the legal status. We are incorporated as a non-profit in the state of Michigan currently. Whether we reincorporate or otherwise deal with our situation in other regards is a challenging issue. To some extent, we have OSI as a fiscal sponsor, but that's complex. But please be completely clear: 501(c)(3) is not the definition of "non-profit". Non-profit is a STATE-level designation, and we did indeed file Articles under that designation. But since we're still forming, our status is in a legally uncomfortable situation to be clear. We need to finalize our structure and get legal help on getting it all in place. Are we a co-op? Well, we did file articles expressing our intention and our name as a co-op. Do we operate as a co-op? Sorta not really in that we don't have our bylaws in place. That doesn't make us a non-co-op in that we are something other than a co-op. We are a co-op in progress, a group of volunteers and contractors working on building a co-op. The legally safe wording is stuff like "we're building a non-profit co-op" as opposed to "we are a non-profit co-op". There's no RE-work to achieve our legal goals, there's just WORK because we didn't put in place anything bad that sets us up against these goals, we are just lacking having the necessary things fully in place, period.
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