| IRS Forms IRS - EIN Application 501c2 Status Application Form 8717 State Forms State of Louisiana Articles of Corp - nonprofit |
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| SHELBY COUNTY ARES See how they raised the funds for their equipment. |
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To accomplish many of the tactics that is required to succeed in amateur radio the first thought that comes to mind is a 501{c}{3} from the IRS.This is really very easy to optain with just a small amount of effort just reading the forms that are needed to be filled out.{Attached are both the forms in .pdf that are required} From form 8718 you can see that most groups can apply for $150. If everything goes threw ok with the IRS, then this will get you a temporary 501{c}{3} for the first 5 years. After this, a form 990 will be needed to be filled out and from this the IRS | |
| will determine if you will get a permanent
501{c}{3}. The form 990 doesn't cost anything, but has to be sent in. The IRS
will determine from this if you have recieved support from the community and once they
determine you have, they will issue you a permanent501{c}{3} number as long as you stay
within the limits of a non-profit. Depending on where you live, it may or may not be neccessary to have a 501{c}{3} to do fundraising. Most generally you won't be required, but it helps in many cases. A lot of times, the tax break that the person or corporation may be intitled to may make the difference. Our group has done many different fundraisers over the years and some where more successful then others. But just because there may not be a over abundent of cash at the end of the fundraiser, doesn't mean that it wasn't worth it. The Public Relations that we get is sometimes worth more then the cash recieved. By this I mean that later on down the line when we start another project to purchase something or make a repair, there normally turns up the person that remembers us from before, or has heard of our group. The better your PR is with your community, the better the fundraisers go. Decideding what fundraiser you want to do, really depends on the amount of cash that is needed to support the intended project. From here I will cover some of the fundraisers that we have done and the projects that they covered. 1. Raffle: Go to area businesses and ask them for a small gift, discount card, or cash. Set a goal to put 40 items on a raffle card and sell them for $1ea or 6 for $5. This is definetely a team effort, but there can be fantastic rewards. 2. Hog Raffle: This is quick and easy. Go to your nearest butcher shop and find out what 2 - 1/2 hogs will cost you. Then sell the tickets for the same as the above raffle and will sell tickets quick. 3. Country Concert: It's possible to make a great deal of money if you don't mind hiring tele-marketers. Yes, they are a pain when they call, but if you hire good people, they do work. If they are good enough for the law enforcement the several times a year they call me, they are good enough for us. For emergency services people are very eager to help out. They normally will pay for the tickets and not come to the concert. But give them the option to donate the tickets to less fortunate children in your area, and then be sure and visit your local United Way, Red Cross or who can put you in touch with making sure that the kids in your area get the tickets and its all for a great cause. This normally takes about 6 months of prep. work until it's time for the concert. You may even get lucky and get a band that will work for free. 4. My favorite, when you want or need something, don't be afraid to ask for it. If your group if interested in a Communications Unit, look at what you can afford once you have it. If you can afford the insurance, maybe something with a motor. If only a small amount of insurance and upkeep, how about a cargo trailer. There are tons of rescue squads that are being taken out of service every day. Don't be afraid to approach a group retireing one and you might be surprised that they may just give it to you. Most would rather see the unit kept in a emergency service organization then be turned into a repair truck. We will be posting pictures of a rescue squad turned communications unit soon. Once our group ask for one, they where happy to donate it to us, then in 3 years, another one became available from a different rescue unit, they just came to us and said that they would rather us have it then sell it. So we donated our old one to a ARES group the next county over that was just forming and they had something to work with. Don't forget your neighbors. 73, Scott W8JSG http://www.bright.net/~scares/ |
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