Some BC groups (California, Austin) have gone non-profit, or plan to (Portland), in part (although by no means limited to this) to ease/erase some of the headaches/hassles of their local CSTS events.

Anyone who has done this already, or who is planning to do so, have any observations to make or questions to ask?

I am the Chairman of the Austin Browncoats, A Non-Profit Corporation - anyone with specific questions about the process - feel free to email me. (Although some parts vary based on state).

We went the NPO route because we are interested in hosting more charity based events on an individual city level, as well as participating in events like CSTS. Tax-Exempt status has its benefits, the primary one being that we can give receipts to our sponsors/donors for tax purposes. That makes things much easier for everyone involved.

EDIT: If you are interested in doing this, I'd recommend getting your state-based paperwork in ASAP, because that part is easy (quick). The IRS (national) paperwork is more detailed, requires a larger amount of filing money and takes a LONG time to process.

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www.austinbrowncoats.com - visit, laugh, love, frolic.

The Southeastern Browncoats are a 501(c)3. Serenity Richards is their fearless leader. She said at Dragon*Con that she would be happy to answer questions too. They aren't part of CSTS, though, so you'll have to contact them through their website.

www.southeasternbrowncoats.com

serenity@southeasternbrowncoats.com

For those groups that are NPO's, I have a question: What (if any) are the legal issues surrounding being both an NPO with a fundraising mission -and- a social fan group, using the same name?

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www.austinbrowncoats.com - visit, laugh, love, frolic.