Guest guest Posted July 21, 2000 Report Share Posted July 21, 2000 Greetings everybody. (Much of this discussion is specific to tax law in the United States. Apologies to our non-American readers). Lori and mentioned starting up a non-profit to help babies with clubfoot get treated with the Ponseti Method. I've been doing quite a bit of research on this topic. The mechanics of creating a non-profit are somewhat tricky and time consuming, but the problems are not insurmountable. Normally, it takes several months for a non-profit to get approved by the IRS. But a way to start a non-profit in (theoretically) only a few weeks is to find a " fiscal sponsor. " This is an existing non-profit which would be willing to take you under their wing and operate as a committee under them until you're ready to go on your own. The fiscal sponsor must be approved for an activity similar to what your groups activity is. For example, the local theater group couldn't sponsor a group who pays for clubfoot surgeries. The fiscal sponsor would have to be medically related. For example, here in Champaign/Urbana Illinois we have the Frances Health Center, which provides free and reduced cost medical care. One of the local hospitals is also a (gigantic) non-profit; hmmm, the executive director is a friend of a friend.... (but then, we would be taking business away from his hospital). The fiscal sponsor would take any donations, and then divy up the funds to the sponsored agency, after taking their cut. For an independent 501©(3), there are some additional restrictions placed specifically on organizations which provide assistance for medical problems, but the restrictions are not onerous. There seem to be some restrictions in some states about having board members who are also staff of the agency. Furthermore, I think a medical advisory board would be a good idea (made up of qualified orthopedic doctors and maybe insurance experts), but I don't know if there would be some sort of conflict of interest since we would send patients to the same doctors who are on the advisory board. Anyway, these are just some items to consider. The idea certainly seems doable. The next question is: does anybody have a source of funding in mind to get this thing off of the ground? How serious are you all about this? If a funding commitment can be identified, I would suggest identifying some potential fiscal sponsors. My nominees are the Frances Health Center and the Carle Foundation (the hospital I mentioned). I'll try calling somebody at the local United Way for their recommendations. Sample fiscal sponsor contracts are available on the web, so we can even cheap out on lawyer expenses :-) Have a wonderful weekend, y'all. Masoner, enjoying the mild weather here in the Midwest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 25, 2000 Report Share Posted July 25, 2000 , My husband is an attorney. He has set up this type of non-profit before. He agrees that some of the forms could be found on the internet and then make changes from there. The thing that he said to be careful about is that many people think that all non-profits are 501©3. This is not true. Once a non-profit corp is set up then there are filings to be made with the IRS to become tax exempt. He might be willing to provide some guidance in this area. These things are always a bit tricky. It's wise to have someone who knows what they are doing lead the way. Let me know if there is anything I can do. > starting up a non-profit > > Greetings everybody. > > (Much of this discussion is specific to tax law in the United States. > Apologies to our non-American readers). > > Lori and mentioned starting up a non-profit to help babies with > clubfoot get treated with the Ponseti Method. > > I've been doing quite a bit of research on this topic. The mechanics > of creating a non-profit are somewhat tricky and time consuming, but the > problems are not insurmountable. > > Normally, it takes several months for a non-profit to get approved by > the IRS. But a way to start a non-profit in (theoretically) only a few > weeks is to find a " fiscal sponsor. " This is an existing non-profit > which would be willing to take you under their wing and operate as a > committee under them until you're ready to go on your own. The fiscal > sponsor must be approved for an activity similar to what your groups > activity is. For example, the local theater group couldn't sponsor a > group who pays for clubfoot surgeries. The fiscal sponsor would have > to be medically related. For example, here in Champaign/Urbana > Illinois we have the Frances Health Center, which provides free > and reduced cost medical care. One of the local hospitals is also a > (gigantic) non-profit; hmmm, the executive director is a friend of a > friend.... (but then, we would be taking business away from his > hospital). > > The fiscal sponsor would take any donations, and then divy up the > funds to the sponsored agency, after taking their cut. > > For an independent 501©(3), there are some additional restrictions > placed specifically on organizations which provide assistance for > medical problems, but the restrictions are not onerous. > > There seem to be some restrictions in some states about having board > members who are also staff of the agency. Furthermore, I think a > medical advisory board would be a good idea (made up of qualified > orthopedic doctors and maybe insurance experts), but I don't know if > there would be some sort of conflict of interest since we would send > patients to the same doctors who are on the advisory board. > > Anyway, these are just some items to consider. The idea certainly > seems doable. The next question is: does anybody have a source of > funding in mind to get this thing off of the ground? How serious are > you all about this? > > If a funding commitment can be identified, I would suggest identifying > some potential fiscal sponsors. My nominees are the Frances > Health Center and the Carle Foundation (the hospital I mentioned). > I'll try calling somebody at the local United Way for their > recommendations. Sample fiscal sponsor contracts are available on > the web, so we can even cheap out on lawyer expenses :-) > > Have a wonderful weekend, y'all. > > Masoner, enjoying the mild weather here in the Midwest. > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Life's too short to send boring email. Let SuperSig come to the rescue. > http://click./1/6809/4/_/675489/_/964241907/ > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 28, 2000 Report Share Posted July 28, 2000 Re: starting up a non-profit > I am not sure about your positions that " the mechanics > of creating a non-profit are somewhat tricky and time consuming " and > that " normally, it takes several months for a non-profit to get > approved by the IRS " but that " a way to start a non-profit in > (theoretically) only a few weeks is to find a " fiscal sponsor. " I am > a trained tax attorney who has only worked on establishing one Non- > profit corporation, but it's been a while. I could look into these > issues as well as the desirability of being associated with a " fiscal > sponsor. " I would like to offer my services in helping establish a > non-profit if that is in fact what you all agree to do. I am licensed > in Florida and could easily file the Articles of Incorporation here > and work on the appropriate IRS documentation. > > Let me know what you think. > > Lorna > > > Greetings everybody. > > > > (Much of this discussion is specific to tax law in the United > States. > > Apologies to our non-American readers). > > > > Lori and mentioned starting up a non-profit to help babies > with > > clubfoot get treated with the Ponseti Method. > > > > I've been doing quite a bit of research on this topic. The > mechanics > > of creating a non-profit are somewhat tricky and time consuming, > but the > > problems are not insurmountable. > > > > Normally, it takes several months for a non-profit to get approved > by > > the IRS. But a way to start a non-profit in (theoretically) only a > few > > weeks is to find a " fiscal sponsor. " This is an existing non-profit > > which would be willing to take you under their wing and operate as a > > committee under them until you're ready to go on your own. The > fiscal > > sponsor must be approved for an activity similar to what your groups > > activity is. For example, the local theater group couldn't sponsor > a > > group who pays for clubfoot surgeries. The fiscal sponsor would > have > > to be medically related. For example, here in Champaign/Urbana > > Illinois we have the Frances Health Center, which provides > free > > and reduced cost medical care. One of the local hospitals is also a > > (gigantic) non-profit; hmmm, the executive director is a friend of a > > friend.... (but then, we would be taking business away from his > > hospital). > > > > The fiscal sponsor would take any donations, and then divy up the > > funds to the sponsored agency, after taking their cut. > > > > For an independent 501©(3), there are some additional restrictions > > placed specifically on organizations which provide assistance for > > medical problems, but the restrictions are not onerous. > > > > There seem to be some restrictions in some states about having board > > members who are also staff of the agency. Furthermore, I think a > > medical advisory board would be a good idea (made up of qualified > > orthopedic doctors and maybe insurance experts), but I don't know if > > there would be some sort of conflict of interest since we would send > > patients to the same doctors who are on the advisory board. > > > > Anyway, these are just some items to consider. The idea certainly > > seems doable. The next question is: does anybody have a source of > > funding in mind to get this thing off of the ground? How serious > are > > you all about this? > > > > If a funding commitment can be identified, I would suggest > identifying > > some potential fiscal sponsors. My nominees are the Frances > > Health Center and the Carle Foundation (the hospital I mentioned). > > I'll try calling somebody at the local United Way for their > > recommendations. Sample fiscal sponsor contracts are available on > > the web, so we can even cheap out on lawyer expenses :-) > > > > Have a wonderful weekend, y'all. > > > > Masoner, enjoying the mild weather here in the Midwest. > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.