We did this a few years ago. While I was not too involved in the process, I do know that it has a number of benefits.
We went through a community foundation, which handles all of the paperwork and bookkeeping, etc. If there is something like that near you, I would highly recommend it. It really takes all the stress out of the equation and lets you keep focus on robots and community-building (and sleep, if you're in to that).
Here is the link to the Greater Morgantown Community Trust (
http://www.ycfwv.org/index.php). While you obviously would not be able to go through them, this gives you an idea about what kind of organization I'm talking about.
Also, we have a number of resources and experienced business people with our program, and we love to help! I can get you in contact with other people from MARS that are a lot more knowledgable than I am. Just PM me if you are interested!