I can provide some additional information on the time line and costs to become a 501(c)3. The steps for the process were provided in my 10-11-2003 post in this thread. You can probably get this done a bit faster but this was our experience: Applied for EIN from IRS on 7/31/03 for $35. Got our original charter of incorporation from Missouri on 9/1/03 for $25. (It sounds like this varies widely from state to state.) Submitted our form 1023 to IRS on 10/28/03 for $500. The IRS asked us to make some modifications to our bylaws and our Missouri articles of incorporation. Submitted for an amended articles of incorporation to Missouri on 12/29/03 for $10. Received our IRS ruling letter in March of 2004.
The IRS was very concerned about the distribution of the organization's assets upon dissolution of the organization. They gave us the paragraph to include in our bylaws and articles of incorporation.
Our bylaws, ruling letter and state charter can be found on our website at
www.rivercityrobots.org. Click on ABOUT and you will see some the links to these documents on the right side of the screen.
Insurance is still an open issue with our organization. It would be nice to hear from other 501(c)3's on this subject. We are not affiliated with any school or other agency. We are just a regional team taking students from any school in the county. We could not convince our local schools to have a team or even to recognize our team so we have no insurance shirttails to ride.
If I can provide any additional information you can post here or e-mail me at
rivercityrobots@hotmail.com