Help Needed with Non-profit Status

From: William Donzelli <aw288_at_osfn.org>
Date: Mon Dec 2 15:10:00 2002

> In the second warehouse I have office space that is enclosed that I setup as
> small museum area that can be shown by appointment and before I filled the
> warehouse I could give a small group(2 to 3 people) tours of the warehouse
> (no insurance to cover large groups). I used to give presentations at the
> local middle and high schools in the TwinCities (MN). My needs right now are
> for a permanent place for the collection (rents went up again) and to get
> some funding to help with the expenses. If I meet these two goals then I
> will be able to open to the public with regular hours.

Not to discourage you or anything, but...

What you are trying to do is quite legal (although you will need to get
some officers (3 or 4)), but is basically very dangerous. There is
nothing wrong with starting a computer museum - hey, I have been trying
to get folks to do this for several years - but do not try to turn a
personal collection into a tax shelter. Doing so raises a big red flag
for the IRS, and they can nail you in a serious way. The only way to survive
once the IRS starts to look into your personal museum is to show them
that you have followed every rule _to_the_letter_, something that almost
nobody does.

If you are going to do this (and please do), get some others to help you
out by sharing the "fun" or incorporation, being officers, coming to
meetings, and so forth.

William Donzelli
aw288_at_osfn.org
Received on Mon Dec 02 2002 - 15:10:00 GMT