This information can appear very daunting and the legal implications can seem very overwhelming.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Below is a list of questions that you and your core group of supporters should ask yourselves before undertaking the task of becoming a legal nonprofit church.\u00a0 Remember that you can and will continue with your unique spiritual work in the world whether you become a legal nonprofit organization or not.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The question remains, should your organization join Temple of the Goddess Association as an affiliate temple and become a legal nonprofit religious corporation?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
While there is no definitive checklist that will produce a conclusive yes or no answer, the following questions may give your group an indication of which way to go.<\/p>\n
Has your group been growing more than you originally thought or planned?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Are you beginning to receive more donations (either in cash or as donated items) over time as you conduct your activity?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Would you prefer not to report these donations as personal income?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Would you like to receive a tax deduction for the donations your members or you personally contribute to the nonprofit activity?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Would the majority of your donors feel more comfortable knowing that there is an accountability of funds?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
If your personal funding for the activity were becoming limited, would you like to be able to solicit donations from the public?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
While you or your members may still continue to fund a major portion of the activity with your own donations, do you think you can generate at least one third of each year’s total donations from the general public?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Are you willing to spend some time in fundraising activities, asking people for donations?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Would you prefer to purchase items at a discount and not have to pay sales tax?\u00a0 Or even get\u00a0 items donated free of cost from local merchants?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Do you think the nature of your activity would appeal to foundations or local businesses that make grants to community service organizations?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Are you or someone you know willing to spend time on financial and other record keeping?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Do you have a few trusted members, friends or colleagues that might serve on a Board of Directors?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Are you willing to give up some degree of control of your activities to that Board of Directors?<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Do you have enough committed core volunteers to help sustain the activities of your organization as well as take on the responsibilities of becoming a legal corporation?<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Are you comfortable with the fact that as a 501(c) (3) organization, the financial affairs of the organization are open for public scrutiny?<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
If most of the answers to these questions are no, then taking the steps to acquire a 501(c)(3) either individually or under Temple of the Goddess\u2019 Group Tax exemption may not be right for you and your group at this time.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Conversely, if most of the answers are yes, then it is a strong indicator that your organization may be ready to take the next step.\u00a0\u00a0 Remember there are several ways your group can do this.\u00a0 You can become a 501(c)(3) church or nonprofit on your own or you can qualify for tax exempt status by acquiring \u201cExemption Through a Central\/Parent Organization\u201d as discussed in this section.\u00a0 This can be done either through Temple of the Goddess or through another nonprofit entity which is the parent organization and is a holder of a\u00a0\u201cgroup ruling<\/i>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This information can appear very daunting and the legal implications can seem very overwhelming.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Below is a list of questions that you and your core group of supporters should ask yourselves before undertaking the task of becoming a legal nonprofit church.\u00a0 Remember that you can and will continue with your unique spiritual work in the world whether you become a legal nonprofit organization or not.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The question remains, should your organization join Temple of the Goddess Association as an affiliate temple and become a legal nonprofit religious …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-148","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.templeofthegoddess.org\/temple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.templeofthegoddess.org\/temple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.templeofthegoddess.org\/temple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.templeofthegoddess.org\/temple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.templeofthegoddess.org\/temple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.templeofthegoddess.org\/temple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/148\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":428,"href":"http:\/\/www.templeofthegoddess.org\/temple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/148\/revisions\/428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.templeofthegoddess.org\/temple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}