[aklug] Re: How to Make a Contribution to AKLUG

Quoting Lee <lee@afabco.com>:

> I did a bit of the research when AKLUG formalized. Mike Tibor is
> correct. It has been
> quite a while so forgive the poor recollection, but iirc there were a
> few reasons:
>
> 1. An attempt to get the 501c3 status which has tax advantages,
> especially for
> contributors. (I don't think this ever panned out).
>

Correct, that was never accomplished and to this point, there is no one
trying to make that happen.

> 2. There were opportunities for contributions from organizations,
> both monetary and
> equipment but their own internal rules say they can deal only with
> legally recognized
> entities of certain types.

My understanding was that they would only contribute if there was 501c3
status. If that's true then in our current state, we still won't get
any money from these organizations.

>
> 3. Several functions such as (I think) the IT Fair at the Egan
> required that groups
> have some sort of formal 'organizational' status.

This wasn't true when I was President the first time...however, it is
quite possible it is true now. However, last year, we didn't make an
appearance due to lack of volunteers.

>
> 4. In some cases, it just made things easier for one legal
> organization to interact
> with another legal organization (e.g. I think there was talk of a BP
> contact at one
> point).

If we really want legal status, we could join up with NUGA. On
numerous occasions, they have invited us to be a part of their
organization.

>
> There were probably some other reasons as well.

It's possible there aren't any other reasons....at least that are as
compelling as the ones above.

>
> Now, whether any of the percieved benefits actually materialized is a
> different
> question, and I cannot address those.
>

At this point, I'm not aware of any situation where our official
organization status has made a difference for us as a group. Maybe
Greg, Fielder, Jim or others can speak to that.

> Now I am not an active member so I don't think it is appropriate for
> me to participate
> in organizational discussions. However in this case I perhaps had
> some information
> that could illuminate a bit.

Lee, your input has always been valuable...please keep participating
any way you can.

>
> That aside, let me say this. Although I am not an active member, I
> still support
> aklug. I still derive benefit from the organization. And I do (and
> will) support the
> organization with financial contributions.

We appreciate this and again encourage you to keep participating any
way you can.

It would be nice if the others involved in getting us organizational
status would share some of their thoughts as well.

Mike B.

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Received on Mon Jan 28 22:37:39 2008