1. Obtained an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS by completing federal form SS4.
2. Set up a bank account.
3. Once we got our EIN back from the IRS, we incorporated in Maryland by filing our constitution with the state and having them vertify it.
4. Once our Articles of Incorporation (this is what the State of Maryland calls it; we call it our Constitution) were accepted by the state, we filed for 501(c)(3) status with the IRS by filling out Form 1023 and sent it and the $150 filing fee to the IRS. Check out Publication 557 for a full explanation.

The NAAA's Constitution was submitted as our Articles of Incorporation to the State of Maryland and accepted on August 13, 1999. If we wish to change the address of the principal office of the NAAA or the name and/or address of the resident agent (see description below), the current resident agent and the Vice President of Operations must fill out and sign Resolution to Change Resident Agent.

We submitted Form 1023, Application for Recognition of Exemption Under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Technically speaking, we are a public charity (and not a private foundation) under Sections 509(a)(1) and 170(b)(1)(A)(vi). This means that we receive a substantial part of our support in the form of contributions from publicly supported organizations, from a governmental unit, or from the general public. Our request was officially recognized by the IRS on January 21, 2000. That is our "ruling date." However, our deductibility date goes back to 1997, when we were first incorporated.

For us to qualify for exempt status, the organizing document must specify (which it does) that the organization is organized exclusively for, and will be operated exclusively for, one or more of the purposes given in section 501(c)(3).

Our organizing document must also contain (which it does) a proper dissolution clause, or state law must provide for distribution of assets for one or more section 501(c)(3) purposes upon dissolution.

No part of the organization's net earnings will inure to the benefit of private shareholders or individuals. We must establish that the organization will not be organized or operated for the benefit of private interests, such as the creator or the creator's family, shareholders of the organization, other designated individuals, or persons controlled directly or indirectly by such private interests.

If required to file Form 990 or Form 990-EZ, it must be filed by the 15th day of the 5th month after the end of our accounting period, or by the 15th of February because our accounting period ends in September. If an annual information return is due while our application for recognition of exempt status is pending with the IRS (including any appeal of a proposed adverse determination), we should file at the following address:

We may use copies of Form 990 or Form 990-EZ to satisfy state reporting requirements. In FY98, we did not file a Form 990 with the IRS (because our gross receipts were not more than $25,000), but did file a personal property return with the state of Maryland.

We are not required to file federal income tax returns.

In FY98, we received Form 941, Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return in the mail. After talking with the IRS, we decided that we did not have to pay quarterly taxes because we have no employees. As the form instructed, we returned it stating that we do not have to file returns in the future along with Form 9358 which also indicated that we had no employees and therefore are not required to file.

If we fail to file a required return, we must pay a penalty of $20 a day for each day the failure continues. The same penalty will apply if the organization does not give all the information required on the return or does not give the correct information. The maximum penalty for any one return is the smaller of $10,000 or 5% of our gross receipts for the year. If we are subject to this penalty, the IRS may specify a date by which the return or correct information must be supplied. Failure to comply with this demand will result in a penalty imposed upon the manager of the organization (the President), or upon any other person responsible for filing a correct return (the Vice President of Finance).

If a donor receives something of value in return for their contribution (a common occurrence with fund-raising efforts), part of all of the contribution may not be deductible. This may apply to fund- raising activities such as charity balls, bazaars, banquets, auctions, concerts, athletic events, and solicitations for membership or contributions when merchandise or benefits are given in return for payment of a specified minimum contribution.

If the donor receives or expects to receive goods or services in return for a contribution to our organization, the donor cannot deduct any part of the contribution unless the donor intends to, and does, make a payment greater than the fair market value of the goods or services. If a deduction is allowed, the donor can deduct only the part of the contribution, if any, that is more than the fair market value of the goods or services received. We should determine in advance the fair market value of any goods or services to be given to contributors and tell them when you publicize the fund-raising event or solicit their contributions how much is deductible and how much is for the goods or services.

We must give a donor a disclosure statement for a quid pro quo contribution over $75. A quid pro quo contribution is a payment a donor makes to a charity partly as a contribution and partly for goods and services. If someone gives us $100 and receives a concert ticket values at $40, they have made a charitable contribution of $60. Even though the deductible part of the payment is not more than $75, a disclosure statement must be filed because the donor's payment (quid pro quo contribution) is more than $75.

The required written disclosure statement must inform the donor that the amount of the contribution that is deductible for federal income tax purposes is limited to the excess of any money (and the value of any property other than money) contributed by the donor over the fair market value of goods or services provided by the charity and provide the donor with a good faith estimate of the fair market value of the goods or services that the donor received. We must furnish the statement in connection with either the solicitation or the receipt of the quid pro quo contribution. If the disclosure statement is furnished in connection with a particular solicitation, it is not necessary for us to provide another statement when we actually receive the contribution. We are not required to provide a disclosure if the goods or services given to a donor have "insubstantial value," there is no donative element involved in a particular transaction with us, or the donor makes a payment of $75 or less per year and receives only annual membership benefits that consist of any rights or privileges that the taxpayer can exercise often during the membership period, such as free or discounted admissions or parking or preferred access to goods or services, or admission to events that are open only to members and the cost per person of which is within the limits for low cost articles described in Revenue Procedure 90-12 (as adjusted for inflation).

If we do not make the required disclosure of a quid pro quo contribution of more than $75, we pay a penalty of $10 per contribution, not to exceed $5,000 per fund-raising event of mailing. We can avoid the penalty if we can show that the failure was due to reasonable cause.

A donor can deduct a charitable contribution of $250 or more only if the donor has a written acknowledgement from us. The donor must get the acknowledgement by the earlier of the date the donor files the original return for the year the contribution is made or the due date, including extensions, for filing the return. The donor is responsible for requesting and obtaining the written acknowledgement from us. Although there is no prescribed format for the written acknowledgement, it must provide enough information to substantiate the amount of the contribution.

This is discussed in more detail in Publication 1391, Deductibility of Payments Made to Charities Conducting Fund-Raising Events.

As a 501(c)(3) organization, we are precluded from, and suffer loss of exemption for, engaging in any political campaign on behalf of, or in opposition to, any candidate for public office. If any of our activities (whether or not substantial) of our organization consist of participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for pubic office, our organization will not qualify for tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3). Such participation or intervention includes the publishing or distributing of statements.

Certain voter education activities or public forums conducted in a nonpartisan manner may not be prohibited political activity under 501(c)(3), while other so-called voter education activities may be prohibited.

If we are uncertain as to the effect of our voter education activities, we should request a letter ruling from the IRS. Send the request to:

Attempting to influence legislation, for this purpose, means any attempt to influence any legislation through an effort to affect the opinions of the general public or any segment thereof (grass roots lobbying), and any attempt to influence any legislation through communication with any member or employee of a legislative body or with any government official or employee who may participate in the formulation of legislation (direct lobbying).

However, the term "attempting to influence legislation" does not include the following activities:

1. Making available the results of nonpartisan analysis, study, or research
2. Examining and discussing broad social, economic, and similar problems
3. Providing technical advice or assistance (where the advice would otherwise constitute the influencing of legislation) to a governmental body or to a committee or other subdivision thereof in response to a written request by that body or subdivision
4. Appearing before or communicating with any legislative body about a possible decision of that body that might affect the existence of the organization, its powers and duties, its tax-exempt status, or the deduction of contributions to the organization
5. Communicating with a government official or employee, other than
   1. A communication with a member or employee of a legislative body (when the communication would otherwise constitute the influencing of legislation)
   2. A communication with the principal purpose of influencing legislation

Also excluded are communications between and organization and its bona fide members about legislation or proposed legislation of direct interest to the organization and the members, unless these communications directly encourage the members to attempt to influence legislation or directly encourage the members to urge nonmembers to attempt to influence legislation, as explained later.

As stated above, in general, if a substantial part of the activities of our organization consists of carrying on propaganda or otherwise attempting to influence legislation, our exemption from federal income tax will be denied. However, since we are a public charity, we can elect to replace the substantial part of activities test with a limit defined in terms of expenditures for influencing legislation. If we elect to do this, we will not loose our tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3) unless we normally make lobbying expenditures that are more than 150% of the lobbying nontaxable amount for our organization for each tax year or we normally make grass roots expenditures that are more than 150% of the grass roots nontaxable amount for our organization for each tax year.

The lobbying nontaxable amount for our organization for any tax year is the lesser of $1,000,000 or

1. 20% of the exempt purpose expenditures if the exempt purpose expenditures are not over $500,000
2. $100,000 plus 15% of the excess of the exempt purpose expenditures over $500,000 if the exempt purpose expenditures are over $500,000 but not over $1,000,000
3. $175,000 plus 10% of the excess of the exempt purpose expenditures over $1,000,000 if the exempt purpose expenditures are over $1,000,000 but not over $1,500,000
4. $225,000 plus 5% of the excess of the exempt purpose expenditures over $1,500,000 if the exempt purpose expenditures are over $1,500,000

The term exempt purpose expenditures means the total of the amounts paid or incurred (including depreciation and amortization, but not capital expenditures) by an organization for the tax year to accomplish its exempt purposes. In addition, it includes administrative expenses paid or incurred for the organization's exempt purposes, and amounts paid or incurred for the purpose of influencing legislation, whether or not the legislation promotes the organization's exempt purposes.

Exempt purpose expenditures do not include amounts paid or incurred to or for a separate fund-raising unit of the organization or one or more other organizations, if the amounts are paid or incurred primarily for fund raising.

The grass roots nontaxable amount for our organization for any tax year is 25% of the lobbying nontaxable amount for our organization for that tax year.

We need to submit Form 5768, Election/Revocation of Election By an Eligible Section 501(c)(3) Organization To Make Expenditures To Influence Legislation, to make the election. The form must be signed and postmarked within the first tax year to which it applies. If the form is used to revoke the election, it must be signed and postmarked before the first day of the tax year to which it applies. Eligible section 501(c)(3) organizations that have made the election t be subject to the limits on lobbying expenditures must use Part VI-A of Schedule A (Form 990) to figure these limits.

Because we are exempt under section 501(c) of the Code, we must file Form 1120-POL, U.S. Income Tax Return for Certain Political Organizations, for any year in which we expend any amount to influence the selection, nomination, election, or appointment of any individual to any federal, state, or local public office or office in a political organization, or the election of Presidential or Vice Presidential electors (whether or not those individuals or electors are selected, nominated, elected, or appointed) and have net investment income. Form 1120-POL is due by the 15th day of the 3rd month after the end of the exempt organization's tax year, or by the 15th of December. The form is not required for expenditures for political purposes we make if either the amount of the expenditures or the organization's net investment income is not more than $100 for the tax year.

1. Criteria used for selecting recipients, including the rules of eligibility
2. How and by whom the recipients are or will be selected
3. If awards are or will be made directly to individuals, whether information is required assuring that the student remains in school
4. If awards are or will be made to recipients of a particular class, for example, children of a particular employer-
   1. Whether any preference is or will be accorded an applicant by reason of the parent's position, length of employment, or salary
   2. Whether as a condition of the award the recipient must upon graduation accept employment with the company
   3. Whether the award will be continued even if the parent's employment ends
5. A copy of the scholarship application form and any brochures or literature describing the scholarship program

Solicitation of Nondeductible Contributions
Solicitations for contributions or other payments must include a statement that payments to use are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes. The statement must be included in the fund-raising solicitation and be conspicuous and easily recognizable. Since we are exempt under section 501(c), we must follow this disclosure requirement.

Failure to make the required statement will result in a penalty of $1,000 for each day the failure occurred, up to a maximum penalty of $10,000 for a calendar year. No penalty will be imposed if it is shown that the failure was due to reasonable cause. If the failure was due to intentional disregard of the requirements, the penalty may be higher and is not subject to a maximum amount.

Sales of Information or Services Available Free From Government
If we sell to individuals information that could be readily obtained for free (or for a nominal fee) from the federal government, we must include a statement that the information or service can be so obtained.

• IRS's Tax Information for Charities & Other Non-Profits
• www.incorporate.com