b2p Non-Profit status: what it means

As you know, for the last year or so we've been working on getting our own tax-exempt status. It's been a long haul, and it looks like we're getting to the point of submitting our application to the IRS for our own tax number.

This is a 2-part process. First, we have to create a corporation, second, be approved for that corporation to have "not-for-profit" status.

This process, in addition to the personnel changes at the FND, means that we cannot give our sponsors a Federal Tax ID number, at this time, to claim their contributions as tax-deducible. We are working as hard as possible to make sure that we have this number in place by the year's end, but, as with all things involving the IRS, we cannot make any promises.

This will have an impact on your fundraising in a few ways... please keep the following in mind.

DO NOT promise that contributions will be "Tax Deductible". Rather, you can say that our status is "in process" and that they should receive a confirmation letter with our FID number by the time they file their taxes.

Please do NOT use the FND Tax ID number that has been available in the past. Contributions made to b2p are not, technically, covered under the FND number, only our own.

Contributions MUST be made to b2p. The FND is simply not able to accept and process the huge amount of check we generate.

I am, naturally, concerned that this will cut into our fundraising, and all I can say is that we're working as hard as we can to complete this process. We're caught in what my grandmother used to call a "pickle"... but that can't keep us from doing the best we can to raise as much as possible. This is a part of the growth process, and in spite of our remarkable success, growth is not always smooth or painless.

Do your best, and please, if you have any concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me.