[lug] BLUG Planning for 2002 and beyond

[Ed Hill]

Hi folks,

Like "Faster-Laster" (who was involved in NLUG), I was a founding
and Steering Committee member of TriLUG (http://www.trilug.org)
which, from the start, was incorporated as an NC-registered 501(c)3
nonprofit.

I agree with Wade that (1) theres no need to get 501(c)3 or similar
status and (2) the paperwork is a PITA.

That said, IMHO there are some cool benefits.  I think the biggest
was the continuity and "fresh blood" that yearly Steering Committee
elections seemed to create.  Definately helped with involvement as
new folks were drawn in.

Also, there were donations.  TriLUG got the following things and,
while I *cannot* claim that they were a direct result of the tax-
deductible-donations status, it certainly did help:

  - a brand-new DS10 alpha box from Compaq
  - multiple SCSI drives
  - many hundreds (low thousands?) in donations that were spent
      on HW, installfests, pizza (at meetings), etc.
  - rack space (16U, think) with a 5Mbit(?) connection from
      Inflow's colo site in Durham, NC [currently being setup
      as a mini-SourceForge-like site]
  - lots of other misc goodies

So I'm just throwing out this info to say that incorporating can
generate positives if folks want to pursue them...  ;-)

Ed

ps - You can see the TriLUG articles of incorporation at
      www.trilug.org and these are basically boiler-plate for
      most any small nonprofit org.



J. Wayde Allen wrote:

> 
> I agree with all of your points about organizing the group, but I do
> question the need to make this a registered non-profit organization.  
> I've seen the non-profit issue crop up many times, and my question has
> always been why?  So far I've never really received much of an answer to
> that question.  To me this seems like an added level of complexity that we
> really don't need.  Sure it probably doesn't hurt, and maybe you could
> solicit tax free donations, but this is not anything we've ever really
> wanted or needed to do. 
> 
> Perhaps I'm wrong (Certainly wouldn't be the first time.)?  I'll concede
> if someone can really show me what being a registered non-profit gains the
> group.  Also, if we change or add to the group's mode of operation then
> there may be a a good reason for becoming a non-profit.  I'm not violently
> opposed to the suggestion, I just want to see some solid reasons why this
> is a good idea?
> 



-- 
Edward H. Hill III, PhD
Post-Doctoral Researcher    |  Emails:   <ed at eh3.com>, <ehill at mines.edu>
Division of ESE             |  URL:      http://www.eh3.com
Colorado School of Mines    |  Phone:    303-273-3483
Golden, CO  80401           |  Fax:      303-273-3311