Stay in the GEN

Follow these steps to stay in the "GEN":

Step One: Adopt By-Laws.

National's by-laws are a decent example. But please note your state might have some different requirements - and do NOT copy the references to Indiana Code in National's By-Laws, unless you ARE in Indiana!

Step Two: Hold regular meetings.

All corporations should have regular meetings of the "Board of Directors" at least four times a year, and one annual meeting to hold elections for Directors, and President, Treasurer, and Secretary (the "Officers"). These meetings can be short and can be held before your regular volunteer meetings! These meetings only need to cover the "legal business" of the corporation, like keeping an eye on finances, permits, and overall event planning.

Unincorporated Associations should hold similar meetings

Take good minutes of the meetings and keep records of these minutes with your crucial paperwork (like your Articles of Incorporation or Articles of Association, and yearly financial reports). Good minutes are simply a record of topics discussed and decisions made, and records of votes held.

Step Three: Do not co-mingle funds.

Corporations and Unincorporated Associations should have their own bank accounts and not rely on personal bank accounts, if you need a bank account at all (you probably need one if you collect money throughout the year, but a few events do not take in or spend money except the day of the event). The money should be totally separated from any Director's personal money, to prevent fraud, or just to prevent accounting mistakes. Use your event's EIN, and National's IRS exemption letter and Group Exemption Number, to open the account.

Never borrow money from the event for pesonal use!

Step Four: Submit (short) yearly IRS forms.

A National officer will explain this when the time comes, and collect all the forms for bulk submission. These are NOT full tax returns, they will only be short forms telling the IRS your organization's name, EIN, Directors, address, and other basic information.

Step Five: Submit (short) yearly (or every two years) forms to the State.

If you are a corporation, your state requires a short form every year or two years, so they have on file the names and addresses of Officers, and the name and address of the "Agent for Service of Process".