COMOPOLO

I did a little research on how to incorporate as a non-profit. Comopolo definitely qualifies. Here's what I found:

Our bike polo club definitely qualifies for non-profit status, if we wanted to incorporate as a non-profit.

Cost to become a non-profit: $440.

Benefits:

Our club would have tax exempt status. That means donations, including fungible goods like bikes and bike parts, to our club would be tax deductible for the donatee. We could also start a treasury (in other words, a bank account in the name of our non-profit), sue or be sued, trademark a symbol, exact membership dues, obtain title to property and do all sorts of neat things.

Difficulty in applying:

Not very difficult. I'm pretty sure you can fill out and file all the forms in the space of an afternoon. The question is whether or not it would be worth it.

I'm all for this. I talked to the Tallgrass folks and they seemed excited to work with us with possible sponsorship. It would definitely give us more of a voice.

my idea was to work with stl to create a missouri bike polo nonprofit. would this be too much of a hassle? i feel like there would be more serious polo players that way.

snarles bill wrote:

my idea was to work with stl to create a missouri bike polo nonprofit. would this be too much of a hassle? i feel like there would be more serious polo players that way.

x2. Indiana has had great success with this.

I'm down for all Missouri. I talked to a derby gal who said it was totally worth it for the derby girls. And if there were 15 of us, 440/15=29.33. 29.33/12 months is $2.44 pet month. That's a small price to pay.

im down for either mo or just como polo nonprofit, either would be just fine to me.

Is that a yearly fee or a one time fee?

snarles bill wrote:

my idea was to work with stl to create a missouri bike polo nonprofit. would this be too much of a hassle? i feel like there would be more serious polo players that way.

I'm up for either. But in the end, non-profit status is all inclusive whether you're "serious" or not.

All MO non-profit sounds good. I think our club should have a club structure either way, though. We need a more organized way to vote on things and have a united front on issues...not just a free for all. If we want sponsors and want anyone to take us seriously, it's the only way to go.

TimD wrote:

I think our club should have a club structure either way, though.

Whatever structure you decide on, just make sure to put me on the top of it.

There will need to be a structure. By statute there must be a president, treasurer, and something else I don't remember. We could have a board! And board meetings!

We don't need to decide right away.

As far as paying goes, I think with non-profits it's a one-time thing. I think it goes into perpetuity, but you will have to refile or something every year without paying the filing fee. May be wrong about that.

YIMYOM wrote:

snarles bill wrote:

my idea was to work with stl to create a missouri bike polo nonprofit. would this be too much of a hassle? i feel like there would be more serious polo players that way.

I'm up for either. But in the end, non-profit status is all inclusive whether you're "serious" or not.

Remember: the more members we have the bigger our swaying power will be. The point of this is to be able to approach potential sponsors and say, you know, our non-profit has this many members and we can prove it, here are our membership lists. This will also work for the city or university or what have you.

The more we get the better that will be.

I will note that in the conversations I have had with parks and rec, they've said that they would like to see us have one of two things:

A) Ties to the university as a registered club.
B) Non-profit status.

This could help us with our court troubles maybe!

nic maglio wrote:

I feel there could be lack of communication between cities and wondering how the money situation will work?

It's 450 dollars. I piss 450 dollars. Money is not an issue.

(Nic, I didn't mean to edit your comment, I meant to quote it. My bad.

-Nick)

Last edited: Thu, 14 Jul 2011, 08:17pm by BoozeKruse

I think a Missouri nonprofit would be good...I say that because STL was thinking about doing the nonprofit paperwork, but honestly, most STL players don't want the responsibilities of treasurer/president/book-keeper/etc. So spreading out the responsibilities among several clubs rather than the one or two interested people in our small club would be ideal in my opinion.

yeah but i just see that making hard to get shit done. but maybe not.

the internet and phone calls are very effective ways to communicate over long distances.

are people going to be mad when certain people don't play dues but play?

Nic wrote:

are people going to be mad when certain people don't play dues but play?

there could be a benefit only for people that pay - access to tax free shit, etc. something

playing's gotta stay free forever

^^^ I like that idea

i agree, free, unless you want to play in a sanctioned tournament!

free unless you want to enjoy the benefits of the organization. potential sponsorships, potential use of organization funds or property.

either way i don't foresee the membership dues being very high. if you want to take bike polo halfway seriously it will be nominal.

so did we get the paperwork going?

Not yet. Does everyone want to do this?! Speak up and let me know!!!

I'll help out anyway I can

Yes

can I be the treasurer?

Sure. Part of the registration process calls for naming officers.

Put me in the yay column.

I'll consider being an officer.

I'm really good at organizing things; I've been booking tours and shows for several years now. Surely this skill shall allow me to be a great candidate for some sort of ociffer.

All I do is score goals.

I plan on embezzling your goals Nick. Be aware of my accounting practices...

can we plan a meeting where everyone in comopolo who is interested can show up to discuss it?

Yes, a meeting. How about a Friday late evening.

Friday, July 29 at 7:30 p.m.? Anybody still stuck at work then?

Who has room to have a bunch of people gather?

we know most people are free on Wednesdays, so we should meet up either before or after polo then.

All I do... is score goals...

Wednesday during or after Polo.

after.

kruse can teleconference in

srsly I'm up for this. Call me and put me on speaker.

Air In Hand wrote:

we know most people are free on Wednesdays, so we should meet up either before or after polo then.

Ugh...it's so hard though. I get off work at 7, go straight to polo. When we're done playing, all I want is food, not a meeting...[edit] Colleen and I need to leave by 8:30ish tonight in order to run some errands before places close [/edit]

Also, as far as dues are concerned, you don't pay dues, you don't get a vote. Every paying member should get a vote in things decided by the club. This could mean everything from organizing tournaments, to the club jerseys we've been talking about on facebook.

[edit2] I just realized that most people are already at polo right now[/edit2]

If I pay it all, do I get all of the votes?

I am fine with this, however, I still plan on embezzling your goals.

If everyone can swing it, let's meet up at Gumbys after polo next week. If that doesnt work with folks, I can offer my home as a meeting place for some other time.

Let's say meeting next Wednesday at Gumby's at 9pm. So even if you cant make it to pick up, you can still plan to come to the meeting.

X2

There is no rush to file; we can file at any time. Anyway, the season is winding down and we would not likely begin to see any benefits until next Spring.

The corporation will also need a designated agent with a Mo. address. This person will be in charge of dissolving the corporation when that time comes. Corporations do not stop being until they are terminated, kind of like big, multi-person Sara Connors.

We can use my address or my parents' address (in Chesterfield).

I think we should still get into filing it now; then we can use that to work on getting a new polo spot. It's better to just get started than to keep putting it off.

I will not be in town next week. Proceed if you like.

nick

the meeting next Wednesday will be a preliminary meeting. andrew, if you could make it to outline the finer points of the legal side that would be optimal. other things to think about would be whether to combine forces with stl or not, what reasonable dues are, what benefits members would have, etc.

we can try and call kruse and include him in the discussion.

someone should take minutes.

Tonight (August 3) we're meeting at Gumby's after polo. Should be about 9 p.m. If you can't make it to polo but want to go to the meeting, now you know the details.

Andrew Wilcox, the holder of wisdom, will be there to help us get started. All of us should bring a writing utensil and parchment of some kind.

Forms to file as an incorporated entity and a non-profit thereafter are printed. Thanks to Floppy who let me use his printing coffers (you still have more than $49).

They look pretty straightforward to my not-so-educated eye.

When would people like to get together to knock these out?

i propose next wednesday in a less public setting (to make for ease in discussion/conversation). both kruse and tim a. will be around and hopefully we can get a big group to make it as well.

i second that it's at a less public setting. im down to host at my house.

When the date/time/place have been decided someone should post on FB too, so no one can say they didnt know about the meeting. I also would like a more public/easier to hear and talk space for the meeting. Tim and I werent too concerned about that last one but if we had been there was for sure not enough room or silence @ gumbys.

wed. aug 17th, 9pm. aaron hands place.

1615 B Hinkson. The door is on the left side of the house.

Lots of papers to fill out.

When can you do it?

I don't care about anything.

Does anybody else want to meet to do the paperwork?

What day of the week suits you best and what time?

tuesday or sunday nights or anytime during the day.

same as aaron, minus the daytime thing

any day after 6