Getting through the red tape – or just understanding the rules of the game?

Things happen. We can’t change what has happened. The only thing we can do is to choose how to react to what has happened.

So what happened? Nothing major, it just seems as if someone is there trying to block my light. My vision. Put spanners in my works. It may not be that way – that’s how I feel.

Examples:

Looking for sponsorship is not an easy task. Never was. Never will be. Looking for sponsorship for a cause, seems to be an even harder task. The big corporations want to support good initiatives. People who do good things within their communities. They face a problem, though – there are rules and guidelines to where the money can and can’t go. Fair enough.

One of the requirements of an individual seeking financial (or other) support from a corporation, is that the individual (or group) has a Non-Profit status (501 tax exemption from the IRS – in the US). If you think about it – it makes sense: the corporation wants to know the money is going for a good cause, and the donation will be regarded as tax-deductible.

My problem with that – it cost $15,000 to set up this NON -Profit organization. So I need to raise $15,000 from donations, just to cover the setup cost of the venture? Not to mention the annual upkeep, the auditors, the lawyers….

It is an expensive exercise to be do-gooder.

There must be a way around it. Maybe I can get one of the major accounting/law firms to support us, and donate the set up costs? I’ll explore….