Is there a lawyer in the house?

Atown

Atown

Christian Gamers Alliance Amazon Store Manager
Staff member
Moderator's note: This post and the 8 that follow were moved from the original "Is there a lawyer in the house?" thread to this new thread.

Also if they would like to help get us NPO status that would be great too :D
 
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Icthus said:
Better to find a current NPO-religious based organization willing to umbrella us.
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There are definitely merits to the idea, but also two major drawbacks:

I'm guessing that most churches or ministries wouldn't be interested in taking a Christian gaming community under their wing. Imagine a pastor trying to explain why they're directly supporting a group of Christians that play games where they shoot and kill each other. We, as Christian gamers, understand the context and discern the difference between reality and fantasy, but others unfamiliar with gaming might not be so understanding.

If we were to place ourselves in a position where we were dependent on a specific denomination, local church, or ministry, we would invalidate our claim of being an interdenominational community. For example: If a Baptist church decided to take responsibility for us, Lutherans and Presbyterians probably wouldn't feel as welcome as other Baptists. There's also the issue of losing our autonomy, but that's a discussion unto itself.

I certainly wouldn't refuse assistance from members of churches or ministries (say, for example, a pastor of a New York church), but I still feel placing the CGA under the jurisdiction of one local church or ministry just wouldn't be a good fit for us.
 
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It is an often practiced business model to go under the covering of an organization with little to no oversight, if a small fee is charged.

In other words, say local non-denominational church Fellowship of Stuff Christians Like would agree to 'sponser' Tek and his gang of mis-fits for basically tax purposes. The T&HGoM would allow FoSCL to take a 10% fee for all funds processed.

Win-Win.

Granted this is done far more in the social non profit sector. I have only seen it done a few times in the faith based sector.

That being said, a random church in New York might not have it's own tax id number, but uses it's local denominational covering.

I am willing to look into it. The Church does have a paypal account so it is not outside the realm of possibility.

I nice discussion of the benefits for CGA/ToJ would be interesting.
 
Personally, I'm against any ministerial activity being outside the authority of a local church but we've had that discussion before and you raise very valid points.

That being said, there are numerous examples of ministries with NPO status that are without a parent church. Focus on the Family, Campus Crusade for Christ are two most people are familiar with. Not having a parent church should not keep you from NPO status.

You might even be able to contact one of those groups and see if they would sponsor/affiliate with CGA. (By one of those groups I mean any major NPO without a parent church)
 
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Depending on the state - it need not be that difficult to get NPO status. In California it is filing the correct forms and $20 a year to maintain status.

If you'd like us to look into it we could check it out. Being free standing might be worth a little up front effort.
 
If there are reservations about being under a church or ministry NPO number - obtaining a CGA NPO shouldn't be all that difficult. That is what I was referring to.
 
Abba San said:
If there are reservations about being under a church or ministry NPO number - obtaining a CGA NPO shouldn't be all that difficult. That is what I was referring to.
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I think mostly they are looking for the FEDERAL tax id. This would allow donations to be tax deductible.

But, guessing we should switch threads.
 
Icthus said:
I think mostly they are looking for the FEDERAL tax id. This would allow donations to be tax deductible.

But, guessing we should switch threads.
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Nope. We're good. The discussion about updating the forums ToS is in another thread. We can keep talking about NPO and federal tax IDs and all that jazz in this thread.

And yes, the main motive behind establishing a NPO is allowing donations to be tax deductible.
 
Abba has a point. Many states it is a piece of cake to get NPO status, pay your initial fee, then yearly pittance. What state are we legally based in? That is besides the state of confusion.
 
ursen said:
What state are we legally based in?
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I live in Missouri so I figured it would be easiest to establish the NPO here in case I need to travel to any government offices to sign papers or such.

If it doesn't matter which state we're in, then let's pick the state with the easiest process and cheapest fees. :D
 
Tax deductions generally require a federal tax id number to allow for relief from federal taxes.

This is a much harder process for NPO's that are not churches.
 
Icthus said:
Tax deductions generally require a federal tax id number to allow for relief from federal taxes.

This is a much harder process for NPO's that are not churches.
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/sadface

Our operating expenses are currently low enough and we meet our fundraising goals quickly enough that getting 501(c)(3) or similar status probably isn't worth significant fees, time, paperwork, and, perhaps most importantly, legal liability at this time.

If we were to expand and start projects that require additional funding, then it may be in our best interests to put in the work to get set up as NPO.
 
Tek7 said:
/sadface

Our operating expenses are currently low enough and we meet our fundraising goals quickly enough that getting 501(c)(3) or similar status probably isn't worth significant fees, time, paperwork, and, perhaps most importantly, legal liability at this time.

If we were to expand and start projects that require additional funding, then it may be in our best interests to put in the work to get set up as NPO.
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I agree Tek that we should shelf this for now. Filing taxes and paperwork is for the lose.

If we were actively promoting teams and tournament attendance and getting corporation sponsorship for the teams and players then we would need to do this. The benefit to businesses to take sponsorship as a tax deduction is worth the time/expense of paperwork. And it might be FUN!! Which is why we all do stuff anyways.... because WE LOVE IT!! :)
 
Lloren said:
I agree Tek that we should shelf this for now. Filing taxes and paperwork is for the lose.

If we were actively promoting teams and tournament attendance and getting corporation sponsorship for the teams and players then we would need to do this.
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Alternatively, if we were looking at renting a beefy dedicated server to run several individual game servers, I'd be more inclined to push for establishing a NPO. But renting and running game servers is currently solely the domain of individual CGA affiliates rather than the CGA itself (with the notable exception of the CGA Christmas Counter-Strike 1.6 server that Christian Crew is so kindly hosting for us).

And yes, I do intend to establish Tribe of Judah as a NPO eventually so we can host many, many game servers. :)
 
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