J____, our legacy planner, wrote to me just before 2 this afternoon.

I have a few minutes before we take off. Would you like to arrange an initial conference call with C____ [the high-powered attorney J____ knows in Denver who specializes in 501(c)(3) issues] to talk about the nonprofit issues and the application process?

Let me know if you would like to do so and I’ll get that arranged when I get back to the office tomorrow.

By the way, when it comes to nonprofit accounting experts [the firm you contacted] is the best. I have known [the founder] for years. They do our corporate and my personal taxes.

“I’d be delighted to speak with C____,” I replied, “if the strategy really can work. Sarita and I would like to move forward.”

This evening, then, after he got home, he wrote, “Your conversation with C____ will be exceedingly worthwhile on all this.”

Then, not quite an hour later:

In the flight magazine on the plane it tells about a AAA minor league baseball team that operates as a nonprofit organization (in Memphis). The baseball team fulfills part of the nonprofit’s mission.

I think your “business” has an even more legitimate mission and purpose that the baseball team. Getting you to be a nonprofit will take time and experience, but it can certainly be done.

While he has been traveling, however, I have done further research. And based on what I have found, I don’t think I can accept his comments without reply. So I just wrote him: Read the rest of this entry »

J____ wrote me a quick note about 8:30 this morning:

I have just a few minutes before I have to leave for a meeting, but I think it would be helpful for our discussions if you categorize your questions/concerns/needed clarification in one of three categories:

1. Financial
2. Logistical
3. Emotional Read the rest of this entry »

What do you do when you become unsure of your counselors’ competency to answer your questions?

I try to find new counselors.

This morning, I thought of the accounting firm whose services are used by all the 501(c)(3)s with which I’m familiar. I looked them up on the web and just wrote them an email: Read the rest of this entry »

J____, our legacy planner, replied quickly to my email last night:

I just got your email. We have been in meetings all day long and have one more meeting tomorrow morning before we head home.

There is so much in your email, I would prefer to address these matters with you and Sarita by phone instead of trying to respond to them all in an email. We will be in the office on Thursday and Friday. Could we set up a time to have a conference call with all of us?

I replied, “Of course we can speak by phone! . . . And Thursday or Friday should be good. Please suggest some times when you’d be available, and I can confirm. . . .”

I then copied him (though in a different form) much of what I just posted.

!!!!!

I am definitely not comfortable right now!

I’m amazed. Both of the contacts to whom I wrote yesterday afternoon have already replied. And their replies to my question about moving toward 501(c)(3) status were not encouraging. Read the rest of this entry »

Continuing to think through the potential legitimacy of shifting from a profitable/taxable to a [profitable]/tax-exempt entity, I wrote to J____, our legacy planner.

The matter of board governance lays heavily on Sarita’s and my mind as we consider the possibility of shifting to a 501(c)(3) form. We have observed too many 501(c)(3)s to enter into this lightly. Some concerns: Read the rest of this entry »

Our legacy planner says that our current giving patterns (dependent on our income!) would suggest we may be able to give away $x million over the next 32 years–what the average person our age may reasonably be expected to live. If we follow his advice, however, we may be able to give $2.67x million! A wonderful “gear ratio,” from our perspective.

But is his plan workable? Read the rest of this entry »

Our proposed legacy plan includes the idea that we should reposition/restructure/transfer the assets of our S-Corp to a 501(c)(3) [non-profit/tax-exempt] organization.

That’s a fairly significant . . . –no; downright radical–proposal. And we’ve got to think and pray about the implications and consequences and just, plain, how to do it effectively (if we do it–indeed, if we are able to do it–at all).

So this morning, at breakfast, I mentioned to some men from our church what we are thinking about.

In response to what I said, Read the rest of this entry »