The revised by-laws will soon be presented for adoption at the first annual general membership meeting.
Although I resigned from the fansite some months ago, I still feel a responsibility to inform members of an important change that needs to be made in order to ensure that the organization does not jeopardize its non-profit status.
The original mission statement read that the purpose of corporation was "promoting and supporting the singer Susan Boyle". However, shortly after submitting the draft mission statement, lchris and I discovered that it was necessary to change the wording in order to obtain the non-profit status. It should be "promoting and supporting the fans of the singer Susan Boyle", or "promoting and supporting the fandom of the singer Susan Boyle".
We researched and/or spoke with existing non-profit fan clubs that were approved by the IRS, non-profit consultants and lawyers, The Company Corporation (the registered agent for SBFII in Delaware, where it was incorporated), and 3 levels of the IRS.
Of course, fandoms promote and support their team, singer, actor/actress; that is what fans do. Yet, written as originally submitted, the IRS will interpret "promoting and supporting the singer Susan Boyle" as though SBFII is directly involved with supporting the commercial entities that make up Teams SuBo. The IRS would reject the request for SBFII's non-profit status.
The wording change is not optional. If SBFII is to be awarded non-profit status, the wording change is a requirement.
There are other changes that could be made to the by-laws; that's normal for any corporation, and should be carried out by the members and the Board.
This one, the change in wording of the Mission Statement, is crucial to the original purpose for which we represented the members in buying the site.
That purpose (as stated publicly on the forum to all before we agreed to collect pledges and place a bid on behalf of members) was to form a non-profit corporate entity which would own the site(s) for the benefit of its members, with a Board of Directors that would manage the site(s).
Staff and the subsequent Board were informed long ago of this Mission Statement change and why it was necessary. Perhaps, with all of the many issues to tackle and tasks to complete, this item has been forgotten or overlooked?
We bring this to the attention of all members of the Susan Boyle community, and have emailed this post directly to the Admins and Board Members.
With Best Regards,
dyebat and lchris
