Originally Posted by Sen's Revenge (Post 2244962)

Congrats on your incorporation! I am an incorporator of Gamma Xi Phi. :-)



You don't need to have a determination letter to be incorporated or refer to yourself as nonprofit. One should have plans to get one eventually, but they will get that done on the time frame which works for them.

ETA: For the record, I am not saying that it is proper or legal for them to pretend to have a tax-status that they do not have or to accept donations or apply for grants meant for 501 (c)(3) organizations. I am saying that the tax determination letter is not the most important thing for a young organization. Incorporation is good, getting a (c)(7) or (c)(10) tax designation is a nice goal, as is trademarking the symbols and securing insurance. When you're a small organization of limited means, you take one thing at a time.

One can identify as a nonprofit org on the local/state level without having a federal designation.

Originally Posted by Titchou (Post 2244984)

I was just trying to figure out exactly what he meant.

Originally Posted by ΣKΞFounder (Post 2243441)

She :) and no, we will be requesting use of one of their buildings for meetings, and no we will not house nor do we want to. It's part of our constitution that houses not be required and no one be forced to live in house, if a house is so desired. We want to be recognized by the school, but they want us to change what makes us, us. Yes, there are all the requirements for a Fraternity there, but, they do not like our core constitution. It is nothing bad at all, and as a matter of fact, we believe they have a problem with it because we proved them wrong on a key point in their system that we believe is faulty. If you would like to know what it is you may message me, because for the most part, our constitution is not public. We do show it to those who inquire about it though because our constitution is not secret, but we don't advertise it either.

Originally Posted by Kevin (Post 2245013)

Our Alpha chapter doesn't really function as a chapter though. It's more of an honorary organization which inducts the top Seniors in the Fraternity every year. Obtaining membership is kind of a big deal.

Originally Posted by Sen's Revenge (Post 2244962)

Congrats on your incorporation! I am an incorporator of Gamma Xi Phi. :-)



You don't need to have a determination letter to be incorporated or refer to yourself as nonprofit. One should have plans to get one eventually, but they will get that done on the time frame which works for them.

ETA: For the record, I am not saying that it is proper or legal for them to pretend to have a tax-status that they do not have or to accept donations or apply for grants meant for 501 (c)(3) organizations. I am saying that the tax determination letter is not the most important thing for a young organization. Incorporation is good, getting a (c)(7) or (c)(10) tax designation is a nice goal, as is trademarking the symbols and securing insurance. When you're a small organization of limited means, you take one thing at a time.

One can identify as a nonprofit org on the local/state level without having a federal designation.

Originally Posted by Kevin (Post 2245013)

Well good luck to all of you and congrats on the early strides. Don't fret too much about your Alpha Chapter. Sigma Nu's Alpha chapter was shuttered by the Virginia Military Institute when they banned fraternities in 1885 and we've done pretty well since then. Our Alpha chapter doesn't really function as a chapter though. It's more of an honorary organization which inducts the top Seniors in the Fraternity every year. Obtaining membership is kind of a big deal.

Originally Posted by Sen's Revenge (Post 2244963)

And finally, ΣKΞFounder, this is not the forum to discuss your organization's aspirations or issues. Please send me a private message if you want, but I strongly advise you to not answer any more questions or ask for advice in this forum. Everyone here is not a friend.

Originally Posted by ΣKΞFounder (Post 2248072)

That is a very neat idea. I have not really thought about maybe having an Alpha "chapter" as an honors chapter. If the community standing does not work, I might see about starting something similar as long as Sigma Nu does not take offense of us potentially starting something similar.