Ask Me Help Desk - 501C3 rules and regulations

I have gone through pages upon pages of IRS docs and haven't found my answer so before my head explodes, I thought I would try here to hopefully get pointed in the right direction.

I am the Captain of a 501C3 volunteer unit in our county that on occasion, assists law enforcement or fire as needed. Our county, as many others, is going through local elections. One of them is the Sheriff's seat. One of the candidates is claiming, (and I am getting a copy of the local newspaper article to verify this before I say anything), is saying that if he wins the election, he is going to use our 501C3 status to gain grants for the department AND our unit. Now granted, we are solely run from the pockets of the members and the occasional donation, but with what he is saying, can this put our 501C3 at risk? I don't think it is even legal. The Sheriff's office can't use our 501C3 to apply for grants. And any monies that are awarded due to our status must ALL go to our unit.. right?

If I verify his statement to be true, then I want to put a stop to it. Especially if it will harm our status. We are not a part of the Sheriff's office and haven't been for 8 years. I don't want anyone else seeing this and thinking we are supporting him or any other candidate in the elections as that for sure will jeapordize our status.

Thanks Everyone!

Hello b:

You won't find a ruling in IRS docs for this. It's really a combination of laws here that apply in addition to the IRS. For starters, your entity is NOT part of the sheriff's department. Your group is organized as a private charitable organization, and the sheriff's department is a branch of government. They're not the same. They're not even close. Why he thinks what he is proposing is legal is beyond me...

Nonetheless, he IS doing this, and you want to know what to DO about it. I'd write a letter to the county attorney and ask him to inform the candidate of his misinformation. You could have the newspaper who is doing the story, do some investigation into what this guy is doing, and write a follow up article. You, yourself, being Captain, could hold a news conference or put out a press release. You could hire a lawyer to do it for you. I don't know how out front you want to be.

excon

Quote:

Originally Posted by excon

Hello b:

You won't find a ruling in IRS docs for this. It's really a combination of laws here that apply in addition to the IRS. For starters, your entity is NOT part of the sheriff's department. Your group is organized as a private charitable organization, and the sheriff's department is a branch of government. They're not the same. They're not even close. Why he thinks what he is proposing is legal is beyond me...

Nonetheless, he IS doing this, and you want to know what to DO about it. I'd write a letter to the county attorney and ask him to inform the candidate of his misinformation. You could have the newspaper who is doing the story, do some investigation into what this guy is doing, and write a follow up article. You, yourself, being Captain, could hold a news conference or put out a press release. You could hire a lawyer to do it for you. I dunno how out front you want to be.

excon

I have no issues with being "out front". Our unit has been undergoing some drastic changes since I took over and to be honest, it would put us in the community's eye so to speak and that would be a good thing.
On the other note, thanks for the input. I did find the article and he doesn't specifically name us. He was asked what he would do that the current administration doesn't do and his answer...
"...provide equal protection and service to all of the citizens in the county as opposed to just serving the western portion. One way we will accomplish this is by forming a reserve/posse component that will be a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. This would allow donations, fund raising proceeds and endowments to be directed to the corporation while providing a tax deduction to the donor."

From this I take it that so long as the proceeds ARE directed to the "organization" then he would be OK.

I had been told that he was naming our unit directly but on paper... it doesn't seem so. The caucuses are tonight so maybe I will attend and see what he says in person. I hate to be the proverbial vulture waiting to swoop if he speaks out of turn, but I have to protect our unit.

Thanks excon!

Can 501 c 3 organization restrict is membership

Hello D:

Sure it can.

excon

I work with the Auxikary for a volunteer Fire Dept. My question is we receive water donations from various sources to use when on fires. Are we allowed to sell this donated water at fund raisers to earn money for the Fire Dept?

Anita Smith

I work with the Auxiliary for a volunteer Fire Dept. My question is we receive water donations from various sources to use when on fires. Are we allowed to sell this donated water at fund raisers to earn money for the Fire Dept?

[QUOTE=anitasmith;3225165]I work with the Auxikary for a volunteer Fire Dept. My question is we receive water donations from various sources to use when on fires. Are we allowed to sell this donated water at fund raisers to earn money for the Fire Dept?

Anita Smith
[QUOTE]

Please stop repeating the same question. If you open a new thread people will see your question. No one "new" will see it here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by anitasmith

I work with the Auxilary for a volunteer Fire Dept. My question is we receive water donations from various sources to use when on fires. Are we allowed to sell this donated water at fund raisers to earn money for the Fire Dept?

Use the water donated for use by the fire department to make money for the fire department (to help the department put out fires) instead of to put out fires with the water? Six of one and half a dozen with the other. I don't see a problem with it.