I belong to a non-profit organization that consists of dues paying members. In our by-laws it states that no dues paying member may be monetarily paid as staff. If this clause in the by-laws is changed, or ignored, could our organization lose our non=profit status?

Members can also be employees. However, no member of the Board of Directors can be an employee as it creates a conflict of interest. The basis for this is that the board has the ultmate say as to whether an employee should be retained, fired, given a raise, etc. However if your by-laws state that no member can be an employee then you should not simply ignore that rule - the board needs to first go through the proper procedure to amend the by-laws before hiring a member as an employee.

I don't think that would be a problem, but you might want to look at the IRS's website and click on the tab for non-profits. Your organization has obtained it's section 501 (c) (3) recognition?