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I am a homeschooling mother and Certified Public Accountant (CPA) combining my experience and knowledge to help homeschool organizations such as co-ops, support groups, music and sports programs. HomeschoolCPA answers questions from homeschool leaders on many topics such as nonprofit status, liability, paying teachers, tax exempt status and taxes.
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10:47 AM, Sep. 9, 2008
Starting a homeschool conference
(view similar articles on Q&A from Homeschool Leaders)
One leader in New England runs a small homeschool support group with big plans to host a homeschool conference.
Our small support group has been up and running for over 14 years. The past few we have been looking into running a homeschool conference and have decided to go ahead. But we are starting from scratch. We have never had Non Profit status or even a separate checking account. I’m looking to verify that we should take the steps for non profit first, then start our account.
Any thoughts?
Mary B
Mary,
I think your group will benefit many other homeschool families by offering a conference. Good for you!
I looked at your organization's website to better understand your group. You have a nonprofit mission, that of promoting your faith and homeschooling. I gather that you have a team of people running the group and not one "owner". I assume that any extra money leftover at the end of a year, stays with the organization and is not pocketed by the leader(s). Those three criteria: a nonprofit mission, team leadership and proper use of the financial surplus means your group is already a nonprofit organization. You may not be recognized by your state or the IRS as an "official nonprofit", but your support group is certainly not a for-profit business. You can only be one or the other: for-profit or nonprofit.
You should definitely get a separate checking account for your support group. You bank may require an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS to open a checking account. You can read about EIN's in my ebook Money Management for Homeschool Organizations on page 7.
You might also consider creating bylaws (you can find sample bylaws on my website under Resources), just so everyone knows how things will be run. You already have a mission statement. You've probably completed a lot of the steps on my Checklist for New Homeschool Organizations
I think you're well on your way to running a successful support group and convention. A little more structure (EIN, checking account, maybe bylaws) will serve you well in the future!
Best of success to you!
Carol Topp, CPA
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Your help was really appreciated Carol. We have our EIN, Incorporated as a non-profit, and now have our checking account. We already have 6 vendors for our conference in June!
Posted by Mary B on Oct. 7, 2008 at 8:51 AM
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Thank you!
