Things have been a bit quieter since our frenetic finale to the crowdfunding project but we are still moving along.

We have located 4 other people to  bring on as board members of Classic Book Radio Corporation.  Three have consented and we will present our case to the 4th in about a week.

This is very good news!  It means we can move ahead with our 501(c)3 application for determination with the IRS.  And that will then open up various potential funding sources.  Also it will give us some very smart people to help ensure that things are done right.  A third benefit is:  it is nice to get some affirmation that our project is not just the output of our own imagination.

We have also moved forward with fulfillment of the “perks” that people selected during our funding drive.  To that end, we should be picking up our t-shirt order this week!  It’s nice to have something tangible.  We ordered 50 and we needed about ten  (I have a list).  So that leaves us with ~ 40 shirts to sell, use as incentives, or whatever other purpose we can put them to.  If I get it worked out, you may see our website sprout a “buy a T-shirt” link.

I worked a bit on the website recently, particularly the header graphic.  I hope you find it to be more pleasing.    I think I will rest at this point and see if it ages well.

Also, we have done some talking and planning around the issue of underwriting.  Underwriting is people, companies, foundations, etc, paying for us to broadcast our programs in exchange for a little underwriting blurb which gives them credit for doing so.

I think we have sketched out a pretty good pricing schedule and sales approach.  Possibly in our next board meeting we will be able to approve the pricing and publish it.  Along with that we will need policies which encapsulate the FCC rules about underwriting blurbs.  We are fortunate that many public radio stations have put their policies on the web, so we have some good examples to follow.

Disclaimer: I am definitely not a tax lawyer or tax accountant or a tax anything else, so do not take what I have to say as anything authoritative!

We have been looking at the 501(c)3 “application for recognition of exemption” form from the IRS  (form 1023).  Wow!  It’s a monster.  I’m going to take a nice quiet hour this evening and go through it and fill out the easy stuff.  And then we will know what the hard stuff is!

When we created our non-profit corporation using the tools at the State of Mississippi Secretary of State’s website, they were very helpful in pointing out three paragraphs of text that needed to be in our founding documents if we wanted to later apply for 501(c)3 exemption.  We did  include those.

According to what I’m reading, any organization can call themselves a 501(c)3 and act as if they are one, up to the point where they go over a threshold amount on their annual gross receipts.  And churches don’t have to apply either.

But, we are sincerely hoping to exceed that threshold in getting our equipment funding, we will pretty much have to in order to buy the stuff we need.

What is the benefit of being 501(c)3?  It means that contributions to our organization are tax deductible, just like to a church or the United Way.  We will be a ‘charity’.  One source of money for charity organizations is grants from government or from foundations.  We have looked into that a little bit.  Everything I have seen requires a 501(c)3 determination be in hand before they will consider your application.  And plain old folks, whether rich philanthropists or poor philanthropists, will appreciate their contributions being tax deductible.

Now, I’m of two minds about the charity thing.  Once we get up and running I sincerely hope we can sustain ourselves on underwriting income.  I hope that we have enough community presence and listeners to convince local businesses that their name will be heard and well received.  But to get on the air we need a big up-front bump to buy the equipment.  I want to do radio, I don’t want to be perpetually begging for money.  Sure, I’ll do it for awhile, but that’s not really the part that I’m good at or that interests me.  (There do exist people who are professional fund raisers. I’m not one of those.)