FOCL Point Delivered

Yes - I received it today.  FOCL Point - Friends of Connecticut Libraries newletter for Summer 2010.

It covers the Annual Meeting that was held at the Cheshire Public Library back in June.  There is a lovely article about our very own Linda Levin, an amazing woman, who has given so much of her time and talent to Friends Groups and to FOCL.  It is quite fitting to name a FOCL award after her. 

What is an annual meeting without awards?  Gil Alwang is the first recipient of the Lillian Levin Meritorious Serivce Award - congratulations Gil!   Let me tell you that Gill and Lillian are people that you admire the minute you meet them.  Both of them have been and continue to be an inspiration to me.

You can read about the group awards.  What an amazing job they do for Connecticut.  Congratulations to the Friends of the Farmington Library and  Friends of the Hagaman Library of East Haven.  Focused Project Awards were given to Shelley Hall and Alissa Heilbrunn of the Trumbull Friends and to the Friends of the Babcock Library in Ashford.  Individual Achievement Awards were given to Janice Demicco of Griswold, to Josephine Demarco Esposito of New London, and the late John Randolph of New Canaan.

To round out our event, we heard from Robert Kim Bingham, Sr., and his book Courageous Dissent How Harry Bingham Defied His Government To Save Lives. He story about his father was fascinating.  Harry was a diplomat in Europe during WWII and issued visas to ordinary refugees.  It was his committment that enable him to save many people that would have died at the hands of the enemy.  There is a great recap of the article.  I hope you'll get to read about a true American Hero.

Back to the newsletter - check out the "Friends Around the State" for great ideas for your friends group.  Mark the calendar for the Fall Conference - November 6th.

FOCL was also involved with an Academic Library Friends program at the Connecticut Library Association conference.  Great advice was given by two speakers on how Friends groups can assist in raising funds for colleges and universities.  Additional resources have been added to the FOCL website on the Resources page.

It's a great newsletter.  If you haven't seen it -----  click here and you can catch up on all the issues.

Thank You

Thank you to all that have read  Thank you those of you that have responded to the call.  I have been so relieved that so many folks are tuned in and will make a difference.  I encourage you to continue to pass along the information. 

From the mail bag..........

Kathy Ryan, President of the Friends of Tiverton Libraries [RI]  said:
Thanks so much! We have been filing but 7 in RI have not. Because of your email, I was able to pass this info along in time! Thanks so much!  And I loved your blog!  Kathy

Ingrid Knox, President, Friends of the Nevada County Libraries, Nevada City, CA said:
Thank you so much for posting this on the FOLUSA list. Although our Friends group is not on the list, two groups my husband is involved with were. Thanks for the exclamation points, otherwise I may not have bothered to look. Best Regards, Ingrid

Debbie, Director, Barrington Library RI said:
Dear Patty, after I fired that email off to you I calmed down and checked out your blog post. It did indeed answer all my questions and sent me to the right places. I found there are 6 Friends groups in RI that are in danger, though thankfully, not Barrington. I let those other libraries know of the danger as well as a small drama company I like called 2nd story theater. Your post was excellent. Thanks so much for taking the time to alert us all in library land!  Debbie

AmazonSellersCommunity - especially erltprl2, FOLUSA listserve, FOCL listserve for sending out the word!

Again, Thank you  - tune in for future posts on all topics for Friends.  If you are interested in a topic, send it to me and I'll give you my two cents.

Tax Exempt Status Follow-up

Thanks to all of you that responded to what is probably (IMHO) very important to all of us.

I received a comment that this was a hysterical post - I must have raised an eyebrow or two.  That's good.  To find as many organizations on this list is truly sad.  Each of these organizations, not just FOLs, represent individuals that give of their time and money to help others. 

So to follow-up - what would be the consequences of losing your tax-exempt status?  Besides looking bad to your supporters, here's some items to think about:

• All contributions to your FOL organization would not be charitable and the donors would not receive a charitable contribution tax deduction.
• Revenues you recieved may be taxable as you are not a tax-exempt organization but possibly considered a business.
• Book sale revenue may become taxable.
• The organization would have needed to file a tax return of some type and the tax returns may show a tax due.
• These "tax returns" would be late, therefore not only taxes owed, there could be penalities, and interest.
• What about State laws?  Income tax and sales tax?

As you can see, this is a short list of the various situations that your organization could face.  Check the organization list for your state.  See anyone you know?   Reach out and give them a heads up!

Lose your Tax Exempt Status!

Warning! Warning!  Sixty days left and you LOSE!   I feel like R2D2 robot from Star Wars.

Deadline is October 15, 2010 or lose your tax-exempt status.  This program is for those small non-profits that only need to file the e-postcard 990-N with the IRS on an annual basis.

Per the IRS website there  is extensive information of who qualifies and what to do.

So what do YOU do?  ASK your treasurer of your organization - ask if he/she filed the 990-N for the last three years?  If the answer is no or not sure or the other guy must have, then call the IRS at 1-877-829-5500 (toll-free) to determine the organization's status.  Don't rely on the list at the IRS site (see below) as they say it is the best they have and may not be complete.  Lastly - get professional help. Contact me here at this site and I'll point you in the right direction.

At the bottom of this page  there is the chart by states.  The Connecticut list of non-profit organizations that are about to lose their 501(c)3 tax-exempt standing is staggering. Click on Connecticut - there are over 120 pages of organizations listed.  I easily found more than a dozen FOLs that could be out of business in less than two months.

ALTAFF Survey

If you haven't responded yet, it's time to go over to Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations (ALTAFF)  and take the survey.

The survey is important to all of us that are working for our libraries. 

Take Survey  I took the survey.  It doesn't take too long, and you have an opportunity to write in an answer.  There may be some questions that you can not answer, don't worry.  Getting as many folks to respond will help all of us.

I'm looking forward to the results!

SAVE the Date!!!

I just received offical news - FOCL's Fall Conference will be held on Saturday, November 6th at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Connecticut.

This year, the focus will be on Membership.  This is one of my favorite topics and I have been asked to be a presenter that day. 

As we get closer, I'll post details on the day's events.  This is a must event for all FOL's in Connecticut.