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Archiver > BOARD > 2008-05 > 1210617128


From: "Gail Kilgore" <>
Subject: Re: [BOARD] Final Report of the USGenWeb Project Fact FindingCommittee
Date: Mon, 12 May 2008 11:32:08 -0700
References: <E7EC549C03FB4999A3CD82EE3976FEF8@TinaSVickeryPC><796579.86050.qm@web52805.mail.re2.yahoo.com>
In-Reply-To: <796579.86050.qm@web52805.mail.re2.yahoo.com>


What a great report, thanks to the committee for this information.

Gail

On Mon, May 12, 2008 at 10:53 AM, Larry Flesher <> wrote:

> First, a giant THANK YOU to all members of this
> committee for their efforts in investigating these
> issues on behalf of the USGenWeb Project.
>
> It is not clear to me what the best 'next action'
> should be taken by the AB - is the committee
> suggesting that:
>
> A. The USGenWeb Project register itself as an
> "unincorporated nonprofit organization" in one of the
> eleven states which have adopted the UUNAA, thus
> receiving the benefits of such registration?
>
> B. The XXGenWeb Projects would also be included in
> this "unincorporated non-profit organization" if
> individually desired as 'sub-units' of the parent
> organization (even those residing in a state other
> than one of the eleven)?
>
> C. Or is A true and B false?
>
> Could someone please clarify for this old,slow mind?
>
> Larry Flesher
> SWSC SC Rep
>
>
> --- "Tina S. Vickery" <> wrote:
>
> > The following final report has been submitted to the
> > Advisory Board
> > pursuant to Motion 07-12.
> >
> >
> http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/BOARD/2007-06/1182581192
> >
> > Discussion of the report is now open.
> >
> > Thank you to the committee for their work on this
> > task.
> >
> > Tina Vickery
> > National Coordinator
> > USGenWeb Project
> >
> > --
> >
> > The Fact Finding Committee was formed based on the
> > charge of the
> > Advisory Board pursuant to Motion 07-12, which
> > states the purpose of
> > the committee is to:
> >
> > 1] Review and document current financial laws
> > relative to non-profit
> > organizations such as the USGenWeb. For example,
> > incorporation
> > registration, unincorporated non-profit
> > registration, 501(c)3 status,
> > status quo and so on and what each would mean to
> > this organization as
> > possible effects/non-effects of possible needed
> > future funding.
> >
> > 2] Develop a list of possible financial paths the
> > USGenWeb could
> > pursue, or not, with potential advantages and
> > disadvantages.
> >
> > 3] Provide a report to the Advisory Board (without
> > recommendations)
> > of findings.
> >
> > 4] The group will have five members who have
> > demonstrated experience
> > in organizational financial management.
> >
> > 5] The Advisory Board will recruit and select
> > initial and subsequent
> > group members.
> >
> > 6] The group will structure itself and the group
> > leadership and assignments.
> >
> > 7] The group will provide reports of tasks,
> > accomplishments, and
> > plans to the Advisory Board every month."
> >
> > The initial members were:
> >
> > Nola Duffy
> >
> > Alice Gayley
> >
> > Patrice Green
> >
> > Peggy Kelly
> >
> > Kemis Massey
> >
> > Alice Gayley was elected as Chair and Patrice Green
> > was elected
> > Secretary of the committee. The Chair subsequently
> > resigned and was
> > replaced by Kemis Massey.
> >
> > Plans were made to examine the requirements of
> > incorporating as a
> > non-profit corporation in each state and lists were
> > assigned to each
> > member to study.
> >
> > Nola Duffy and Patrice Green were asked to examine
> > the effects of the
> > Uniform Unincorporated Nonprofit Association Act.
> >
> >
> > To better understand the effects of the options
> > available, outside
> > legal authorities were consulted along with members
> > of 2 national
> > accounting firms.
> >
> > After lengthy discussions with the attorneys, who
> > agreed to review
> > the present structure of the USGenWeb and offer
> > their advice, the
> > final conclusion was that it was not practical or
> > beneficial for the
> > USGenWeb to attempt to incorporate at this time
> > unless a majority of
> > the membership expressed an interest in doing so.
> > The reasons for
> > discouraging incorporation can be summarized as
> > follows:
> >
> > 1. The USGenWeb has always been based on the desire
> > of individual
> > members to freely provide online data for
> > researchers with minimal
> > central control. Whether by design or evolved
> > practice, the major
> > control mechanism has been vested in the various
> > state organizations
> > that over the years have established their own
> > standards, rules and
> > practices. Without clear indications that the state
> > organizations
> > desire to yield control to a more centralized
> > authority, there is
> > nothing positive to be gained by incorporation.
> >
> > 2. Many states have already incorporated as XXGenWeb
> > and thus are
> > authorized to operate as XXGenWeb within their
> > state. The logistics
> > of getting the individual states to either modify or
> > accept more
> > centralized authority would require a commitment
> > that would have to
> > be agreed upon in advance in order for the USGenWeb,
> > Inc. to have any
> > positive impact on achieving the stated goals of the
> > USGenWeb
> > Project. More importantly, there appears to be
> > little to be gained by
> > incorporating when the same benefits and protections
> > are now
> > available via the Uniform Unincorporated Association
> > Act .
> >
> >
> > The UUNAA: Benefits for Unincorporated Nonprofit
> > Organizations
> >
> > Until recently, unincorporated nonprofit
> > organizations were often
> > considered less than legitimate by many people
> > because they had not
> > incorporated, and offered far less protection and
> > privileges than
> > incorporated nonprofit organizations. For this
> > reason, the National
> > Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws
> > (NCCUSL) drafted
> > the Uniform Unincorporated Nonprofit Association Act
> > (UUNAA).
> >
> > Under the UUNAA, unincorporated nonprofit
> > organizations were given
> > the legal status of a separate entity for the
> > purpose of liability,
> > which covers all directors, owners, employees and
> > volunteers. This
> > means that individuals who work for or promote an
> > unincorporated
> > nonprofit organization cannot be held liable for the
> > actions of that
> > organization just because of their involvement or
> > support.
> >
> > The UUNAA covers a broad definition for a nonprofit
> > organization,
> > i.e.: Two or more members joined by mutual consent
> > for a common,
> > nonprofit purpose. This means that the structure of
> > the nonprofit
> > organization does not have to be formal at all. This
> > is important
> > since it requires no change in the existing
> > structure of the USGenWeb
> > Project beyond registering in any of the
> > jurisdictions which have
> > already adopted the UUNAA.
> >
> > So far, eleven of the states in the U.S. have
> > formally adopted the
> > UUNAA, but the number is expected to grow
> > exponentially over the next
> > ten years. As more states realize the good that the
> > UUNAA can do for
> > unincorporated nonprofit organizations, they will
> > adopt the same
> > standards and begin to support those that work to
> > help others. The
> > states that currently have adopted the UUNAA are
> > Alabama, Arkansas,
> > Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, Wisconsin, Idaho, Hawaii,
> > West Virginia,
> > Delaware and District of Columbia.
> >
> >
> === message truncated ===
>
>
>
>
> ____________________________________________________________________________________
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