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Archiver > BOARD > 2008-05 > 1210622495


From: "Concetta Phillipps" <>
Subject: Re: [BOARD] Final Report of the USGenWeb Project Fact FindingCommittee
Date: Mon, 12 May 2008 15:01:35 -0500
References: <E7EC549C03FB4999A3CD82EE3976FEF8@TinaSVickeryPC><796579.86050.qm@web52805.mail.re2.yahoo.com>
In-Reply-To: <796579.86050.qm@web52805.mail.re2.yahoo.com>


Yes, the committee deserves a huge round of applause for a job well done -
this is a very nice report.

With that being said, I think, Larry, the answer is A.

My take on it, however, is that the subtle recommendation is to continue in
a holding pattern to see where the UUNAA legislation ends up.

I was hoping for some more information on what it would take for our
organization to become incorporated so that the AB could judge as to whether
or not " there is
nothing positive to be gained by incorporation.", apparently the committee
has judged this for us.

So...we continue as is, once again.

Concetta



On Mon, May 12, 2008 at 12:53 PM, 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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