Hi Riley Gaidin. I was just wondering if there was a breakdown of what TV.net pays for each year. I thought financials were required in annual reports, but I can't find anything.
There are certain documents that, as a member of TarValon.net, you have every right to view, but I haven't considered before how to offer them in a format that protects them and protects the community (it is proprietary information after all), but still allows member access to them. Your question right here right now shows me that I need to work on this. So I appreciate that. And I will.
I do offer general information for annual reports, but, as I say, it's propietary, so we don't publish exact figures. It gets confusing with the monies that are event related, as opposed to those that are not, and all that. I can expand on that a little, if you would like. But it really is kind of boring to anyone but me, and to me it's a pain in the ass.
In addition to Riley's comments, specifications regarding our providing financial information can be found in the IRS Publications 557, page 19. It basically states that up to three years of historical Form 990s are available upon request. There are several stipulations as to how, when, etc the request should be made and met. Keep in mind that Form 990 is our annual tax return and thus isn't a clear line item of what monies are used for which purpose. Along this vein our incorporation and Form 1023 are under the same IRS governance regarding public requests and distribution thereof.
We are not legally bound (that I am aware of) to provide cash flow statements, itemized budgets, etc for public view due to (as Riley said) it's proprietary nature.
I may have missed this in skimming the first post, but have you ever considered applying for a 501c 3? This gives you status as a non profit, and any donations to the organization can be matched by willing employers of the donors.
We did apply to be a 501(c)(3), however it would change our culture drastically. It was more important to maintain our social aspect than to view all members purely as donors. I recommend viewing the May History lesson/PSAthat discusses our legal status in greater depth.