Because I finally asked just what in the sam hill this is, I’ll share: Directors and Officers.
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Yup. That.
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new term that started this summer when the Directors made more committees appointed vs elected.
Administration would be the equivalent.
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News for ya chief, it existed a little while before that…
I am certain. But new to us at the Space
I am in favor of adding more officers. Esp Vice-Presidents to share that load.
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Where could I get a copy of our non-profit information? I would be glad to ask (beg) for donations. Is there a list of things we are in need of that could be requested of local businesses/organizations? Also, perhaps it would be nice if someone could give a class on grant-writing. I’m sure we would qualify for something somewhere. I’m happy to research opportunities and apply for grants - except that I have never done that before.
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Depends on what you mean, the IRS form 990 is available online.
I think some are missing the point. You can have access to DMS financial information if you so desire via a couple methods: 1) QBO Access and do the accounting work yourself, 2) Come to a finance meeting and ask for help or 3) review past financial information as part of the board meeting minutes.
What are not doing is work on demand as a volunteers. Especially when used as a why not, we can afford it proposal. While beautification of DMS is a decent goal, $16,000 is not an insignificant amount of money at the moment. AND we don’t know exactly how much expansion is going to require for completion. A budget was never set prior to proceeding down this road. I can say that @richmeyer, @mrjimmy, @yashsedai & @brsims and others have done an excellent job getting things done and at dollar amounts we can handle. This is being considered, just it is in a line of many things that require planning.
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@brsims - I believe the documentation I am looking for is a 501 © determination letter. It is something I can show to prospective donors of DMS’s tax-exempt status.
As he has mentioned, please drop by a finance meeting on Tuesday nights.
Also, if you are looking to help out with getting donors or grants, please work with our pr team so everyone is in the know. @Team_PR.
Other than the 990, the only tax exempt letter I can think of is our tax exemption form for purchases. It’s on the wiki here:
Now here’s funny bit. I’m working on the Thomson Reuters class for the 990, and tax-exempt organizations in general.
It says you can count on the answer you get from the Tax Exempt Organization Search, unless you know why the organization is no longer exempt, or if you’re the person who caused it to become non-exempt. Naturally, this doesn’t apply to DMS in any way, as we are tax-exempt, and should be listed on the IRS website. We did get our status before 2014, right? (Apparently the search isn’t fully updated.)
And, what they would be looking for is our 1023 application, and the subsequent Determination Letter from the IRS.
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Yeah it was 2010. Between us, I think they all got posted to this thread.
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I took a closer look at the office area hallways in the front today. Not surprisingly, they are worst from about four feet down.
If we paint, I suggest that we paint the bottom four feet a contrasting darker color, like we did in the north workshop/warehouse. I suggest that we use either one of the two dark greys that is in the new lobby.
Painting the bottom 4’ dark should significantly reduce the appearance of dirt and the frequency with which we need to repaint. Using the color that is already in the new lobby should help to tie the design of the two spaces together better.
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And if we WERE to do both, we’d want the painting completed first, anyway (as drip insurance).
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ProPublica and Guidestar are good places to review Non-profit organizations:
Here’s the DMS link on ProPublica: IMHO, it is a little more flashy in presentation and easier to parse.
Please note that going out and representing DMS to a publid official without actually being authorized as representing DMS is frowned upon. DMS Rules and Policies says:
- Only persons or members that have been formally authorized to act as an agent or representative for the Dallas Makerspace, are permitted to represent DMS in any and all conversations, writing, or other communication with any public official. Failure to secure permission may result in the forfeiture of membership.
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It’s not very difficult to get authorized - just send us an e-mail ([email protected]) and let us know what you want to do. 
I’m going to suggest we line the calls with FRP from 4ft down. Easy to clean not easy to mar.
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