Dr.

[jrakes]

Can someone clarify what is meant by a non-profit organization and the acceptance of an Eagle Project? It is the opinion of many Scout leaders that all organizations benefiting from an Eagle Project are NOT non-profit organizations. This would include churches, schools, and any and all government organization, whether it be city, county, state, etc. I have also included a a link to a book I recently published dealing with the process of completing an Eagle Project. Thank you.

 

 

 

 

JRakes

 

http://www.outskirtspress.com/webpage.php?isbn=1432703609

[Stosh]

A non-profit organization is one that adheres to the state laws that determine such organizations. If the organization is authorized to do business in a state, they make application as a particular kind of entity, i.e. C-corporation, S-Corporation, Partnership, Limited Liability Partnership, etc. which are all for-profit structures. Otherwise one can form a non-profit organization i.e. charity, religious organiztion, not-for-profit corporation (hospital, nursing home, schools, etc.)

 

If one is unsure as to the organizational stucture of any entity, simply go on the Secretary of State web page for any state, go to the searchable database, put in the name of the entity and it will tell you whether or not the organization is authorized to do business in the state, whether it is current with it's obligations, and what type of organization it is.

 

Be careful because certain assumptions cannot be made. A hospital, for example, can be a non-profit or a for-profit, same for a private school or nursing facility. Check their state charter, that is the only definitive answer.

 

Also, not all organizations are chartered. A group of concerned citizens, club or organization may not hold any state charter whatsoever. A club does not need to register with the state as a non-profit organization if it does not wish to "do business in the state."

 

Those organizations do not qualify for tax-exempt purposes. In other words if you make a contribution to the group, you cannot take a tax-deduction on your income taxes.

 

Most non-profit organizations do hold a sales/use tax exemption certificate which they will gladly show you giving proof of their non-profit status. Most scout troops fall into this category.

 

As a general rule of thumb. If it's not a BSA organization or affiliated with the BSA and holds one of these tax exemptions, they are probably a non-profit organization and would work well as an Eagle project sponsor. Public schools, municipalities and other governmental entities are the only organizations that would qualify for an Eagle project that wouldn't be a non-profit organization. There are other entities that may qualify for Eagle projects that I haven't listed that would maybe qualify such as work on an Indian Reservation, etc. These special situations would vary greatly, i.e. doing work for an on-reservation Indian casino would not look as impressive on the Eagle project review as maybe doing some improvements on a reservation school building/playground, etc.

[jrakes]

Thank you. Very informative.