to all the 17,456 Az'ers - just my thoughts?

Okay, I just off the phone with the IRS? And no, I am not afraid to call them. J

Points of Interest:

1. The donated money is not taxed.

2. Whomever is the designated ?holder? of the money, if he puts the money into a bank account, then he would have to file a claim on the interest only. Again, only interest and/or dividends would have to be filed for whomever is the ?holder? of the money.

3. The ?holder? should be an US citizen or legal resident alien.

4. Foreign donations would not be accepted. If you are overseas, sorry.

5. Those that donate the money would not be able to file their donation for charity exemptions as you have not donated to a non-for profit.

6. We may give our donations to whoever or whatever we want. Meaning, we can give to a non-for-profit or we can give to an individual.

7. This means, we can give freely if someone (Smokey?) want to step up and keep this organized.

My Suggestions:

1. Set-up Pay Pal account and provide information to forum members with a cut-off date for donating.

2. Provide information on where the donated money will be going.

3. ?Holder? should provide detailed accounting to all forum members on monies accumulated.

4. ?Holder? should provide copies of statements of donation received from non-for-profit organizations.

5. If there is money left over, then forum members can take a poll for where the left-over money should be given, (I.e. AZ forum itself, needy AZ?er, touring professional, etc.)

6. If forum members are interested in setting up something more permanently, then we can file for non-for profit. That would mean setting up a corporation with board members that I?m assuming everyone can vote for on AZ.

We would be trusting whomever we send this money to, they will have to do the right thing by all of us. In the spirit of this forum, I do not see this as an issue, but some accountability should be considered. With that said, I hope this goes forward and I hope this information helps. According the IRS, this is no different than holding a car wash or having a spaghetti dinner with the intention of donating the money.
 
I'm in. Smokey it looks like you need to either post up a Paypal link or an address. Paypal is easiest but you lose a few cents on the dollar. If you do not have Paypal, I would gladly accept donations and mail a check to you and make up the paypal fees myself (unless some ungodly amount were deposited whereas I couldn't reasonably cover the 3%).
 
IRS is one potential problem.

Paypal is probably a bigger problem. I know of some cases in the past where Paypal flagged accounts with sudden influx of "donations" and froze the accounts, leaving the money in limbo. It couldn't be refunded to the donators, let alone make it to the destination.

I don't know if it's still a problem, but you might want to phone Paypal and find out first.
 
No added fees!

I think this may be a paypal alternative if someone would like to look into it. We could just have a single page with google adwords on it, a donation box, and the checkout button.

https://checkout.google.com/sell/?gsessionid=uJlXlWt7opA

Also email money transfer right through online banking could work with less fees than paypal. I just cant stand them getting a piece of our donations if we can help it.
 
That's amazing! this popped up while i was typing. Anyway, my thoughts exactly! GREAT POST!

When I looked on the member list i only saw 9900 and change
 
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hi all Az'ers [part 1 of 2]

there have been so many replies i will try and address each in only two (2) replies - this being 1 of 2 - addressing the negatives + questions first:

Jerry Forsyth: i was sorry to hear your info about taxes, but, please see post 21 by kath13; it appears he/she did exactly what was necessary and contacted the IRS and it seems this type of donation is fine, just as long as we do not try to take a tax deduction for our contribution.

LoGiC: i would prefer not having cash. it would be much easier to present a copy of an account [like paypal] to show all monies received and sent than keeping a manual record of everything. just my opinion.

AnitoKid: based on kath13's post 21 i think you can not contribute as this would be against the IRS rules presented. but i will donate for you and me together.

shinobi: thanks for your warning, but if i remember properly this issue was with eBay/paypal. as i remember an eBay account received a "great amount" of money for i think for hurricane Katrina. if i am correct, i am pretty sure we will not be in the same category financially.

srs314: do you or does anybody know what paypal fees there would be? it seems as though as bad as many have said that paypal is, it is really convenient for us.

smorgie: sorry i made a huge mistake on the amount of Az'ers at 17,000+ members; i looked at the rep page you gave me and it was 9,900+ members but you advised it is only about 2,000 active members [i just wonder if that is the number of members that gave you greenies?]. is there a 'real number? what gives?

i think that covers part 1 of 2.

best,
smokey
 
Jerry Forsyth said:
Here's the problem you are going to run into. Taxes. Unless you are a tax-exempt non-profit organization you have to pay income tax on all income, even if it goes right back out as a donation. It is a book-keeping nightmare. We came up against this problem with the Pro Player Travel Fund and had to go to the BCA and hide behind their tax-exempt status and STILL there are problems with the IRS. If you have money coming in, no matter where it goes, the IRS demands a cut.

But good luck with this. If you can overcome the problems and actually set this up Mike and I will certainly contribute. We already have enough programs on our plates at AZB and cannot take on another at this point so let us know who spearheads this.
Click to expand...

its not hard to form a 501 c.3. which is a tax exempt charity, the proicess is faster than it was, when its legit and this is its triple easy. and can be done for nothing or close too it, we got to get kids playing!!!
 
To be honest I don't see any places youth can play pool out where we live like Boys Clubs, or Y's.
shakehead.gif
 
I only get the Canadian fees paypal info when I go to help on my account. I have sure someone in the cue buy and sell forum knows exactly how these fees work.
 
smokey said:
smorgie: sorry i made a huge mistake on the amount of Az'ers at 17,000+ members; i looked at the rep page you gave me and it was 9,900+ members but you advised it is only about 2,000 active members [i just wonder if that is the number of members that gave you greenies?]. is there a 'real number? what gives?
best,
smokey
Click to expand...

Smokey,
The numbers are hard to decipher. If you click on the word MEMBERS at the top of any page, it will take you a page with all the letters of the alphabet and will show a total of 9,942 Members.

If you click on any letter from A to Z it will show you one of 331 pages of Member's names registered here at AZB over the past years. http://forums.azbilliards.com/memberlist.php

These Members may have signed up only to read AZB, or only to vote in a Poll, or with the intention of becoming a poster. But, if you click on any letter (pick one from A-Z) you will find that a large number of Members have NEVER posted here. If you click on any user's name on the left side of the page, you may also find that the 'registered user' hasn't visited AZB in years.

Who knows why people sign up and then never post or come back to visit AZB ?

I still contend that there approx. 2,000 registered 'Members' that might Log On to post or read AZB.

Doug
(but, 2,000 regular participants is still a considerable number to do good things for the kids... imo)
 
hi again Az'ers [part 2 of 2]

so far we have committed donors as follows:

The King
srs314
Jerry Forsyth
Mike Howerton
Black-Balled
rayjay
Purdman
poolhustler
koop
AnitoKid [and me together]
iba7467
drawman623
rackmsuckr
Dartman
KoolKat9Lives
kath13




the above are only those that said "I'm In" either in this thread or by PM. i know others of you were saying that in essence in this thread, but i don't want to be presumptuous, so please state for the record on thread "I'm In".

i was mistakenly under the impression we had over 17,000 members and thought if only a somewhat small percentage of us gave a dollar or two we could make a great contribution to our sport. per smorgie, i see i was grossly mistaken. but now i'm now not disheartened; i must tell you why - a respected member offered in a PM to donate a "quality" cue for "our" holiday contribution effort.

what do i mean; well here i can tell you:

TX Poolnut said: "My next door neighbors son now owns my Huebler."

hangemhigh said: "After I read this I went down to the local Boys and Girls club today. Checked out their table and equipment, asked about possibly donating some house cues and chalk. The idea was well received and I am on my way to the shop to make the order. It was good to visit a place with the intent of helping, and it is something each and every one of us can accomplish."

reality: we all of course can not afford to donate a "quality cue" and that is fine, only a few can. but a dollar or two we "ALL" can afford.

i don't understand how many Real Contribututing Az'ers we really have, but whatever that figure is - we can At Least" have $1 dollar from each and every one.

finally, we need to think about where to donate the money/cues/supplies we contribute. please think and advise your thoughts.

"we can make a difference".

let's do it!
smokey
 
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I will help in any way I can. In fact, I will donate a complimentary cruise to the Bahamas or a 3 day/2 night vacation (transportation, port fees and/or taxes not included) for the highest contributor. :thumbup:
 
smokey said:
...finally, we need to think about where to donate the money/cues/supplies we contribute. please think and advise your thoughts.

"we can make a difference".

let's do it!
smokey
Click to expand...

IMO you'll get better results by nailing down the who, where and what "first".
Once that's done the donations/contributions will surely follow in greater numbers
then simply creating a blind fund.
Then consider the how - in other words the logistics of completing the plan.

I think this thread shows some good starter interest and we would be glad to add
something to the pot once the plan is decided.
 
I understand, Smokey.
Thank you for the gesture. It is much appreciated.
And more thank you's for coming up with
something like this.

Again, thank you very much!

AnitoKid



smokey said:
AnitoKid: based on kath13's post 21 i think you can not contribute as this would be against the IRS rules presented. but i will donate for you and me together.

smokey
Click to expand...
 
I'm in

I'll donate oil changes & tire rotations to all the Boys Club's Big Wheels! ;)

Seriously though, great idea Smokey. Count me in.

I searched the net and see that Greensboro, NC has 5 Boys & Girls Clubs, all associated with The Salvation Army. This seems like a wonderful type of charity whereby we could make a difference. We want to make a positive impact on kids with pool, and I think it is important there is adult supervision.

Let's press on!
 
Also

I have found that the old guys down at the senior center are greatful for lessons, chalk, cues, and the ocasional ball polishing. I have a 93 year old student that just purchased his first table. When I met him I gave him my old Espiritu only to find out that HE went out and purchased 4 cues for the other players that couldn't afford one a month earlier.
Purd
Rock on Smokey
 
what about if a native american az'er managed the account....lives on a reservation...taxes do not apply there...what do you accountants think about that
 
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