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You’re Invited to ZAP Brown Bag Meetings

The Zoo, Arts & Parks program will be holding brown bag meetings on the third Monday of each month starting June 21, 2010 through December 20, 2010. This is a pilot project formed in response to feedback and suggestions ZAP received from the 2010 Roundtable Report and ZAP 2010 Applicant Survey.

The brown bag meetings will provide a setting for open discussions focused on various topics of interest. Through the brown bag meetings, ZAP hopes to facilitate expanded communication between the various ZAP-funded groups. These meetings will provide professionals with a venue for networking, sharing strategies, generating ideas, and forming partnerships in order to better serve their organizations and constituents.

ZAP invites you to send representatives from your organization to participate in these informal meetings. The scheduled dates, times and topics for each meeting are listed below. We will email reminders for each meeting as the date advances. Attendees are welcome and encouraged to bring lunch to the meetings. There is a cafeteria at the County building also available for use.
 
Thank you for supporting ZAP. We hope to see you there and ask that you forward this email to anyone in your organization who might be interested.

Brown Bag meeting & topic schedule:

  • June 21: Marketing
  • July 19: Fundraising
  • Aug. 16: Effectively Using Social Media
  • Sept. 20: NowPlayingUtah
  • Oct. 18: Board Development
  • Nov. 15: Fiscal Management
  • Dec. 20: Presenting the Performing Arts

All meetings are scheduled from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM and will be held in room S3009 (South Building, Third Floor – Center section) of the Salt Lake County Government Center which is located at 2001 South State Street in Salt Lake City.

While the meeting is scheduled from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM, the room is available from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM, so attendees are welcome to come early or stay later.

Thanks for sharing this and I hope you are able to attend!

Vicki

 

Annual Electronic Filing Requirement for Small Exempt Organizations — Form 990-N (e-Postcard)
 

Small tax-exempt organizations whose annual gross receipts are normally $25,000 or less may be required to electronically submit Form 990-N, also known as the e-Postcard, unless they choose to file a complete Form 990 or Form 990-EZ.

If you do not file your e-Postcard on time, the IRS will send you a reminder notice but you will not be assessed a penalty for late filing the e-Postcard. However, an organization that fails to file required e-Postcards (or information returns – Forms 990 or 990-EZ) for three consecutive years will automatically lose its tax-exempt status. The revocation of the organization’s tax-exempt status will not take place until the filing due date of the third year.

Due Date of the e-Postcard

The e-Postcard is due every year by the 15th day of the 5th month after the close of your tax year. For example, if your tax year ended on December 31, the e-Postcard is due May 15 of the following year. You cannot file the e-Postcard until after your tax year ends.

http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=169250,00.html

Basics To Know to Avoid Automatic Loss of Exemption for Not Filing 990 Form with IRS
Here are basics for filing 990 forms if your tax-exempt organization generally has annual revenue of less than $25,000.

·  Do I need to file? Yes. The law governing smaller non-profits changed in 2006, effective in 2010. In theory, any tax-exempt organization with under $25,000 should have filed in 2007, 2008 and 2009. However, it’s possible to still avoid the dreaded consequences of “three consecutive years” of lapsed filing, which is loss of the tax-exempt status.

·  When do I need to take action to keep my organization's tax-exempt status? The federal tax law in general has a Saturday/Sunday holiday rule, so that if a deadline falls on the weekend, the requirement moves to the next business day. So while the law says May 15th is the IRS filing date for organizations under $25,000, in 2010 actually you have until Monday 17th  (the deadline may vary depending on your fiscal year end).
·  Is it possible to retrieve federal tax-exempt status after the IRS revokes it on the basis of failing to file for three consecutive years? Yes, but follow the IRS guidelines for reinstatement.  

http://nonprofitmanagement.suite101.com/article.cfm/whoops-lost-your-nonprofit-tax-exempt-status-by-accident

·  Is it time consuming to file with the IRS if you haven’t done so for three years in a row? The IRS has made it easy to submit electronically. Andrew Burke of the IRS in Washington offers some reassurance to those who might have to scramble at the last minute to file. He said, “The e-post card is very simple. It has just 8 lines that have to be completed.” And, he’s right, the e-postcard asks for such basic information as your organization’s name and mailing address, and the EIN number. It takes less than ten minutes to fill out. “It’s not a tax return, its an information return,” says Burke.
·  Is it expensive to file with the IRS if your tax-exempt organization has not done so for three years in a row? No. If you get your paperwork in on time, it’s free.
·  What else do I need to know? The IRS offers "Guidelines for Using the Online Tax Filing for Non Profits (Epostcard)." They note that you can only use it to file for tax year 2007 (or later); that your organization must normally have gross receipts of $25,000 or less, and that your organization must not be a private foundation. (They also stipulate that if your organization is registered as 509(a)(3) supporting organization, its gross receipts must normally be $5,000 or less and it must only support religious organizations<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

 

ZAP Event Attendance Program

The Salt Lake County Council approved a new program for distributing ZAP recipients tickets to elected officials involved in the ZAP program. This program is designed to assist the County Council in their capacity as final authority on ZAP funding. Attending recipient events will assist the Mayor, Council and appointed officials in the review and evaluation of exhibitions, programs or performances, and to officially represent the County at the event. Here’s how it works:

  • Once a year each ZAP organization may invite the Mayor and Council to attend an event. Please only one invitation per organization.
  • Send the invite via letter or email to the ZAP program at least 4 weeks in advance of the event with the following information 1) Name of the organization sending the invitation, 2) title of event with a brief description, 2) date(s), 3) location, and 4) rsvp deadline.
  • The ZAP program will distribute your invitation and collect the responses. We will inform you of the response and assist in distributing the tickets.
  • If you have several types of events throughout the year, you may give the Mayor and Council an option for what they can attend

The ZAP program is also working on a system to receive from those attending events, feedback on the event through a survey or similar manner. The official program description as approved by Council is located on the ZAP website on the Recipient/Applicant pages under ZAP Event Attendance Program. Read the full details approved by the Salt Lake County Council.