[pm-h] YAPC -- Houston?

[Christopher D. Lewis]

On May 24, 2006, at 7:07 AM, G. Wade Johnson wrote:
> Thanks for the offer, Chris. But, as I understand it, The Perl  
> Foundation
> provides 501.3c status for the conference. They also handle a bank  
> account for
> registration funds and such to go through the non-profit. I don't  
> understand
> the details myself, but having access to someone who does would be  
> a major
> comfort.

If the Perl Foundation "sponsors" it and you run it, you just need to  
know who you talk to about depositing and spending money (and  
whatever organizational issues may come up, like ... do they want one  
of the folks from the national organization involved in the local  
arrangements as a condition of its involvement, etc.).  They could  
create a local account for the duration of the planning through the  
winding up of the project with someone here signing checks on it, or  
they could appoint someone as a liaison to interface between local  
folks and Perl Foundation money, with a PF officer writing and  
depositing checks for the event.  Just find out what the deal is.   
It's probably pretty simple, but they need to be able to account to  
the IRS for all the income and expenses (they have a reporting  
obligation even if they don't have to pay income tax on event revenues).

I've seen people run events off a roll of cash (collecting entry fees  
and paying expenses from a wad of greenbacks in their pocket), and  
accounting for it all later is well-neigh impossible.

> If it looks like we can put together a proposal, it might be  
> helpful if you
> could talk with the appropriate people with TPF to make sure we've  
> got all our
> bases covered in that area.

Now there are two things to figure out:  how is local coordination  
organized, and who in the local organization will interface with whom  
at the PF.  When you buy stuff for YAPC, make sure you've got its  
identifying numbers to give to merchants from whom you want to make  
tax exempt purchases.  If you actually want a tax exempt number from  
the state, you will need a copy of the letter the IRS sent PF  
recognizing its tax status.

Enjoying the existing 501(c)(3) will be easier than rolling your  
own.  Also, when it packs up and leaves you don't have reporting  
obligations to the IRS that catch you by surprise the following spring.

Best regards,
	Chris