Central Oregon Blues Society
Profile Information
- About Me:
- We are huge blues fans, just moved here this year from Omaha, Nebraska where we were members in good standing for 10 years. We volunteered for annual bluesfests, riverboat blues cruises and many other blues related fundraisers. We saw the Omaha Blues Society go to a few members to over 1,000 members and take it to a 501c non-profit club so that everyones yearly dues could be written off at tax and we could promote the blues society by fundraisers as well. We would be glad to help get this blues society off the ground in anyway we can. You all are doing a great thing!!!!
© 2010 Created by Cliff on Ning. Create a Ning Network!
Comment Wall (8 comments)
You need to be a member of COBS to add comments!
Join this Ning Network
Again the link!
Great to meet you last night, and much thanks to you and Warren for your support and for volunteering for the steering committee :)
I'm wondering if you could do some research on the web for mission statements from other blues societies?
We have downloaded and printed the ones from Rainy Day Blues Society in Eugene, and San Luis Obispo Blues Society in California.
If you could find a few more that are available online, print them out and bring them to the next steering committee meeting, it would help us to have examples when it comes to deciding on what we want in the one for COBS.
Please let me know if this is something you might be able to do, okay?
Thanks!
Barb
Your assumption is incorrect ... you don't need to be a corporate entity to fundraise ... all you need is 501C3 status (not for profit). I have a good friend, with whom I co-founded the Rogue Valley Blues Festival in Ashland in 2000 ... she promotes the local blues festival and an annual concert series in Ashland for the past nine years ... her 501C3/not for profit status was attained by joining the Folk Alliance, and her St. Clair Productions is non-profit/501C3 via her membership in the Folk Alliance ... I'm also on her board of directors.
You should check out:
http://www.folk.org
... for more answers on this.
You don't have to have a lawyer ... also ... please read the article at my web site ... on this subject:
http://hawkeyeherman.com/pdf/HowToCreateABluesSoc.pdf
Also ... the 501C3 status allows you to apply for arts grants ... which I know a lot about ... since I've done BITS programs in over 500 schools in 21 states and five foreign countries ... so after you get the not for profit status ... you guys will need to send a member to the local community college's course in grant writing (every community college in the US is required to offer a course n grant writing at least once a year) ... sending two people to take the course is best ... it costs about $50 per person ... to learn how to write an arts grant.
All of my in-school blues performances ... and many of my festival performances are paid for by grant funding.
My latest project is to empower/create more blues educators. In November of 2007 I gave a two-day seminar/workshop/retreat in France as part of the Blues sur Seine Festival for teachers/musicians on how to get involved in blues education ... I have given this same workshop for blues musicians/teachers for the Blues Foundation, The Colorado Blues Society, the Miss. Valley Blues Society, and the Rainy Day Blues Society. In this workshop ... I teach blues history, how to build a blues curriculum according to one's individual background and skills ... and I cover achieving non-profit status, as well as grant writing concepts.
Cheers,
Hawkeye
----------
<<Hawkeye, Thanks for the information, I may be wrong, but heard that any blues society wanting 501C3 status has to be in form of corporation so that we can fundraise. One of the things that is good about this is that dues a blues society would charge can be then written off making it more lucrative to pay for yearly membership in membership drives and fundraising. Even tho it is free as you say under the folk, a society would still have to hire a lawyer to make the corporation. >>
I was on the board of directors of the Blues Foundation for six years (including being the blues education chr. for that period of time)... and I've written numerous articles on the information for which you are searching.
Have you read "How To Create A Blues Society/Support Group - Instructions/Information" ... ? You can view it here:
http://www.hawkeyeherman.com/pdf/HowToCreateABluesSoc.pdf
All blues societes have the right to download and reprint any of my original articles, all I ask is for author's credit and my web site URL to be listed with the article.
I have helped many blues societies get up and running over the years ... as well as aided many blues socieites in getting blues in the schools programs going ... if you need help advice, you should contact me.
Also ... you should be aware that your org. can get non-profit status (501C3) by simply joiing the Folk Alliance ... and you then follow their simple instructions for qualifying your org. as not for profit under the Folk Alliance's blanket/umbrella 501C3 status ... which elimatinates lots of paperwork and legal counsel.
First off ... however ... you should read the article mentioned above.
Dont' try to reinvent the wheel ... all questions/issues with creating a blues society ... from charter/by-laws to non-profit status have been dealt with by others ... you need to network to realize alternatives ... like you dd with the Omaha Blues Society information regarding 501-C3 status/non-profit ... and still realize that the solution used by the Omaha Blues Society is just one option ... amongst many.
Cheers,
Hawkeye
Barb
Barb