Thanks Peter. It cost me $95, I filed a for a faster process, That is an extra $35.00 The most expensive was publishing it in a news-paper, which cost me $180.00 (The cheapest I could find). You did state the getting the tax-exempt non-profit corporation through the IRS would be very beneficial for the club. I would agree. One of these 2 approaches would be better that wavers, and probably Cost less in the long run. Print Wavers, storing them, maybe paying someone to stand at the entrances to collect the etc. would add up to more than the cost over time that incorporating. Tom Hilton -----Original Message----- From: sac-board-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:sac-board-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Peter Sent: 07/19/2005 7:58 AM To: sac-board@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [sac-board] Re: SAC Constitution and Proposed Amendment 2.0 With regards to liability, the general membership isn't really at risk - just the officers. Incorporation shields the officers from personal liability by creating a legal entity. Actually, incorporating in Arizona is a lot less expensive than that. It will cost you $10 to reserve the corporate name for 120 days. The fees are $60 (only $40 for a non-profit). It will cost $10 annually to file the required annual report with the ACC. No, it isn't very hard at all - it is more just assembling existing/known data into the application. The result is a non-tax-exempt non-profit corporation. A non-profit corporation is still required to file an income tax return with the IRS annually. Another possibility is concurrently filing for a 501(c)(3) exemption of the IRC (done through the IRS). This will cost around $500 and is a little more involved than incorporation (it is the federal government, after all). The result is a tax-exempt non-profit corporation. This situation would be very advantageous for a club like SAC. Peter -----Original Message----- From: sac-board-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:sac-board-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Stars Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2005 7:25 AM To: sac-board@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [sac-board] Re: SAC Constitution and Proposed Amendment 2.0 The only true way to truly protect the board members and general members would be to incorporate the club as a non-profit origination. The cost of doing this should be around $500.00 The paperwork is not that hard. I did all the paperwork myself to incorporate my business. I don't think that a non-profit corporation is much different. SAC already has an established name, so getting a registered name for the club should cost only about $15.00 if I remember correctly. I did mine through the Department of State of Arizona. Once you have a registered name, you file the corporation paperwork, cost around $120.00, wait for a reply, then publish the corporation paperwork in one of the news-papers and send the certification of publication to the state. Since I already had my trade name registered, it took less than 90 days to do. If everything is done correctly, you will receive your notification from the corporation commission that you are now incorporated. You have to file a corporation report each year, stating any change in officers or status of the corporation. It will be paperwork, but again it is not all that complex. The state's corporation has all the forms that are needed on there web site with instructions. This only has to be done once. This is one of the easiest states to incorporate in. This would mean no wavers to have to attend with, and the board and members would be protected. Yes the club could still be sued, but only for it's assets. If what you are trying to accomplish is to protect the club, there is no better way that I am aware of. Tom Hilton