HOMEBREW Digest #5942 Tue 26 June 2012


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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
		Digest Janitor: pbabcock at hbd.org


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Contents:
  Fwd: The Home Brew Digest, Inc. Update (Patrick Babcock)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Beer is our obsession and we're late for therapy! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * NOTE: With the economy as it is, the HBD is struggling to meet its meager operating expenses of approximately $3500 per year. If less than half of those currently directly subscribed to the HBD sent in a mere $5.00, the HBD would be able to easily meet its annual expenses, with room to spare for next year. Please consider it. Financial Projection as of 25 June 2012 *** Condition: Guarded *** 501(c)3 automatically revoked; New Forrm 1023 filed 25 June 2012 for retroactive reinstatement. See Site News on http://hbd.org for details and progress. Projected 2012 Budget $3191.79 Expended against projection $1572.72 Unplanned expenditures $ 101.95 Projected Excess/(Shortfall) ($ 389.19) As always, donors and donations are publicly acknowledged and accounted for on the HBD web page. Thank you Send articles for __publication_only__ to post@hbd.org If your e-mail account is being deleted, please unsubscribe first!! To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE send an e-mail message with the word "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" to request@hbd.org FROM THE E-MAIL ACCOUNT YOU WISH TO HAVE SUBSCRIBED OR UNSUBSCRIBED!!!** IF YOU HAVE SPAM-PROOFED your e-mail address, you cannot subscribe to the digest as we cannot reach you. We will not correct your address for the automation - that's your job. HAVING TROUBLE posting, subscribing or unsusubscribing? See the HBD FAQ at http://hbd.org. LOOKING TO BUY OR SELL USED EQUIPMENT? Please do not post about it here. Go instead to http://homebrewfleamarket.com and post a free ad there. The HBD is a copyrighted document. The compilation is copyright HBD.ORG. Individual postings are copyright by their authors. ASK before reproducing and you'll rarely have trouble. Digest content cannot be reproduced by any means for sale or profit. More information is available by sending the word "info" to req@hbd.org or read the HBD FAQ at http://hbd.org. JANITORs on duty: Pat Babcock (pbabcock at hbd dot org), Jason Henning, Spencer Thomas, and Bill Pierce
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2012 11:19:01 -0400 From: Patrick Babcock <patrick.babcock at gmail.com> Subject: Fwd: The Home Brew Digest, Inc. Update Greetings, Beerlings! Take me to your lager... Since traffic to the list is low (ok: abysmal), I thought I would take this opportunity to provide some updates regarding the HBD as a "going concern". First, a bit of history regarding the corporation. In 2007, the HBD incorporated in the State of Michigan as a not-for-profit corporation, and remains in good standing. When we incorporated as a NFP, and requested our federal EIN, we should have been entered into the IRS not-for-profit database. For some reason, we were not. Because of this, when the pension act was passed in 2008 (the act added a filing requirement for ultra-small not-for-profit organizations such as ours), we were not notified of the new requirement and, therefor, did not fulfill the required filings for requisite three years following 2008 - however, this did not precipitate notice of automatic revocation of our status either, as the law requires. When we discovered this in 2011, I contacted the IRS regarding our status, and that is when the error in our record was discovered. I was assured that within 90 days of that March call, our record would be corrected, we could file our 990N, and all would be right with the world. Of course, that never happened. After the requisite 90 days (100, actually), an attempt to file our 990N failed again, and another call was made to the IRS. This time, I was told we'd have action within 30 days. 30 days later, notice was received that our 501(c)3 status was automatically revoked for non-filing. I guess they finally fixed our record... In any case, we have been asked several times over the years to file an IRS Form 1023 in order that certain organizations could provide us with grants. After a couple of years asking for a volunteer to complete the Form 1023 for the HBD, and after the face-splash of cold water provided by the IRS regarding our 990N, I took it upon myself to complete this task. Though the paperwork claims to require only hours to complete, it took much closer to a year, what with finding meaningful instructions, suitable examples, amending corporate documents to fit the IRS requirements via board meetings, getting over the IRS form-induced anxiety, and finally, after finally having a package ready for submission, discovering that the IRS issued a notice which changed the forms without updating the form revision date or, for that matter, the forms themselves. Sigh. To shorten this down to its salient points, our Form 10223 was submitted under Notice 2011-43 on 25 June 2012. Assuming we dotted all the i's and crossed all the t's properly, and assuming the IRS agent reviewing our case sees fit, we should have our 501(c)3 status retroactively reinstated. This will hopefully occur before the end of the year, but I understand there is a significant backlog of similar Form 1023s, and the end of this year is the expiration of Notice 2011-43, so I suspect that backlog is about to grow huge. Note, too, that approval and issuance of a letter of recognition of exemption is not the guaranteed conclusion to this epoch. All in all, this is good: having an official IRS Recognition of Exemption will open additional avenues of funding and equipment to the HBD. Something we probably should have gone after much, much earlier, but, unfortunately or otherwise, as a 100% volunteer organization, we haven't the luxury of the time to spend freely on such things. Having such recognition will also ensure that any donation to the HBD is deductible for tax purposes as well. Cross your fingers for us! In preparation for receipt of this letter, the HBD.ORG website has been reconfigured to provide for the complete public disclosure of records required by the IRS for holders of such official recognition. As far as finances, we pretty much always were in good shape, with our ledger on public display at all times. You can now also review the HBD's corporate documents and filings, including the newly executed Form 1023. In terms of the HBD itself, we intend to expand our content relative to the other realms stated in our purpose statement - though home brewed beer will always be our primary interest, some of the other lists that the HBD has hosted regarding fermented foodstuffs have generated content that should be summarized and published in a more easily researched format than the related list archives. We will continue to offer these side email lists on the subjects of other fermented foodstuffs - those available now can be seen at http://hbd.org/mailman/listinfo - and will host new lists for pursuit of information on other fermented foodstuffs, as well as for targeted experiments and activities. We are also investigating an update/upgrade to the popular Brews & Views Bulletin Board to "modernize" its approach to presenting information, though we will likely delay any action here until we have received results of our Form 1023 for no better reason than we may have access to donated, professional software once officially recognized. Financially, the HBD has enough cash on hand to cover expenses through the start of October, at which point, it goes onto "life support" - ie, on my whole dime. If you still value the HBD, donations are still appreciated but, again, I fully understand if you prefer to wait until the HBD's 501(c)3 status is officially sorted out. In any case, and as always, I will carry the HBD as long as it remains rational for me to do so. All the best! Patrick G. Babcock President - The Home Brew Digest, Inc. Return to table of contents
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