11 Jun
2003
11 Jun
'03
11:11 a.m.
On Wed, 11 Jun 2003, Keys wrote:
Well today I got the last piece of news about starting
my non-profit
museum here in Texas and I have got all the official okays from Austin
(Secretary of State and Texas Comptroller). Now all that is left is to
get the non-profit status ok from the IRS. I hope to start fund rising
here in Texas first since they can get tax right off here and then
nationwide after I get the IRS OK. So far my only cost was a $25 fee
to the State plus the cost of priority mail. The IRS is going to be a
little more costly with a minimum fee of $500 to file. Since I still
do not have a job it's hard to spend that kind of cash right now but
the cost of keeping the collection is getting higher and higher plus
no one can really se it right now.
At first glance, there seems to be some matters of practicality and
skewed priorities here. If your collecting continues to result in
higher storage costs and you have no source of income, exactly how do
you expect to keep your collection, long-term? Unless you're positive
that your non-profit operation will generate enough revenue to cover all
the expenses for your museum, you really should be focusing your efforts
on finding some steady employment in your spare time. If you've
noticed, there's kind of a trend at the moment of people selling off
their collections to make ends meet. I don't think anyone here wants to
find themselves in that situation, nor do we want to see our peers end
up in that kind of predicament.
Make sure you've got the essentials addressed first: food, clothing,
shelter, health insurance, and some means to maintain them into the
forseeable future. You can probably live inside one of the larger
computer enclosures, but AFAIK, you still can't eat or usefully wear
computers.
-brian.