November 15th Open BOD Meeting Minutes

[Pennies2Cents]

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OPEN BOD MEETING- November 15, 2009

Present:
Sherri Ancira (Sherri) –Treasurer
Eve Vialpando (Pennies2Cents) - Secretary
John Roescher (JRoescher)
Bill Streep (BStreep)
Jennifer Prince (Princer7)
Jack Watkins (TXAV8R)
Rob Bernhardt (Mr. Cob)

Absent:
Steve Byrd (BigBird123)
Sean Hall (Cpreefguy)
Alex Garza (Aggman)

Meeting Minutes:

Non-Profit Status Update:

MAAST has responded to the Dept of Treasury's request to add the following amendment to our Articles of Incorporation, (how the State views MAAST), which in turn, MAAST would amend our current ByLaws (how MAAST views itself). This has been reported as in the works...

“ Said organization is organized exclusively for charitable, religious, educational, and scientific purposes, including, for such purposes, the making of distributions to organizations that qualify as exempt organizations under section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or corresponding section of any future federal tax code.”

The US Treasury also requested a list of meetings for 2009 and a projection list for 2010. It was asked that we submit a breakdown of each meeting for 2009 as to who any and all Speakers were. As well as what topic he/she presented at the meetings and any literature/power point that was used. The reason for the above mentioned request is to check out how educational we are...

Sponsorship Committee:

The Sponsorship Committee Person will be discussed in further detail in an online discussion with all BOD Members present. Jarrod (Cowboy572) has offered his time and dedication in recruiting potential Sponsors as well as communicating and working together with our current Sponsors. There will be more details to come once the discussion and vote by the current Board of Directors is complete.

Sponsorship Contracts:

Any and all contracts created for the purpose of TMAC & MAAST Sponsorships are to include 2 BOD Members, specifically (1) Officer being the Treasurer and 1 Director. We are currently working on creating those contracts and will soon be up for discussion & vote by the current Board of Directors. We will use these contracts to keep a paper trail of any and all donations & expenses received and/or used for MAAST purposes.

TMAC:

It has been requested by Kristy i.e.: Events Coordinator that she be contacted by Alex (aggman) who is currently working on the events, dates and speakers of this event. It has also been brought to the attention of the BOD that this event take place in the fall to prepare for a better organized event as well as in the best interest of our club and its members.

Gift Certificates Year to Date for the Future:

It has been brought to the attention of the BOD that we have Gift Certificates that will be expiring at the end of this year. It is our goal to distribute these certificates as door prizes at our December meeting to be held on December 5th. It is requested that any further certificates obtained from our sponsor’s be accepted on a year to date basis. This topic is currently still in discussions and there will be further details to come once a vote by the current Board of Directors is complete.

FOR SALE FORUM:

The For Sale Forum and the rules that are currently set in place are being discussed in
an online discussion with all BOD members present. There will be further details to
Come once a vote by the current BOD is complete.

(VII) MEMBER QUESTIONS:

There were quite a few questions from our members that were posted in a thread as well as by private message. Here are those questions:

Submitted by: Peter Kordelski:

Q1. Where are we on Non-Profit Status?
Answered by:
Sherri Ancira- Treasurer

We (MAAST) are under 501C3 - Educational (Non Taxable)
We owe no sales tax on purchases for educational reasons
We owe no sales tax on membership dues
We are allowed two (2) one day raffles per year with no taxes due under Non Profit
Law now reflects that no Federal taxes due for less than $50,000 gross (previously $25,000) received per year under this 501C3
When Non Profit status is approved, we then can then apply for 990N by electronic post card (CPA would be able to do for us upon NP approval)
The above information is from our CPA whom processed the application and mailed to US Treasury along with our $300.00 check.

Update:
MAAST Ck #621 in the amount of $300.00 (NP application fee) was mailed to the US Treasury on 8/5/09 and cleared the bank on 8/13/09. Early September, received a letter from the US Treasury dated 8/20/09....stating receipt of our Non Profit application and the below explanation:

During the initial review process, applications for exemption are separated into three groups:
1) Those that can be processed immediately based on information submitted,
2) Those that need minor additional information to be resolved, and
3) Those that require additional development.
If the application falls in the first group or second group, you will receive your determination letter stating that you are exempt from Federal income tax or a request for information via phone, fax, or letter. If your application falls within the third group, you will be contacted when your application has been assigned to an Exempt Organizations specialist for technical review. You can expect to be contacted within approximately 90 days from the date (8/20/09) of this notice.

Update II:

As of today...10/20/09: I have checked Post Office Box twice a week since receiving letter and have heard nothing. We are currently 60 days into the application process...so hearing nothing is good news (no problems so far!) And should be hearing "something" within the next 30 days. I will post AS SOON AS I hear anything. Hope that helps explaining the complete Non Profit Application process....[IMG]file:///C:/Users/Eve/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image001.gif[/IMG]
Update III:
Please see article (I) of these minutes for a complete up to date progress.

Q2. How are we looking for a San Antonio MACNA? Are we ready?
Answered by:
Sherri Ancira- Treasurer on October 20th, 2009
As far as MACNA...we all were pretty excited about pushing for MACNA to come to San Antonio about a year ago. TMAC was formed initially as a gateway to MACNA. If we could handle TMAC - it would help prepare us for possibly snagging MACNA. Down the road - after TMAC - it became obvious that we really didn’t need MACNA right now. What we were attempting to do with TMAC was bring together Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Corpus Christi and the Valley. Texas basically. TMAC was a success and something we could build on currently. The BOD felt that giving such an event to our members - convenience, affordability, friendship, education & speakers so close to home - that it was an event that would grow into something that could be held annually - and become bigger and better. Aside from all of the above...the time and commitment to MACNA is enormous. With Non Profit still in the works...MACNA would end up costing MAAST. I (personally) feel/felt the support and commitment needed to pull off such an event wasn’t/isn’t totally there...and it is something that once committed to...cannot falter. Not to say it can’t be sometime in the future...but at a time where the foundation of this great club is strong and can handle the commitment. [IMG]file:///C:/Users/Eve/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image002.gif[/IMG]