Good to see they have taken to social media like a duck to water.
... Oh wait, that was me being sarcastic again.
The Advocates for Awareness of Watchtower Abuses (AAWA) [WARNING]
by Simon 226 Replies latest watchtower scandals
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EdenOne
do they T-Shirts sell with sales tax?
Eden
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Stealth
Quit complaining and just donate $$
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Witness My Fury
nvm
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The Quiet One
HintOfLime Re: Why isn't anyone on JWN invited to the Facebook discussion by AWAA tonight? posted 12 days ago (4/13/2013) Post 2065 of 2089 Since 4/24/2009 "It can take 2-12 months (usually between 4 and 6) to become a recognized 501c non-profit. Searches don't seem to list them yet at: http://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/pub78Search.do?searchChoice=ePostcard&dispatchMethod=selectSearch and http://501c3lookup.org/ (Although there is likely some delay before they are listed online) It would suggest they aren't quite a non-profit yet, and are just merely incorporated." http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/scandals/250425/7/Why-isnt-anyone-on-JWN-invited-to-the-Facebook-discussion-by-AAWA-tonight
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The Quiet One
Fizzywiglet said: "However, they are not a nonprofit at this time.... They did represent themselves to me, when I was approached to participate in the YouTube video, as a nonprofit " http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/scandals/250425/7/Why-isnt-anyone-on-JWN-invited-to-the-Facebook-discussion-by-AAWA-tonight
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JeffT
Well apparently I'm the only one to think of looking up the actual answers to these questions.
In order to apply for non profit status with the IRS you have to finalize incorporation in the state where you're setting up shop. Then you have to file a bunch of paperwork including your financial history with the IRS. In other words, you have to be set up and operating, it then takes some amount of time to get approval and official status with the IRS. God knows how long this will take, you're dealing with a government agency.
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1023.pdf
The IRS has thought of the situation that is occuring with AAWA and made provision for it. If an organization is granted 501(c)(3) status that status is retroactive to the date of incorporation. For the purposes of current operations the IRS treats the organization as a nonprofit and donations to it are tax deductible. Donators run the risk that the IRS will deny nonprofit status and deductions to it will be disallowed retroactively. I doubt this is of major concern for anybody likely to donate to AAWA for two reasons. One unless one of you gave them a whole bunch of money a retroactive disallowance is not going to result in much of a tax bill. More importantly, it seems unlikely that the IRS would not grant 501(c)(3) status to AAWA. AAWA's activities are not going to strike the IRS as a way to hide buckets of money for the incorporators, which is the thing that causes denial of nonprofit status.
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wha happened?
It's not so much that you are dealing with a govt agency for the delay. As I've stated before, all non profits came under scrutiny after 911, as non profits were a means for al Qaeda to launder money in the states. So the gvot digs deep
One thing for sure, you can't use an aka to set up a non profit.
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Las Malvinas son Argentinas
That's precisely the point. The minute I saw that they were actively soliciting donations, I knew that they would (and should) have to adhere to higher standards than the 'wild-west' of JWN as one of their directors called it. How are these donations being spent? According to their charter, donors have a right to see a full accounting of "a summary of how donated funds have been spent on a quarterly basis" according to their Mission Statement (See Article 6 "Financial Transparency"). I hope they realise that any one who donates even just a couple of dollars is entitled to see this quarterly report, and could sue them in court should they not disclose this as promised. One would certainly hope the president himself is not subpoenaed to testify! That would involve some serious travel expenses. Oh wait, will those travel expenses be covered by the donations they bring in? These are the questions that need to be asked. It had all the appearance from the very beginning to me of an ex-JW fraternity that would fly in from all over the world for clandestine meetings, giving a speech in a Manhattan hotel conference room in the hope of gathering media attention, and having a hearty meal at a trendy restaurant afterwards. It's not unreasonable or 'bashing' to openly ask if the donations would be spent on any such expenses. Finally, the president himself has been open about his career in ex-JW activism. A few months back he stated that he was writing a book, and should a publisher not pick it up, that he fully intended to self-publish. Does he intend on using AAWA funds to do this? Maybe I am wrong, and they have or had no intention on doing this. But these are fair questions. If I or anyone else here launched a site, asked for donations for a non-profit venture all the while letting everyone know I was dead set on publishing a book, the first in a series of exposés, would people be right to question motives? The president himself stated definitively that he was seeking an 'advance' for his publishing efforts and would use such funds to travel all over the world to meet with people. Where do the president's personal ambitions end and where does the AAWA's start? I'm finding an incredibly blurry line between those two, if they are not indeed one in the same.