501(c)(3)

We've done it! We've finally incoporated the non-profit organization. It is officially called Solar Turbine Group International, Inc. The principal aim is to provide financial, technical and intellectual assistance to sustainable energy projects for communities in the developing world.

I know! It sounds like a lofty goal, but it's a humble beginning. The main reason for incorporating was to provide a legal foundation for the project we're doing in South Africa and from there we extended it to include projects anywhere in the world. 501(c)(3) is the IRSs code which provides us with the tax exempt status. Most charitable organizations (but not all) fall in this category. However, our main goal for incorporating was not to take advantage of the tax exemption status, but to provide us with limited libility protection in case anything goes wrong. The world is a litigious place and we must prepare for anything.

What is my role in all this? Well, I'm a director of the organization (there are five of us). The directors are the ones who manage the affairs of the organization. It doesn't mean much right now because we're not going to be activelly raising funds and growing the organization (at least for now). But as a directors, we have the fiduciary responsibility to make sure the organization follows its goals and there are no conflicts of interest that could undermine the non-profit or tax-exempt status.

It's pretty exciting! I'm learning a lot about the non-profit world. For example, most non-profit organization end their fiscal year on Sept 30. Why? Because the end of September is the off-peak period for tax filings so the non-profits could get their accounting done for less (or even for free). My... they think of everything!

Our next step is to incorporate a separate for-profit organization later this fall to commercialize the technology developed by the non-profit organization.