To be or not to be!
Posted by admin on April 28, 2008I recently responded to a comment pertaining to ABRA and whether or not they are a Not-For-Profit organization. This comment can be found here http://www.biotrauma911.com/blog/index.php/archive/authors-wanted/#comments
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia tells us that, “A not-for-profit corporation is an incorporated organization created by statute, government or judicial authority and registered at the Registry of Commerce, that is not intended to provide a profit to the owners or members. It differs from a for-profit corporation substantially as this is organized to provide profits to its owners or members.”
After further research, I can’t find where ABRA is doing anything wrong. It doesn’t appear that ABRA is incorporated or working as a LLC. Based on the information obtained from their website, ABRA is an association only. As such, they can call themselves a non-profit association and not be in violation of any laws, rules or regulations. If they decide to incorporate as ABRA, the not-for-profit designation may not apply.
If anyone has anything to add, please do so.
ABRA filed a Certificate of Incorporation with the State of Delaware 09/02/1999. Article three of their Certificate of Incorporation states they are a 501(c) (3). Call the IRS at 1-877-829-5500 chose menu item # 4 and ask the IRS to verify that ABRA is a 501(c) (3). They will not be able to because ABRA is not a 501(c) (3). The IRS is the agency that determines if a corporation is a 501(c)(3) not the corporation. The IRS is the agency that issues the Letter of Determination which allows a corporation to be a 501(c) (3). By law, any 501(c) (3) has to provide anyone who requests it a copy of their Form 1023 (application for non profit status with the IRS), a copy of the Determination Letter issued by the IRS, and the last three year’s tax returns. Believing what is on ABRA’s web site is exactly what they want everyone to do. I am amazed at the level of ignorance people in this industry have about what a 501(c) (3) is and the ethical standards they are held to. You read the comments on the blog:
(http://privateofficerbreakingnews.blogspot.com/2008/02/new-business-crime-scene-clean-up.html) but you didn’t follow through and get the facts. You simply went to ABRA’s web site. Follow through, get the facts and learn about the standards for a non-profit 501(c) (3). Learn about the Conflict of Interests concerns with non profits and their board members.
Please tell me how filing a Certificate of Incorporation with the State of Delaware claiming to be a 501(c)(3) when in fact the corporation is not and has never been a 501(c)(3), is not doing anything wrong.
ABRA counts on the ignorance of people in this industry, and the general public. ABRA will not stand up to legal scrutiny. What to you think Gordy is going to say? He’s going to double-talk and spin, spin, spin. Wikipedia is not a legal dictionary. The State governments, the IRS, courts, and attorneys don’t care what Wikipedia has to say.
I would have expected more investigation from a law enforcement officer. Get the facts, the legal facts.
Gordy Powell with ABRA responded via email to this post. Mr. Powell states, “ABRA is a not for profit and not a non profit organization. As a not for profit we do not and can not accept donationa and can not be used for a tax write off.”
I cannot find where there is a difference between a not-for-profit and a non-profit designation. Can anyone verify this information?
Richard . . .
Although I am a law enforcement officer, there is a world of difference between those of us who work the streets and those who investigate white collar crime and or corporate structure and tax filings. I suppose it’s a good thing I like the good vs. evil fight on the streets. I’ll leave this type of investigative work to gentlemen such as yourself, as you seem to be quite good at it.
Thank you Richard for your continued contributions to this blog.
Like I said, spin, spin, spin…
Then why do they claim to be a 501(c)(3) in their filing with the State of Delaware?
Can’t you tell when you’ve just been spun?
i think its great what u do and i hope i can one day be able to do the same.
Dear Industry Brothers and Sisters,
My first inkling of this industry was planted in 1985 while in serving in the realm of public safety when a mothers’ 16 year old son decapitated himself by means of a 12 gauge shotgun, and when the mother asked who was going to come clean it up, my immediate supervisor told her that it was her responsibility. I personally could not tell anyone that. Years rolled on and in 1996 we started creating our little business. Like most when asked how business going, you will always hear me refer to it as feast or famine.
I write this today because of my disgust of where I find the industry today. Yes, I am for free enterprise (Go USA), and am thankful I have been around as long as I have, but I have never been involved in an industry where so many us are demigods and media whores. Let us not forget the very reason I hope most of us dove into this industry, hopefully to aid our neighbor in need, better our community as well as each other. Though here lately, we all appear to more like a bunch of 12 year olds playing king of the hill. Am I perfect? Hecks no, just ask my bride. I make plenty of errors and mistakes, but I do what I believe is right and learn from any errors. Just like in this industry, I try to do what I believe is right to help all. Can’t we all just stop building fences and start build bridges? If we do not like what one person thinks or says, please don’t publicly chastise him or her, we are all on this learning curve together. That’s why it’s called a learning curve and not a learning line. I could care less who belongs to what association. I belong to ABRA, because at the time it was the only group that was there where we all shared a common interest. What most of you do not know is that there was a period where I left ABRA for a couple of years because I saw nothing going on. Then I came back because I wanted to make a difference not just for ABRA but for our industry as a whole, and only hope that I have. I do not shy away from my local competitors; I have learned to embrace the diversities around me. I believe that we work in good harmony with each other. We all have gone to different training schools, belong to different groups, but when it matters the most we all come to the table with a common goal when it matters. Some of you may want to sit down at this point, but believe it or not, we actually refer work to each other and pay each other a 10% thank you fee.
Our industry is only set up for a finite number of companies. It is not like a nail salon where we can have an infinite number of salons in a geographical area and have businesses that do not overlap. In my opinion I never see any biorecovery association having hundreds of members. I believe it is our duty as stewards of this industry to inform and educate the public of this valuable service, rather than seeing this Hatfield and McCoy mentality. If you do not want to take a referral, fine that’s your business, do not tear a man down for his interpolation of free enterprise, and don not try to tell others how to run their business. If you take referrals, great, don’t tell others how to run their business either. So let’s all stop the he said she said, and I don’t like that or I don’t believe you and mine is bigger attitudes and email lashings. I like to believe that these blogs are of nurturing our industry and educational for us involved.
Take Care,
Gordy Powell /Atlanta
GeorgiaClean.com
Cc: ABRA Blog / Yahoo Chat site / Other related Blogs
Add A Comment