Hi Lauren,

I work for a private foundation that makes grants to museums and historic
sites, so we work with many "Friends of" groups to get funds into state
funded organizations.  One thing that is pretty important is for the
Friends group to have their 501 (c) in place quickly to accept money.  That
means they will need an Executive Board and ByLaws before they get too far
along.  The enthusiasm of Friends groups is wonderful, but they sometimes
miss key steps like this and start trying to raise money before they have
their legal status. With recent changes, it takes a bit longer to get the
IRS status sometimes, so have them start soon.

Here are a couple of legal links to help them:

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/form-nonprofit-eight-steps-29484.html

 http://charitylawyerblog.com/2012/01/17/forming-a-501c3-booster-club/

Best of luck.

-- 
*Michelle Zupan*
Curator
Hickory Hill & the Tom Watson Birthplace
502 Hickory Hill Drive
Thomson, GA  30824
706-595-7777
FAX: 706-595-7177

Visit us at www.hickory-hill.org or on Facebook
<https://www.facebook.com/hickoryhillmuseum>.
Follow us on Twitter: HHEducation

Historic homes of the Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc
<http://www.watson-brown.org>.

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