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>. ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).