I'm a real boy!

Wait, strike that, I'm still a woman. We are, however, a real business. Our Articles of Incorporation were approved and the government has issued us an Employer Identification number. We're a real company now!

Thus endeth the news of goodness. The bad news? I'm now able to start wading through all of the paperwork needed to apply for our federal and state non-profit status. We also will need to start applying for a small business loan in order to pay for those applications (my goodness was I shocked to read those fees) since community fundraising and taking public donations will be difficult without being able to write people receipts for a tax-deductable charitable donation. In a perfect world, we'll be able to get everything approved for our non-profit charitable status quickly enough to then take donations in order to pay back the loan. In the real-world, it's probably a good thing that no one has quit their day jobs.

Back to the good news front, all but one member of our Board of Directors has been sat. Our first choices have all said yes to serving on the board, including the regional director for the JCAC who will be a tremendous help in providing us with knowledge and experience. Our last seat is a Member At-Large position. We have a first choice in mind (as well as a few backups) but have not yet been able to contact him. However, the two at-large positions aren't required to be filled in order to have meetings or make quorum, so we can still get started in the interim.

This process still carries with it a huge sense of trepidation, but so much excitement is being mixed in that it's turning into quite the enjoyable endeavor. I never thought I'd be able to teach myself enough about business and tax law to accomplish all of this on my own... I wonder if I'll still be singing the same tune after I wade through the non-profit applications...