Falkin Investing Attains 501c (3) Nonprofit Status
Posted by Blain Reinkensmeyer
October 9, 2007 at 11:36 am
Many of you know me just from the blog here at StockTradingToGo, but I actually also run a website that’s been around longer then STTG over at falkininvesting.com. Just yesterday I received the official letter from the IRS accepting our 40+ page application for 501c (3) status, the highest status a nonprofit can reach.
Co-founded with my business partner Mark Zimmer, we launched the falkininvesting site in December of 05 and created the Falkin Investing Corp. which was setup as a nonprofit. The site houses our stock forum which as of today has 10,415 posts from 4,580 members.
501c (3) status grants us tax-exemption from the federal and state government, and allows people to donate money and get a tax write off for their donation. Ever heard of the Red Cross or Blue Cross Blue Shield? They are 501c (3) nonprofits as well.
So, in the future you will probably start to see me mention the Falkin Investing Organization more and more. We are extremely excited and have a few unique ideas that we can now put into place to better serve our tax-exempt purpose. Our mission as a nonprofit is to promote free financial education worldwide.
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That site is a great idea. What happens to your tax free status if your donations start to form a “profit”? I guess it’s pretty easy to balance that with more expenses?
Actually even as a 501c (3) you can operate at a profit. As long as the majority of your income goes to serve your tax exempt purpose you can operate like a corporation (to an extent, the basic concepts are there though). So, let’s say the FIO brings in $10,000 in donations next year, but we only spend half of it on serving our tax-exempt purpose and save the rest for future projects, that is ok. If we have excess cash we can invest it in the stock market for example. What nonprofits do to game the system is spend the extra money on lavish dinners, travel, salaries, etc. and out of 100% total income MAYBE half actually goes to serve their tax-exempt purpose. These guys get busted (hopefully).
Good for you Blain! I think that the work you guys do over at Falken is worthy of said status.
Now if you end up too rich, just buy VG
That’s awesome! Being non-profit doesn’t keep you from paying yourself a salary does it?
Read the above but basically no it does not. Salaries are determined by how much time you work, how much the nonprofit actually makes, etc. and is approved by the board of directors.
I didn’t mean you should have a salary to “game the system”, but to pay you fairly for your work, just as any legit non-profit would do.
I agree 110%, you should definitely be compensated for hard work. Sorry I worded that wrong above, we are the on the same page
Congrats on getting the 501C status
Congratulations. Must of been a lot of hard work.
Congrats Blain. That’s a great accomplishment. It’s really cool to see someone put their dreams into action.
It’s pretty neat that people can make charitable donations to your cause and get a tax receipt to boot! Awesome work.
Very nice. Congratulations Blain on this achievement.
Congratulations Blain! Sounds like a pretty large step for falkininvesting. I actually remember signing up for an investopedia (I think?) simulation game through falkin a year or two ago, where I believe you had setup a prize for the winner.
Yea, that was us alright
Did you like it? Maybe we should bring them back.
Sure, I think an investopedia or virtualstockexchange contest with a small prize for winners is a great idea for getting people interested in falkin. Who doesn’t like a free stock simulation game that also carries a little bit of a reward for the winners?