In the Public Interest
Our story thus far: Ars Hermeneutica, Limited is the nonprofit company that Isaac and I formed on 15 November, 2004 (the official date when the Articles of Incorporation were filed and stamped by the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation, at 11:11 AM to be precise). We formed the company for the purposes of pursing scientific research and science education. When performed in the public interest, the income from such activities is exempt from taxation according to the Internal Revenue Code, section 501(c)(3). Note this distinction: the IRS does not confer tax-exempt status, it recognizes tax-exempt status. To apply for recognition of tax-exempt status, one merely fills out IRS Form 1023 and sends it in with the appropriate fee.
I sent the application 14 months ago; our's was some 50 pages long. Four months ago our application was finally assigned an examiner. After a three-month process of questions from our examiner and our answers (totaling another 27 pages of documentation), we finally received our answer last week, 21 November 2006.
Ars Hermeneutica, Limited is now recognized as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt corporation. Here's the opening paragraph of the letter (the "determination letter" is easily worth its weight in gold) from the IRS:
We are pleased to inform you that upon review of your application for tax exempt status we have determined that you are exempt from Federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions to you are deductible under section 170 of the Code. You are also qualified to receive tax deductible bequests, devises, transfers or gifts under section 2055, 2106 or 2522 of the Code.
We were pleased, too. By the way, all of the documentation and correspondence that I mentioned above is available on our website: we are required by law to make it publicly available. I can't imagine why anyone would want to look at it, but there you go.
Our education focuses on developing novel ideas for casual public education about science and technology* with the goal of making science less intimidating and more welcoming; I want to invite nonscientists to enjoy science for themselves. One of those projects, which we started on to create a demonstration website last year, is Science Besieged.
I don't yet have any online mechanism to accept donations, but I expect I will soon, and I expect I'll mention it when I do. At last, I get to point out that all contributions (alas, only in the US) to Ars Hermeneutica are fully tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
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*I just realized today that there is no suitable, all-encompassing word to describe the sciences and allied fields. Around government agencies it's usually referred to as STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics — ungainly as an acronym, particularly without context, and less than all-encompassing.
I'm entertaining suggestions. At lunch the best I could come up with was "The Rational Arts", which has a certain poetic appeal but doesn't really convey anything very accurately. Do let me know if any of you four think of something.
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on Monday, 27 November 2006 at 23.41
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Congratulations to you and Isaac. Sounds like quite a project to get that recognition, and a significant accomplishment.
Now, do you next approach a likely foundation of some sort? Maybe state government?
on Tuesday, 28 November 2006 at 00.10
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In a word: both. We can now approach interested foundations, who would not even talk to us without a determination letter in hand. There are also opportunities, particularly in science education, with federal agencies that require tax-exempt status for which we are now eligible. On balance, a good amount of the research work that interests us does not require the 501(c)(3) status, but some of it does, and it does open up additional sources of income to us.
In addition to the tax-exempt determination, we also have a provisional status as a "public charity", a specific IRS classification. Donations from the public, however small, demonstrate support from an interested public and reinforce our public-charity status, a status that will be reviewed in three years and one which we very much want to maintain.
on Tuesday, 28 November 2006 at 04.02
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Well good for you both. I hope you'll be able to secure something substantial. I think Dupont, which certainly should be science-interested, is a big deal in your part of the country. Perhaps they fund such activities.