Originally Posted by
jester_s1
HydroJunkie- Posting something in all caps doesn't make it any more true. NPO's sell things all the time. They are allowed to do that. I've already explained in a previous post why this new insurance deal is no threat at all to the AMA's NPO status.
I'm disappointed at how hard it is to have a productive conversation when the AMA is concerned. I'm impressed that everyone waiting until page 2 to make a reference to Nazis, as this is usually the go to for someone who gets frustrated about having their points refuted. But other than that little bit of restraint, I see the same old stuff. The wholesale condemnation of the leadership, having a tiny issue become the entire AMA's direction, paranoid suspicion of unknown dealings, it's all here. How about weighing this tiny maneuver with all the other stuff the AMA is doing well? Why do these conversations have to go straight to black and white absolutism and degenerate into name calling when we are capable of so much better?
Let's make a couple of things clear:
1) I'm not calling anyone in this thread anything or accusing anyone posting in it of anything
2) I have worked in retail and have had classes in marketing and know when something is being sold, which the AMA is doing, if not directly, as a brokerage
3) I have not cut down the EC or AMA in any way in this thread, other than pointing out(using their own ads in my last post) that they are violating their own mission statement, using deceptive advertising practices and endangering their 501C3 status.
Trust me, I also belong to an organization that is under 501C3 tax exempt status and we have been warned by the IRS that having that status is tenuous at best. The organization I'm a member of has an annual budget of less than $10,000 and a membership of less than 100 and all we do is host one square dance per month. That being the case, how can the AMA due what they are doing without risking their tax exempt status? Offering insurance as part of a membership is one thing, considering the Washington State Square Dance Federation does so with their 4,000 or so members, just like the AMA has done for years with hobby flyer members. To be selling commercial insurance and forcing those that buy to join the AMA isn't the same thing, it's almost bordering on extortion since for someone to get the price break, they have to join the organization. The fact that there is only one line in the ad that says you must be a member to buy yet says in several areas that you don't need to be a member for a quote is deceptive, to say the least.