During the last few months, the AMA’s 501 (c) 3, educational, not for profit, IRS status has been discussed in this forum. Most of those discussion have revolved around Model Aviation Magazine.

There are a number of ways in which the AMA can, and does qualify for this status. No single activity grants the status. One activity is the publication of a magazine with educational content (Model Aviation magazine). One is conducting educational classes, which is done at modeling shows, through the program to partner with school teachers, etc. Another is the granting of scholarships. Additional items that could be done are having an accredited museum, which the AMA does not (expensive!). Another is conducting classes “on campus” in Muncie. There are others as well.

The AMA, up until the July EC meeting, set aside 16 cents per member per year for scholarships. At the July meeting, Dave Mathewson put an item on the agenda to increase that to 30 cents, which was carried unanimously. This strikes me as being insufficient. It raises under $50,000. What ways could we, as an organization, increase this? Or should we?

What more can we do, as an organization, to live up to the educational IRS status we have? Should we just let the IRS revoke the status? As an organization, the AMA does not effectively, or efficiently solicit donations, which is probably the major advantage of the 501 (c) 3.