These days, that's hardly the case. There's dozens, perhaps hundreds of ways to publish content to websites, forums, newsgroups, and the like straight out of the same publish software that lays up paper publications. In fact, I'd lay pretty good money that every copy of MA ALREADY exists in some sort of web publishable format.

Add to that the ease and simplicity of setting up and managing e-mail distribution lists, RSS/XML feeds, etc etc and it becomes ludicrously simple to bring content to the outside world. In fact, I dare say it's almost MORE difficult to keep the outside world FROM seeing your content. *heh*

Perhaps, however, this ties in with the first issue I mentioned more than any of us realized. Perhaps the 'issue" underneath both is a need for a significant technology "upgrade" at AMA?

More importantly, don't there HAVE to be a fair number of IT professionals in the AMA (I can think of 2 others besides myself off the top of my head) who might be willing to share their expertise in these areas?

Hrmmm.

I don't know what, the AMA, as a national organization (I would guess not for profit, but am unsure of this) must provide to its' membership. If they could get by with publishing on the web any news letter requirments and enough of the membership would want the magazine provided this way. I say have at'r. I will still want the magazine mailed to me so I can read it the way I want to read it.

I get tired eyes reading things on a TV monitor.

why not do like the phone book:

A few Blue dogear pages in front of MA for the Fed Req garbage
The main MA with articles, columns, and fun stuff.
Some Yellow dogear pages after the main for all the pretty pictures of ARFs & brushlessmotors for sale

Seperate but equal, for now keep the same ratio of ads-content-FedReq, just seperate it so we can see what is what, and I dont have to put up with 4.75 pages of ArfAds breaking up a construction article (target audience? Arf ads in a build article?)

We are not here to serve the Advertizers, and apparently MA is not interested in runing financially sound, so cram the adds to the back. If the Advertizers dont like it, what is the worst that can happen, MA will run REDer? A $1mil loss will be a $1.5mil loss?

Quarterly newsletter, DEFINITELY NOT a commercial magazine. IRC 501 (c) (3) Education. Commercial magazine comes under the definition of "Unrelated Business" which is a taxable income entity for the advertising profits. If AMA was subject to $1,000,000 per year taxes, then they would have $2,000,000 to keep in the jeans. [>:]

I certainly wish I was paying Uncle Sam a million yankee dollars each year. I'd have better jeans!

For AMA to lose some direct loss of 1.2 million on the magazine, plus another 4-500,000 for magazine staff not accounted to the magazine cost, can only evidence to me that there are ulterior plans in the works, thumbs are in the potential pie, and the guard (membership) is totally asleep at the wheel, also evidenced through their -- membership -- voting record and their uninformed complacency.

You have led us to believe that you are an expert on what the IRS requires. Just EXACTLY what are the CURRENT requirements for the publication of Model Aviation Magazine in order that the AMA might keep its current IRS tax status? Please make this exact and not just your opinion, since you have on many occasions presented yourself as an expert. Direct quotes from the IRS code and the specific sections quoted would be nice.

The AMA can sell whatever they want to make money, "commercially" including a commercial magazine and anything else that helps raise income for their NFP organization. Best part is that they can do it tax free. Doesn't Goodwill own a lot of commercial retail stores which they sell merchandise for profit, which is of course, related business. In their case it's A LOT of profit. Oh and the boss of that company now makes 7 figures a year.

*sigh*

i SO did not mean for this to turn into yet another "What should the AMA do with/about AMA / The AMA is screwing up because ______________" thread. Sorry, ptulmer.

gboulton, don't apologize for being one of the few actual contributors to the thread.

Hmmm...Why should this thread be any different? The AMA has its own website to disseminate info…

maybe it goes like 'hey, tired of building that plane yet? here, try an ARF!'

hossfly

You have made a few posts in other threads since I asked this question. Maybe you just never saw it. Please reply and establish the facts. If, on the other hand, you are not an expert and simply don't know, please so state.

MA requirements?
Like if it is required to lose $100k, $500k, $1mil? Is there some mandated loss amount MA has to meet?

Is that the reason it runs so far in the red,
it has to lose $1million or it voids the NFP status?

Or is the a lesser loss we can achieve & still keep tax status?
What would the IRS do to us if we only lost $500k on MA next year?

Sorry but you are mislead. MA does make money, what you see are the operational costs, but you are not looking at the inbound revenue streams, in the form of memberships. AMA is $58 which includes insurance, magazine, and other perks. Now re-do your math.

Also NFP status is not based on revenues, it's based on mission requirements, first and last. IRS doesn't care how much money you make or lose as long as you are fullfilling the educational or whatever requirements to keep your status and the AMA more then exceeds those requirements.

I saw it, however I am not your peon, and I don't feel some compulsion to prove anything, especially to someone behind some mask demonstrating almost no in-depth knowledge of some subject that I might care to discuss. [>:]

However, since you want something, let's see if you can post here something I want, specifically, Name, full Address, & telephone #. Once such is verified, then I will pull out these volumes of the IRC ( to 2004) on a bottom shelf under my desk, check the applicable portions on the web, and relate to you the informational specifics of my research.

Comprender, bandido?

The Gubbermint calls it "excess revenue" and not "profit" for 501 (c)-3 organizations. And as stated above it has to do with what is done with it rather than the fact that it exists.

Yes, I comprehend. You are not an expert and simply post opinion.

My identity is irrelevant to your postings. Nice excuse for you to hide behind, however.

Like if it is required to publish MA to maintain the AMA IRS status. You have no ability to understand the accounting as proved in your previous posts.

If you know the answer hossfly does not, step up and post it.

If not just keep up with the malarkey.

Once again, faulty info that appears logical

NFP status has to do with by-laws and articles of incorporation, not with mission statements.

The financial statement clearly shows that MA loses money, as allowed by the IRS code that controls its accounting. Maybe the expert, hossfly, will explain all the facts to us. Or not.

Shush! Don't contradict the expert.

In a way that only a government could do it a Not For Profit organization can never have a profit since they are not for profit, which means that they can never have a profit because they are not.....

Well, you get the idea.

What the heck do you think the bylaws are based on?

STL

One of these days you are going to realize what most of us already know. You have no idea what you post about. The AMA mission statement has changed several times (fairly recently, in fact, as evidenced in prior posts in this forum). Spend some time on the IRS site and you will find what the status is based on. Not what you would like it to be based on for your convenience. Its a matter of law, not some contrived hogwash you post.

BTW, you might want to learn to direct your posts to whom you intend the post to address. Phaedrus and model.flyer are not one and the same, I assure you.

Sorry but my information is based on the last 2 weeks filing paperwork for a 501C3. The process is not fun, but most of the application is based on what you "will do" with your org as much and more then as how you will structure it. And whomever said that a mission statement could not change as long as the ultimate goal stays the same which your incorporated for???

Exactly what IRS form would that be?

Not sure of the form numbers, they are at my other office. I know one was 21-22 pages and the other was about 10.

I did want to add and I can tell you first hand model.flyer I know what your talking about in regards to the structure. But the structure of the corporation is the other piece of the NFP which is done well before the 501C3 process begins. When I filled out the paper work the easy parts were to fill in the blanks, check marks and boxes all based on what was already achieved by the completion of the corporation, piece of cake, it was already done and the IRS more or less re-confirms the information they've already acquired. But what the IRS really wanted to know for the NFP, on these particular forms and to extrapolate on seperate accompanying documents was what we are going to achieve with this NFP. What really took the longest and needed to be overseen more by the lawyer was the documented portions of the application. Most of that information, if not all of it, was many pages long of written and re-written narrative of what we were going to do, how we were going to do it, to whom we were going to serve and what we were going to accomplish. This was by far the most complex part of the process so far. It is all new information to the IRS.