We know that it has been a while since we have updated our website, and we have a very good explanation for such a lack of internet-space maintenance. Currently, Being And Doing, Inc. is back at home in Cleveland, Ohio. We will be stationed in our north shore barracks throughout the rest of 2009, and hopefully not too long in 2010. Our four-month service trip was very successful all around – financially, developmentally, for networking, and for our goal of promoting good, charitable work. Due to this success, the three of us want to do our best to expand and solidify our organization; and, since there are only three of us, we need to hunker down at home base and focus on development and fundraising.
So, what exactly are we doing? We are working on finalizing the steps to receive our 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. For those who are unfamiliar with this term, here is a short explanation. A 501(c)(3) status is everything that a nonprofit organization hopes to be, i.e. tax-exempt. Once we have this status, we can apply for grants, seek out sponsors, network with both for-profit and non-profit entities with a solid legitimacy, and provide donors with a tax deduction. Once we get through the paperwork and revisions, we can seriously start planning our next steps.
In addition to seeking out our 501(c)(3) status, we are also looking into developing a small, independent board of directors. We are asking a diverse group of individuals to sit on our board so that any decisions that are made concerning our organization’s governance can be determined without any bias or speculation of bias. Also, it is the first step to expanding our organization’s operations and mission.
Katie is working on designing an e-newsletter so we can keep you up-to-date more directly. It has not been easy doing all the work that we have been doing in addition to telling everyone about it. We are hoping that a newsletter will help us have more direct contact with you and, hopefully, help spread the word to other interested parties that wouldn’t know about our group otherwise.
While we are home, and after we have finished with these preliminary necessities, we are going to work on setting up a group service project somewhere in the Northeast Ohio region so that we can invite you to come along. We want to find a need somewhere near home and invite all of our readers and supporters to come along. We will keep you posted.
So, while the three of us find some part-time work to keep some money in our pockets and pay off some bills, we also feverishly working on our mission. We’ve come a long way since we first decided to do this project a year ago, and we’re not ready to stop. We can only hope that in the near future we will have the ability to invite others to come along with us. Thank you for your continued interest and support.
Peace.