IN THE HOME STRETCH: 501(C)3 ON THE HORIZON

This morning in beautiful Emerald Isle, North Carolina, I took a break from enjoying the waves to head down to the post office and send off the final portion of our 501(c)3 application. With these minor corrections, our application will be submitted for a final review and we should receive our status within three months! Our journey towards achieving 501(c)3 status with the IRS has been a long, long waiting game. Here is our timeline to date:

• March 2013 we sent off our initial application.

• June 2013 we received confirmation that our application was received and is under review.

• June 2014 we received a small list of corrections that need to be made in order to be approved.

While speaking with our IRS representative last week, I was reassured that the recent revelations of mysteriously trashed hard drives and Tea Party targeting had nothing to do with the processing of our application. However, the entire agency was subjected to efficiency reviews. (After a year and a half wait, I’m beginning to wonder if slipping in an anti-Obama reference wouldn’t have been worth a faster response time . . .) On the bright side, compared to a year and a half, three months seems like lightening speed.

For our supporters, the good news is that the Mugumo Project is now able to accept donations and those donations will be tax-deductible upon IRS approval. Thank you for continued support as we move towards getting this organization off the ground–now the real work begins!

Jessie