On Tue, Nov 3, 2015 at 10:22 AM, Mari M. <strawberrypilabs(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Some think we should continue as a non-profit, some
think that we should try
to actually turn the Ballroom into a money-making venue to help better serve
the community. Perhaps a Benefit Corporation could be the bridge between the
two?
We had a long conversation with our lawyer about this a couple months
ago. Basically it would risk the nonprofit status of the whole
building.
He told us most things we would do count as "educational" and could be
structured as donations, and the things which absolutely don't, could
still make up to 30% of our budget. This is even if you paid people to
do the labor. I would say there are many simpler things we have yet to
try before resorting to a for-profit company, such as offering to pay
event bottom-liners, which wouldn't even require any structural
changes.