Organization Greece

Dear Bruce,
there are two ways to establish a non profit organization in Greece and a third informal choice, as we exist since June 2000, just after the 2nd Int. Congress of D.D., having finished its works in Delphi, Greece.
First, we may establish a non profit Association, asking for a kind of approval from the Court of the seat (Athens, as decided) after a discussion of our relative application , made by a 3 to 5 member Comittee. (Do you think that I should put the names and addresses of the recipients of this message? Please send me then details and your type of Signatures).
Such an attempt has been done (registered officially before the same Court in Athens, since year 2000, signed in the name of the former Executive Comittee of WDDM- Ted Becker, Jiri Polak, G. Sagi and me- but there was no final discussion of that application, since we never finished our Chapter-Articles of Association). Therefore we have to finish this Chapter first, that has to be signed by 20 natural persons at least,presenting it before the above Court in order to have an official Association, under the Greek Law.The cost of the whole procedure (of course without lawyers' remuneration that this work is an offer of me to the WDDM) can be 800-1000 Euros, plus the necessary publications of the Court decision in a newspaper that has a cost more expensive for bigger papers.
Our other choice is to make a non profit Company, even with a Chapter signed by two perons at least, but we have to follow rules for Administration, taxation and peronal responsibilities of the persons that sign it, which make this form not suitable for WDDM principles and Structure. The cost is a bit cheaper than the Association's cost.
The alternative is what we call legally " Union of Persons" under the relative Constitution's Clause, that may be unofficial, without typical licences from Authorities . It then has to prove its existence practically (de facto) through publicised documents, as printed pages of our site etc. That's the way we exist as WDDM since year 2000, although I think that we are now mature enough to proceed with the first choice, when we finish our Articles of Association and have the signatures of 20 ordinary members.
Of course WDDM may be represented in the meantime and temporarily by our Greek NGO "Forum for Citizens' Democracy" or by our Political DD Party ("European Sympoliteia,Direct Democracy"), as it happens now temporarily with our logo, borrowed from these entities, until we change it after the International Competition for our new logo, that Lee proposed in Prague last September.
Please let me have all your answers and choices to the above alternatives, soon.

George L. Kokkas

USA Requirements for Liscensing

This is the basic requirements for licensing non-profit in the USA.
Required Inclusions
Every exempt organization must have an employer identification number (EIN), whether or not it has any employees.
If your organization does not have an EIN, your application for recognition of exemption should include a completed Form SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number.
Organizing documents. Each application for exemption must be accompanied by a conformed copy of your organization's Articles of Incorporation (and the Certificate of Incorporation, if available), Articles of Association, Trust Indenture, Constitution, or other enabling document. If the organization does not have an organizing document, it will not qualify for exempt status.
Bylaws. Bylaws alone are not organizing documents. However, if your organization has adopted bylaws, include a current copy. The bylaws need not be signed if submitted as an attachment.
If your organization's name has been officially changed by an amendment to your organizing instruments, you should also attach a conformed copy of that amendment to your application.
Conformed copy. A conformed copy is a copy that agrees with the original and all amendments to it. If the original document required a signature, the copy should either be signed by a principal officer or, if not signed, be accompanied by a written declaration signed by an authorized officer of the organization. With either option, the officer must certify that the document is a complete and accurate copy of the original. A certificate of incorporation should be approved and dated by an appropriate state official.
Every attachment should show your organization's name, address, and EIN. It should also state that it is an attachment to your application form and identify the part and line item number to which it applies.
Do not submit original documents because they become part of the IRS file and cannot be returned.
Description of activities. Your application must include a full description of the purposes and the activities of your organization. When describing the activities in which your organization expects to engage, you must include the standards, criteria, procedures, or other means that your organization adopted or planned for carrying out those activities.
To determine the information you need to provide, you should study the part of this publication that applies to your organization. The appropriate chapter will describe the purposes and activities that your organization must pursue, engage in, and include in your application in order to achieve exempt status.
Often your organization's articles of organization (or other organizing instruments) contain descriptions of your organization's purposes and activities.
Financial data. You must include in your application financial statements showing your receipts and expenditures for the current year and the 3 preceding years (or for the number of years your organization was in existence, if less than 4 years). For each accounting period, you must describe the sources of your receipts and the nature of your expenditures. You must also include a balance sheet for the current year.
If you have not yet begun operations, or have operated for less than 1 year, a proposed budget for 2 full accounting periods and a current statement of assets and liabilities will be acceptable.
Other information. The IRS may require you to provide additional information necessary to clarify the nature of your organization. Some examples are:
" Representative copies of advertising placed,
" Copies of publications, such as magazines,
" Distributed written material used for expressing views on proposed legislation, and
" Copies of leases, contracts, or agreements into which your organization has entered.
[www.irs.gov]

BrEggum

Bruce Eggum Wisconsin USA
www.doinggovernment.com