It seems that after bankrupt radio voice Tom Martino insisted that his non-profit Make It Right Foundation company is not a charity, the Colorado secretary of state?s office says it is a charitable organization after all.
The organization Martino incorporated in 2009 raises money, he says, to help people in need of assistance, many of them affected by the companies he does battle with on his show. As Martino puts it: ?We simply want a vehicle for collecting and distributing money to the needy.?
That?s a good thing.
But Martino?s non-profit corporation ? not the 501(c)3 Make It Right Foundation that actor Brad Pitt founded in order to help rebuild New Orleans following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 ? does not file non-profit tax forms, known as 990s, as other more-common charities do and which are by law available for public inspection. The Denver Post?s Season to Share is another example.
Nor does it file the Form 990PF, which is for private foundations.
That?s because MIRF doesn?t have to. It falls in the tiny space of non-profit companies that are not tax-exempt groups, are not foundations by the IRS definition, and whose contributions are not deductible, either.
?I chose to simply have a private non-profit corporation to have complete freedom with how we use the money,? Martino said. ?If I wanted to help someone who was ripped off one day, and then help someone who simply was ?down on their luck? the other day, I could do this without worrying about violating any principals.?
Martino said the funds come from his own pocket, from friends, listeners and sponsors of his show. The Post reported some also was to come from attendees to a financial seminar he was a part of, according to its organizers.
?I can do anything I want with my money,? Martino wrote in an email to The Denver Post when asked about the non-profit and why there was no public disclosure of its finances. ?And I can do anything I want with money from friends and listeners who trust me. It is that simple. It is private. It is none of your business.?
Elsewhere, Martino explains it clearly: ?Do not contribute unless you trust us.?
Federal tax authorities say a non-profit corporation that raises money doesn?t have to disclose its tax records to the public if it is not tax exempt, such as a 501(c)3 would be required to do.
So why wouldn?t all non-profits do it this way? Because it would be difficult to raise money, is what the pros said.
Last month, though, the Colorado Secretary of State?s office of charitable solicitations, the guys who track charities and the solicitation campaigns that are run in the state, contacted Make It Right to say it probably needed to register as a charitable organization and as a charitable solicitor, even though it?s not a tax-exempt group, program officials said.
Why? Because MIRF raises money ? albeit in a limited manner and amount ? for the benefit of others, though no one could take a tax deduction for the donation, and Martino is clear that they can?t. Certain state laws fall into place requiring the public disclosure of a charitable campaign, how much money it raised and how much was used toward a stated charitable purpose.
This way the public has a way to go online and research for itself any organization it?s considering for a donation, ostensibly to see if it?s the best use of their dollar.
So, to Martino?s credit, Make It Right registered in early December 2012, as a charitable organization that can solicit contributions. It even has a nice legal registration number, though it still doesn?t have to file the federal IRS Form 990 required of other charities because it is still not tax exempt. Martino has said its taxes are properly filed in other non-public documents and he doesn?t want tax-exempt status.
I got no response from Tom to an email I sent him the past few days asking about the registration, and his attorney says Tom?s a ?hurting puppy? these days, recovering from knee surgery, an ear infection, and the bankruptcy case around his neck.
?He does not want to play with you any more,? his attorney, Stephen Berken, wrote in an email.
Anyway, MIRF last year raised $7,518.63 for ?civil rights, social action and advocacy, education and human services,? according to its first financial statement filed with the state.
Of that amount, it appears about $4,000 came from The Melting Pot restaurant in Littleton, based on a pair of YouTube videos that have been circulated showing their in-studio donation to Martino.
Make It Right had $8,602.50 in program services, meaning that?s how much it says it paid to help people. Who got helped and in what manner is information not required to be listed on the document.
As Martino has asserted, 100 percent of everything they collected went out the door ? actually more than they reportedly collected ? and MIRF had no expenses and no one made any money at the end of the year, according to the filing.
Unclear is whether the state will require filings from prior years, which it has the right to request.
Now, just like any other charitable solicitation organization in Colorado ? regardless if it?s a tax-exempt charity or not ? you can look it up for yourself.
Or take a look here.
Source: http://blogs.denverpost.com/thebalancesheet/2013/01/31/8466/8466/
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