Greg Arnold wrote:

Any of these get their c3 status in the last couple of decades?


As late as 2006, Central Indiana Soaring Society. One of their next
goals, as a club that's been relocated, is to establish a gliderport,
something that Greater Houston Soaring Association did from farmland
(and David Coggins will speak to at the convention) while establishing
their 501c(3) status, 1998, educational.

I would be the first to tell you that past performance of the SSA
leadership, until the last four or five years, has not been on the
forefront of acknowledging or supporting chapters and clubs much beyond
recruiting members for SSA. There are chapter benefits through the
office and insurance, though the chapter rebate was eliminated and the
current financials have reduced some of the others. However, that
doesn't mean it won't change for the better in the future.

Look back a few years. There was a 'Club Chatter' column in Soaring
and the occassional article, but there was no committee involvement.
Looks at how clubs are recognized in Sailplane & Gliding. Granted, the
BGA is club based, but know that we have SSA regions where clubs are
the only access to soaring. That's why I will repeat the suggestion
that members who want to be involved check the Volunteers area, find
the committees and consider joining one. As a committee, we want to
know what we can do to help clubs form, thrive, and be successful. We
have to ask ourselves and others, what is success in a soaring club?
Would we recognize it if we saw it? Implemented a stellar idea? We'd
like to steal it and share it. When a club has gone through this
501c(3) determination process, we'd like to capture a case study. All
too often, within five years, several of those involved have forgotten
the details, can't recall who did what as a result (e.g. property tax
exemption), or have moved out of the area. The devil's in the details.

BTW, I mentioned elsewhere in this thread that we know of 110
clubs/chapters with a pulse and club provincialism. It's difficult
just maintaining contact lists, as officers and e-mails change so
frequently. Costello tells us of 160 glider clubs, but his list is
private, as client confidentiality dictates. We know several are LLP
ownership clubs, and that's fine. The others are open membership
organizations.

Frank Whiteley