Total posts : 45366
In legal parlance a “Non Profit Organization” is not the same as a “Not-For-Profit Corporation,” but I think either type can legally apply for LPFM. Back when, in the past, I founded a Not-For Profit with IRS 501-C3 status, which meant that contributors could take a tax deduction. We were not LPFM. We contracted with a 12.5kW public FM station to provide 40-hours-per-week of free programming with volunteers, I was the nominal “manager” of the org.
There were two problems that are classic with Not-For-Profits of all kinds. Since no one owns the organization but the Board is in charge, the board membership must be very carefully vetted.
On our board the treasurer decided he could take it over by competing to have the contract switched over to a college where he was a big-wheel and he would be in charge. I was stuck with a traitor on my board, but to fire him I needed a Board vote, which gets sticky.
The volunteers can be unexpectedly troublesome. They steal things, damage things, believe not-being-paid is a license to say and do ANYTHING under their idea of “free speech,” and they can be vindictive.
DON’T DO IT unless you are an ex-Marine.
