NON-PROFIT

501(c)(6)

There are two types of non-profit organizations under 501(c) which can basically be described as one that is for the public good, like the Kiwanis or Rotary Club and the other primarily for the good of its own members, like most Chambers of Commerce or professional associations.

NOR Investments

Introduction

The potential benefits to the guild from the proposed formation of a non-profit are numerous, but in summary are as follows:

Creates a legal entity

This allows us to open a bank account in the name of the New OutRiders, permits the guild to enter into contracts and own property.

Over the last twenty years all common guild 'assets' have been owned and controlled by a single member at any given time. The most recent example would be the forums and the Ventrilo server, both of which were owned and controlled by Lady Raeanna.

This is undesirable on two fronts.

First, should Rae disappear or suffer some untoward fate, the guild would lose everything. The hosting priviledges, which includes the URL newoutriders.com, the @newoutriders.com email accounts and the forums themselves. We would have to start all over again, which is exactly what happened when Rae started these forums nine years ago. It is also the same fate of the previous site three years before that. We've been through this a few times already, we really need to learn our lesson.

Secondly, all of these things cost money. In the nine years that Rae has maintained all of these assets for the benefit of the guild, she is likely to have expended some $3,000. It is simply not fair to expect one member to shoulder such a financial burden.

The creation of the non-profit will allow the hosting, voice (Vent or TS3), email accounts and the domain names to be the property of "New OutRiders", and thus, dependant upon no single member to maintain or pay for. It ensures the continuity of these assets to our members over the years and removes the fiscal burden from any one individual. All of which would be overseen and moderated by the Trustees of the non-profit: The High Council.

Protect our name

This might seem unlikely, or needless, but many has been the time that our name has been carried or presented fraudulently by individuals intending to do us harm. The most recent aberration of this type of abuse was a former member creating a New OutRiders guild on Age of Conan and then attempting to extort ingame money from us to relinquish it.

While infantile and mostly ineffective, this only hints and the kind of damage that could be done. Some enterprising misanthrope could cheaply trademark or copyright the name and legally enjoin us from using it. We've been around longer than some corporations and even nations. As online gaming guilds become more mainstream and socially acceptable, guild like our's will cut a higher profile and may be subject to such attacks. We need to take some very basic precautions to guard against the unforeseen.

Raise money

This way we can receive donations or sell guild merchandise for a minor markup and keep the excess in the guild bank. Not only can we raise money in this way, we can invest it. Had we done this last year and invested $100 in the companies we have an actual vested interest in, Blizzard, Sony Online, Comcast, Time Warner, our stocks would currently be valued at $150. With enough of an initial endowment and proper investment, we should easily be able to pay for all of the guild expenses from just the interest and dividens yielded.