IANAL and all that, but it's my understanding that as a non-profit, you can sell whatever you want. as long as selling stuff isn't part of your main mission, or it doesn't conflict with that mission, then it's all good...

humane society can sell mugs and sweatshirts, but not dogs.
red cross can sell bookmarks and keychains, but not blood.

by "sell", i don't mean charge for. each of the examples above has fees associated with their services, but they don't turn a profit on it, or else it would conflict with their doing their mission, and create a situation where that's the main goal of the group is to earn money...etc.



On Wed, May 7, 2008 at 3:45 PM, ronald ferrucci <ronald.ferrucci@gmail.com> wrote:
I am not sure on the legality for 501c3s, but at least ethically there
should be no problem. No one is making a profit off the additional
income. Hell, we are lucky to ever be out of the red as it is most of
the time. If you have something that you have that you can sell at a
premium in order to help pay rent and utilities or fund various
programs, by god do it. That is where most of the 'income' of most
groups go to anyway. And as someone who has been used to working with
negative profit groups, I can appreciate the idea of less money coming
out of my pocket. Just consider it an easier way to keep the program
afloat. anyone have the inside scoop on legalities?

On Wed, May 7, 2008 at 11:00 PM, Erik Stockmeier <estockme@gmail.com> wrote:
> Question!
>
> What the heck does everybody's shop do with fancy items of special worth to
> collectors?  For example... perhaps you come upon a donation of half a dozen
> 70s unused campi sidepull break sets.  Your stock of breaks is full, so
> throwing them in the bin or selling them for 5$ or shlepping them on a
> Roadmaster seems like a waste.  Is it ethically ok for a non-profit to
> occasionally indulge collectors as a source of surplus income?  What about
> legally for a 501c3?  Is it necessary to launder them through a "buyer" who
> sells them at profit and donates the difference?
>
> Erik
> _______________________________________________
>  Thethinktank mailing list
>  Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org
>
> http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.org
>
>
_______________________________________________
Thethinktank mailing list
Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.org