Posted on October 4, 2019 by John Cruden
Co-authored by Jim Bruen
As you likely know, ACOEL has created a related but separate entity known as the ACOEL Foundation. This charitable, non-profit, tax-exempt foundation was inspired by ACOEL Fellows who saw a need for a non-political foundation to advance environmental and natural resource goals and objectives consistent with the mission and vision of the College. Through the work of many, the Foundation has gone through the laborious but important transformation from inspiration to creation, to legal authorizations and finally, to implementation. The Foundation was first incorporated in Delaware and by-laws were approved. Then, just last year the Internal Revenue Service approved our status as a 501c (3) organization. Because the home of the Foundation is the District of Columbia, we next had to gain the District’s approval to locate there and achieve tax exempt status. Approval came this Summer.
Once the Foundation attained the status of an approved charitable, non-profit ,tax-exempt organization, it proceeded to apply for written permissions from each of the thirty-eight states which require such approval before allowing charitable solicitations within their borders. Much of this year has been doing the laborious process of gaining such permissions. Multiple forms had to be submitted, responses notarized, and explanations given. As the current President, John is pleased to report that we have the required permissions from all but one state (Virginia), and anticipate its approval in the near future. We are therefore ready to proceed with the Foundation’s work. We will now be able to receive and utilize volunteer labor, such as law students, support overseas environment and wildlife programs, partner with other organizations to improve the environment, or fund studies of use to the profession.
The ACOEL Foundation is, of course, linked to the College. The only member of the Foundation is the College, and they share most of the same leadership. The President, however, is the immediate past president of the College. John became the President at the annual conference in the Grand Tetons last October, and Allan Gates will become the President at the Williamsburg conference this October. And, our first President, Jim Bruen, who set all of this in motion, remains an important part of the life of the Foundation.
Thus far the Foundation operates through grants from the College and a few significant donations by past and current Foundation leadership. That money was vital to get us to where we are now, but we will clearly need more help in the future. We will soon be initiating a limited donor campaign, to obtain the resources necessary to give the Foundation the financial support so that it can operate effectively.
Our vision is that the Foundation will be initiating, supporting, encouraging, or partnering on environmentally significant projects in the future. We will be able to do so independently, or in partnership with others. While there are limitations on what we can do, either by the IRS, state laws or by our own desire to avoid any significant administrative overhead, we strongly believe that there is a great array of projects that we can do which will benefit the environment and natural resources. The projects will be proposed by ACOEL Fellows, will be reviewed in detail, and then submitted for approval to the Foundation leadership. At the annual conference John Cruden and Jim Bruen will provide a comprehensive update of the Foundation’s status and preview the type of projects that can be considered in the future. We fully expect they will make a real-world difference.
Tags: ACOEL Foundation, Charities, Wildlife Projects, Environmental Projects