MENDOCINO ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER
Issue 46 | Winter 2007 | PO Box 299, 106 W. Standley St., Ukiah, CA 95482 | (707) 468-1660
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Nonprofit 101

Structure

The Mendocino Environmental Center is a nonprofit corporation, chartered under the laws of the state of California. It was created in 1988 with the signing and filing of the Articles of Incorporation. The Center’s bylaws, creating its structure of governance, were also adopted at that time. The bylaws can only be amended by a vote of the membership.As a nonprofit corporation, the Mendocino Environmental Center is a living entity. It can enter into contracts, solicit and receive donations, and sponsor events. It cannot make money for any one person, though it can contract with others to provide goods or services, so long as a majority of its board of directors does not receive any such benefit.The Center is organized under the United States Internal Revenue Code, section 501(c)(4), as a political advocacy organization. This means that any donations to it are NOT tax deductible. This differs from a 501(c)(3) organization, such as the Cloud Forest Institute. This distinction has led to the Center using CFI as a fiscal “umbrella” for acceptance of such donations. The Center, and CFI, must be able to certify that any funds so received must be used for non-advocacy (e.g., general educational) activities.Objectives and PurposesFrom the Articles of Incorporation:“The specific purposes for which the corporation is organized are to establish and develop an educational, scientific and charitable institution for the purpose of collecting, producing and distributing educational material in the public interest including, but not limited to, material concerning the conservation, restoration and wise use of the Earth's natural resources. It is also the purpose of this corporation to provide a facility where the general public can avail itself of said educational material and the facility will also be available to the general public for uses including, but not limited to, networking, reading, research, writing, publishing, meetings, lectures, seminars, workshops, multi-media presentations, and other educational projects and activities as may be deemed appropriate by the Board of Directors. It is, furthermore, the purpose of this corporation to contract grant services and to receive donations, grants, loans, aids, and other financial assistance to be used to fulfill the purposes of the corporation as detailed in these Articles of Incorporation.

From the bylaws:

"Objectives and Purposes
(a). To collect, produce and distribute information concerning the preservation, restoration and wise use of the Earth's natural resources.
(b). To encourage and facilitate the public's participation in the protection, wise use, management and regeneration of the Earth's natural resources and the achievement of peace.
(c). To provide publications for general distribution.
(d). To provide a facility where the general public can avail itself of information, including, but not limited to, materials concerning conservation and wise use of the Earth's natural resources and to make said facility available to the general public for networking, research, reading, writing, publishing, meetings, debates, lectures, seminars, workshops, multi-media presentations and other educational activities as may be deemed appropriate by the Board of Directors.
(e). To sue for justice in our courts where it is necessary to further or uphold the purposes of Mendocino Environmental Center.
(f). To provide office space, meeting space, an address, information and resource exchange and coordination, facilities for networking and other support services as may be deemed appropriate by the Board of Directors for groups and individuals working to promote peace and justice, and the preservation, restoration and wise use of the Earth's natural resources.
(g). To provide for the sale of literature and other merchandise, provided such merchandise is compatible with the purposes of the Mendocino Environmental Center.
(h). To provide written comments and other information to resource management agencies to assist them in their administrative decision making.
(i). To cooperate with universities, other institutions and organizations whose interests and ends are similar to those of this corporation.
(j). To contract grant services to further the purposes of this corporation; and
(k). to receive donations, grants, loans, aids, and other financial assistance or remuneration to be used to fulfill the purposes of the corporation."