As a 501(c)4 civic organization, you get caught up in the donor's desire to stay out of the campaign cash slush funds that share the same tax category as volunteer fire departments.
Talk to a local lawyer (or your Secretary of State's office, or your State Bar association) about whether you would be able to form a 501(c)3 charitable organization that helps 'train and equip emergency responders'. From: listsad...@lists.myitforum.com [mailto:listsad...@lists.myitforum.com] On Behalf Of Ken Cornetet Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2014 8:58 AM To: ntsysadm@lists.myitforum.com Subject: [NTSysADM] RE: Anyone know of an outfit like Tech Soup that will sell to 501(c)4 organizations? To complete this thread in case someone finds it as a result of a search, the answer is that Microsoft will only donate software to 501 c 3 non-profits, despite the fact that their charity web site makes no mention of this simple distinction. From: listsad...@lists.myitforum.com<mailto:listsad...@lists.myitforum.com> [mailto:listsad...@lists.myitforum.com] On Behalf Of Ken Cornetet Sent: Monday, June 16, 2014 9:12 AM To: ntsysadm@lists.myitforum.com<mailto:ntsysadm@lists.myitforum.com> Subject: [NTSysADM] Anyone know of an outfit like Tech Soup that will sell to 501(c)4 organizations? I'm a member of a small volunteer fire department. We are a tax-exempt private organization, not government. I tried to get set up with Tech Soup so that I could buy Windows 7 and Office, but there is a problem. When the department set themselves up as a non-profit years ago, they registered as a 501 C 4 organization. Tech Soup only deals with 501 C 3 organizations. They will not sell me software. Microsoft's charitable organization web page makes it sound like we'd be eligible, but when you run down the links to apply, they end up referring you to Tech Soup. There is a contact email listed, but they won't reply to my emails. Does anyone know of another outfit like Tech Soup that will sell us Office cheap?
