I have spoken to some of you about the following potential motion. If someone wishes to second it, we can discuss it at the Saturday meeting. Otherwise, I bring it up for comment on whether it is appropriate to publicize this proposed motion and supporting narrative to the membership. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Proposed Motion to Subsume the ARRL Foundation Corporation into the ARRL Corporation Whereas the reasons for maintaining a separate legal corporation for the activities of the ARRL Foundation no longer exist, and savings in both effort and total cost would occur if the Foundation was subsumed into the parent corporation, therefore it is moved that - ARRL staff is directed to assemble necessary documents and forms for moving the legal ARRL Foundation Corporation back into the ARRL Corporation. Documents and forms will be prepared for possible required signature and submittal to appropriate agencies, and procedures and costs of filing will be identified and presented to the Board for possible action. The name ARRL Foundation, the grant and scholarship activities of the Foundation, and the titles of the Foundation officers and directors of the Foundation are expected to remain the same. Cost estimate of collecting forms and information on filing: $4K -------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUPPORTING NARRATIVE Foundation Relation to ARRL The ARRL Foundation is a supporting organization of the ARRL. The Foundation Board is selected by the ARRL Board, and there is a requirement that a majority of Foundation Directors be ARRL Directors. All Foundation web-page information is contained on the ARRL web-site. ARRL (Not ARRL Foundation) Standing Order 84-2.17 says:The ARRL assumes financial responsibility for all administrative expenses of the ARRL Foundation, it being understood that expense authorization shall be in accordance with ARRL standing policies with respect to travel, accounting procedures, and auditing. Reason for Foundation The Foundation was created to more effectively raise money when there was substantial dissatisfaction with the ARRL Board, driven in part by reaction to Incentive Licensing, and a desire to involve others in fundraising. Any connection between dissatisfaction with the present ARRL Board and the desire to fund scholarships has dissipated to the extent that even scholarship bequests that belong in the Foundation have been given to the ARRL. Members and donors do not even generally realize there are two organizations. Recent Cost Activity In 2019, the Foundation gave scholarship grants of $123,650, and awarded $3,000 of additional grants. It incurred $13,000 of corporate expenses. These were $2,750 for Form 990 preparation, $10,000 for a "full corporate audit," and $250 for a Connecticut non-profit filing fee. The Foundation also pays the ARRL $15,000 for secretarial and bookkeeping services, an amount claimed by some to be less than the ARRL's cost. Overhead costs of $28,000 are in excess of what is appropriate for $126,650 worth of grants. A significant amount of those expenses could go away. Comparative Operation - Foundation for Amateur Radio The Foundation for Amateur Radio, which awarded slightly fewer scholarships in 2019, does not have these expenses. Officers fill out their own Form 990, they do not pay for external audits, and they are incorporated in Washington, DC, where there is apparently no annual filing fee. They had less than $1M in managed funds for future scholarships. They have been doing this for more than 25 years. FAR's work is done by volunteers, at no cost to scholarship donors. Summary It is to the advantage of the Amateur Radio community, particularly the part that funds scholarships, to reduce unnecessary overhead costs and direct more of their donations to the actual scholarships. Eliminating the overhead costs incurred by a separate legal corporation while otherwise providing the same grant and funding service should be pursued. Collecting needed forms and finding costs and procedures are useful steps in determining if the action should continue. 73, Dick Norton, N6AA