Relatives

Michael Stocker, Chairman
[from newsletter 2]

Dear Community Members

This newsletter marks a significant step for Seven Circles Foundation in our mission of supporting and promoting indigenous spiritual practices. Two years ago Fred indicated a desire to create a non-profit foundation to carry out this mission; through the diligent and patient work of all of us, we have finally arrived at the legal status of a 501(c)(3) public benefit corporation. I would like to thank all of those involved for your support and input during this process.

There is often some confusion surrounding what it means to be a "Non-Profit" organization. I believe that the phrase "not for profit, public benefit organization" helps clear it up a bit. It means that we are doing work specifically for the benefit of the public and not for the profit of any individuals. By filing all of our paperwork with the I.R.S., we have demonstrated to them that our work benefits the U.S. taxpayers. In exchange for this benefit, the I.R.S. is willing to have us taxpayers help subsidize the work.

This allows us to determine how to spend some of our tax money. So instead of mailing off a huge tax payment to the I.R.S. and have them decide what to spend it on, we can decide what to spend it on by writing checks to our favorite causes. This results in our getting to send a less huge tax payment to the I.R.S. while supporting things we more closely believe in.

How much your donations affect your tax payment depends on your tax strategy and income bracket, but the overall effect is that non-profit supporters get rewarded by the Fed for contributing to Seven Circles. Not such a bad deal.

I know that this all sounds a bit dry, and it only represents a small facet of what the community is really doing. The other articles in this newsletter are the true testimony of the growth and momentum of our community - it is what actually makes it all worthwhile. So thanks for all of your participation and support, and please feel free to attend any or all of the events discussed in our first newsletter.

A Ho,
Michael Stocker

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