Mounted search and rescue

[Una Smith <una.smith@att.net>]

Mike Pici wrote:
>The 501 (c) 3 info was something I didn't know.

Most people don't know.  New Mexico's attorney general office
does not know, and many grant-making foundations do not know.
Those who do not know commonly will require a copy of a group's
IRS letter of determination showing the group is a 501(c)(3).
A group gets a letter of determination only by filing IRS forms
1023 or 1024.

Being formally recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) is neither
necessary nor sufficient to qualify with the IRS as a charitable
organization.  Some 501(c)(3)'s do *not* qualify as charitable
orgs, and some 501(c)(4)'s -- rescue squads -- *do* qualify.
The IRS instructions for forms 1023 and 1024 both mention this.

All this, and some related wrinkles about status with the IRS,
has been discussed here before.  Anyone dealing with IRS filing
now might benefit from checking our web archive;  search it via
Google.

By the way, everything I have related here concerning the IRS I
confirmed for myself by calling the IRS Exempt Organizations
office and talking at length to a senior officer there.


>I'll check into the public band license.

It is not a public band license.  It is a public service license,
that licenses an organization, not an individual.  The license is
good for a specific frequency, not for a band.  In that sense, a
public safety license is far more limited than a ham license, but
on the other hand a public safety license is more flexible in that
all members of the organization may use the frequency, regardless
of training.  Most SAR units that have a public safety license
have a frequency assigned in the 2-meter band.  Any ham who owns
a personal 2-meter capable radio, and works with one of these SAR
units, can simply program in that unit's public safety frequency.

        Una Smith
        New Mexico