RIA Response
Thank you for your patience! The volunteer team that has organized Diwali, Holi and Half-Marathon for the past two years, met today to clear the air and discuss the next steps. So far we have desisted from responding to irresponsible posts and comments. However given the unwarranted aspersions being cast, we decided to bring out the facts. We are summarizing the broad questions that have been asked.
Q. Why did RIA put out the notification to cancel the event instead of asking for volunteers?
A. Based upon our experience in organizing various events in the past, we realized that not many people are interested in stepping up and volunteering. Most of them just buy tickets to the events as if they are going to a paid concert vs realizing that our events are lead by our community volunteers who are equally busy with their own life. Two years ago, we were in a similar situation where in call was made for volunteers at Bristol Park. People did showed up but they dropped off in couple of weeks and Diwali was on the verge of cancellation. At that juncture, the present set of RIA volunteers stepped up and organized that Diwali. We did not want the repeat of what happened two years ago, therefore we decided to use an unorthodox method to shake the community to let them realize we are on the verge of losing a dear tradition and hoped that people come forward to volunteer. This unorthodox approach did work but was taken over by events we did not anticipate. Hind-sight being 20/20 and how things have shaped up, we should not have done that.
Q. Why can’t RIA transfer funds to the new organization?
A. As communicated earlier, RIA being a 501(c)(3) IRS tax exempt organization has to adhere to the pertinent laws. We checked with our CPA who pointed out that per IRS rules and our Articles of Incorporation, RIA cannot transfer money to a non 501(c)(3) organization. Please refer below to the extract from our Articles of Incorporation.
[4.01 Non-profit Nature
Redmond Indian Association is organized exclusively for charitable and educational purposes including, for such purposes, the making of distributions to organizations that qualify as exempt organizations under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or corresponding section of any future federal tax code. No part of the net earnings of Redmond Indian Association shall inure to the benefit of, or be distributable to its members, trustees, officers, or other private persons, except that the corporation shall be authorized and empowered to pay reasonable compensation for services rendered and to make payments and distributions in furtherance of the purposes set forth in the purpose clause hereof.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this document, the corporation shall not carry on any other activities not permitted to be carried on (a) by any organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code, corresponding section of any future federal tax code, or (b) by an organization, contributions to which are deductible under section 170 (c) (2) of the Internal Revenue Code, or corresponding section of any future federal tax code.
Redmond Indian Association is not organized and shall not be operated for the private gain of any person. The property of the corporation is irrevocably dedicated to its educational and charitable purposes. No part of the assets, receipts, or net earnings of the corporation shall inure to the benefit of, or be distributed to any individual.]
We risk losing our IRS tax exempt status, if we do anything which is not consistent with IRS rules. FYI we worked really hard to get the 501(c)(3) status to take advantage of the matching funds being offered by various companies where many of us in the community work at. These matching funds can make all our community events self-sustaining.
We communicated the reasons with Ashutosh who is one of the lead of this year’s Diwali team and understand from him that he has shared the reasons with the team. We also offered to have a joint call with the CPA so that any questions or clarifications can be addressed.
A. Based upon our experience in organizing various events in the past, we realized that not many people are interested in stepping up and volunteering. Most of them just buy tickets to the events as if they are going to a paid concert vs realizing that our events are lead by our community volunteers who are equally busy with their own life. Two years ago, we were in a similar situation where in call was made for volunteers at Bristol Park. People did showed up but they dropped off in couple of weeks and Diwali was on the verge of cancellation. At that juncture, the present set of RIA volunteers stepped up and organized that Diwali. We did not want the repeat of what happened two years ago, therefore we decided to use an unorthodox method to shake the community to let them realize we are on the verge of losing a dear tradition and hoped that people come forward to volunteer. This unorthodox approach did work but was taken over by events we did not anticipate. Hind-sight being 20/20 and how things have shaped up, we should not have done that.
Q. Why can’t RIA transfer funds to the new organization?
A. As communicated earlier, RIA being a 501(c)(3) IRS tax exempt organization has to adhere to the pertinent laws. We checked with our CPA who pointed out that per IRS rules and our Articles of Incorporation, RIA cannot transfer money to a non 501(c)(3) organization. Please refer below to the extract from our Articles of Incorporation.
[4.01 Non-profit Nature
Redmond Indian Association is organized exclusively for charitable and educational purposes including, for such purposes, the making of distributions to organizations that qualify as exempt organizations under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or corresponding section of any future federal tax code. No part of the net earnings of Redmond Indian Association shall inure to the benefit of, or be distributable to its members, trustees, officers, or other private persons, except that the corporation shall be authorized and empowered to pay reasonable compensation for services rendered and to make payments and distributions in furtherance of the purposes set forth in the purpose clause hereof.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this document, the corporation shall not carry on any other activities not permitted to be carried on (a) by any organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code, corresponding section of any future federal tax code, or (b) by an organization, contributions to which are deductible under section 170 (c) (2) of the Internal Revenue Code, or corresponding section of any future federal tax code.
Redmond Indian Association is not organized and shall not be operated for the private gain of any person. The property of the corporation is irrevocably dedicated to its educational and charitable purposes. No part of the assets, receipts, or net earnings of the corporation shall inure to the benefit of, or be distributed to any individual.]
We risk losing our IRS tax exempt status, if we do anything which is not consistent with IRS rules. FYI we worked really hard to get the 501(c)(3) status to take advantage of the matching funds being offered by various companies where many of us in the community work at. These matching funds can make all our community events self-sustaining.
We communicated the reasons with Ashutosh who is one of the lead of this year’s Diwali team and understand from him that he has shared the reasons with the team. We also offered to have a joint call with the CPA so that any questions or clarifications can be addressed.
There was no response to this offer. Instead we saw yet another irresponsible post instead of sharing the communicated reason. We understand that Ashutosh tried to clarify on the Redmond Ridge Diwali group by stating the facts that RIA volunteers are supportive but his post was deleted by the admin, as we gathered from Ashutosh.
[Update] One of our community member has shared the FB post by Ashutosh.
[Update] One of our community member has shared the FB post by Ashutosh.
Q. Did RIA volunteers not offer to work with this year’s Diwali team?
A. RIA volunteers did offer to and is still trying to work with this year’s Diwali team. Matter of fact, we offered to add one or two leads from the new team after the meeting at Rosa Parks on 9/18. We were candid in expressing that we do not know the legalities /process involved and mentioned that we will check on the process with the CPA. Please refer to the email exchange below that we had with the new organization. We are forced to share this to get the facts out.
A. RIA volunteers did offer to and is still trying to work with this year’s Diwali team. Matter of fact, we offered to add one or two leads from the new team after the meeting at Rosa Parks on 9/18. We were candid in expressing that we do not know the legalities /process involved and mentioned that we will check on the process with the CPA. Please refer to the email exchange below that we had with the new organization. We are forced to share this to get the facts out.
-------------
From: RIA Team
Subject: Re: Update
Date: Sat, 3 Oct 2015 14:36:17 -0700
To: Parag
CC: Ashutosh, Chandra, Reetu, rricha board
Left him vm, text and email. Chasing him to close this ASAP. Understand the urgency. Will update as soon as we hear.
On Oct 3, 2015, at 2:31 PM, Parag Kacharia wrote:
Any update, we have to get started and we do need some seed funds. Please update us ASAP.
From: RIA Team
To: Parag, Ashutosh, Chandra, Reetu
Subject: RE: Update
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 2015 11:20:42 -0700
We do not agree with your line of thinking which is not consistent with the facts. However, its water under bridge.
We are checking with the CPA and hope to close on this today.
Stay assured, we are trying to be helpful and want to close this ASAP.
Thanks,
Team RIA.
PS: Request you to email our team members on their work ids.
From: Parag
To: RIA Team, Ashutosh, Chandra, Reetu, Sumit,
Subject: RE: Update
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 2015 13:29:07 -0700
I do not get the same impression regarding the quotes below. It was a very simple, non-emotional, positive message. The reason why we are here is because you, Vinod did not want to add the new members to the RIA board . Asking for receipts and bank statement is everyone's right in the
community.
We have checked with CPA and it is legal to transfer the funds. We would like to collect the check for $3,613.54 by noon tomorrow. We can talk about all the things later.
Please let me know place and time where we can collect the check.
-Parag
From: RIA Team
To: Parag, Ashutosh, Chandra, Reetu
Subject: Update
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2015 23:56:14 -0700
Based on our discussion on Friday 9/18 where we agreed that Diwali 2015 will be hosted under RIA and we will check how we can enable that legally. We agreed that RIA will check with the CPA on the process. We graciously agree to offer all help despite the immature and negative communications, in the larger interest of our vibrant community.
In our meeting on Saturday 9/26, we gleefully shared the update from the CPA that we need to form a Diwali Organizing team under RIA. This team will have access to RIA Diwali bank account and will need to maintain all expenses and revenues under this account, as required for any such event. We even offered to add this Diwali’s event lead to the board. We called out that RIA is not just about Diwali but we also organize other events. We highlighted that we need continuity of the board members so that we can push the vision with the newly acquired 501(c)(3) status. However you mentioned that your goal has changed and you no longer are interested in organizing Diwali under RIA as you have decided to create a new organization to only organize Diwali. RIA will continue to organize all other events in Redmond Ridge and Redmond Ridge East.
Though we did not see the need for a new organization, given your insistence and in order to not break the tradition of Diwali at ridge, we graciously offered to help by sharing the templates, best practices and transfer the balance of $3,613.54 from Diwali 2014 if it is legally feasible without jeopardizing RIA's legal standing as a 501(c)(3) non-profit.
However we are once again surprised to see a turnaround on this agreement with your demand to share all receipts for expenses and bank statements for the past two years so that you can tally.
We were also shocked to see the following statements on Redmond Ridge Diwali Facebook page, RRMoms etc.
The above statements is not consistent with our agreement. The first statement effectively casts RIA, a non-profit organization consisting solely of residents of Redmond Ridge and Redmond Ridge East as an outcast in our community. The second statement effectively concludes that RIA will transfer funds, though we are still figuring out the feasibility of this.
In the light of these unfortunate developments, volunteers from our past events met and expressed serious displeasure at this deliberate miscommunication. Lots of other folks from the community also expressed concern at this. Therefore we have decided that we will distance ourselves from this murky politics. We wish you a very happy Diwali and hope that we do not divide the community. We live in the same community and our kids are growing together. Therefore let's do our best to promote and preserve our rich culture.
Thank you!
RIA Volunteers / concerned residents
-----------
PS: Email id's have been removed in the thread above.
From: RIA Team
Subject: Re: Update
Date: Sat, 3 Oct 2015 14:36:17 -0700
To: Parag
CC: Ashutosh, Chandra, Reetu, rricha board
Left him vm, text and email. Chasing him to close this ASAP. Understand the urgency. Will update as soon as we hear.
On Oct 3, 2015, at 2:31 PM, Parag Kacharia wrote:
Any update, we have to get started and we do need some seed funds. Please update us ASAP.
From: RIA Team
To: Parag, Ashutosh, Chandra, Reetu
Subject: RE: Update
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 2015 11:20:42 -0700
We do not agree with your line of thinking which is not consistent with the facts. However, its water under bridge.
We are checking with the CPA and hope to close on this today.
Stay assured, we are trying to be helpful and want to close this ASAP.
Thanks,
Team RIA.
PS: Request you to email our team members on their work ids.
From: Parag
To: RIA Team, Ashutosh, Chandra, Reetu, Sumit,
Subject: RE: Update
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 2015 13:29:07 -0700
I do not get the same impression regarding the quotes below. It was a very simple, non-emotional, positive message. The reason why we are here is because you, Vinod did not want to add the new members to the RIA board . Asking for receipts and bank statement is everyone's right in the
community.
We have checked with CPA and it is legal to transfer the funds. We would like to collect the check for $3,613.54 by noon tomorrow. We can talk about all the things later.
Please let me know place and time where we can collect the check.
-Parag
From: RIA Team
To: Parag, Ashutosh, Chandra, Reetu
Subject: Update
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2015 23:56:14 -0700
Based on our discussion on Friday 9/18 where we agreed that Diwali 2015 will be hosted under RIA and we will check how we can enable that legally. We agreed that RIA will check with the CPA on the process. We graciously agree to offer all help despite the immature and negative communications, in the larger interest of our vibrant community.
In our meeting on Saturday 9/26, we gleefully shared the update from the CPA that we need to form a Diwali Organizing team under RIA. This team will have access to RIA Diwali bank account and will need to maintain all expenses and revenues under this account, as required for any such event. We even offered to add this Diwali’s event lead to the board. We called out that RIA is not just about Diwali but we also organize other events. We highlighted that we need continuity of the board members so that we can push the vision with the newly acquired 501(c)(3) status. However you mentioned that your goal has changed and you no longer are interested in organizing Diwali under RIA as you have decided to create a new organization to only organize Diwali. RIA will continue to organize all other events in Redmond Ridge and Redmond Ridge East.
Though we did not see the need for a new organization, given your insistence and in order to not break the tradition of Diwali at ridge, we graciously offered to help by sharing the templates, best practices and transfer the balance of $3,613.54 from Diwali 2014 if it is legally feasible without jeopardizing RIA's legal standing as a 501(c)(3) non-profit.
However we are once again surprised to see a turnaround on this agreement with your demand to share all receipts for expenses and bank statements for the past two years so that you can tally.
We were also shocked to see the following statements on Redmond Ridge Diwali Facebook page, RRMoms etc.
- "We’ll form a new non-profit organization that will be localized to Redmond Ridge AND Redmond Ridge East Indian cultural celebrations. RIA (Redmond Indian Association) will continue to do other events in and around Redmond area."
- "We will transfer Diwali funds from old organization to RRICHA soon that will get us seed money needed for execution."
The above statements is not consistent with our agreement. The first statement effectively casts RIA, a non-profit organization consisting solely of residents of Redmond Ridge and Redmond Ridge East as an outcast in our community. The second statement effectively concludes that RIA will transfer funds, though we are still figuring out the feasibility of this.
In the light of these unfortunate developments, volunteers from our past events met and expressed serious displeasure at this deliberate miscommunication. Lots of other folks from the community also expressed concern at this. Therefore we have decided that we will distance ourselves from this murky politics. We wish you a very happy Diwali and hope that we do not divide the community. We live in the same community and our kids are growing together. Therefore let's do our best to promote and preserve our rich culture.
Thank you!
RIA Volunteers / concerned residents
-----------
PS: Email id's have been removed in the thread above.
We offered complete autonomy to the team to run this event. In good faith, we provided access to ALL the documents from last year's Diwali to the new team within a day of team being formed. Please refer to the google drive folder snapshot, which shows the date when the 2015 Diwali folders were created / modified by Chandra S, who is one of the leads of the new organization and is the owner of this folder. No body has reached out to us for the past two weeks for any access issues.
Some of us have been volunteering for the past 4 consecutive years and have experienced the red-tape working with ROA. These are the people who took the initiative to create RIA and have institutionalized it. These are the people who stepped up two years ago, when Diwali was being canceled. They quietly worked to make the Diwali happen at that time, despite the threat of actions (we do not want to go into this). They have been the driving force behind all the events like Diwali, Holi for the past two years.
Q. Where are the funds, income & expense statements? Can they be made available for inspection?
A. RIA’s funds are maintained in RIA’s bank account. All income & expenses are well documented as expected of a non-profit. RIA has retained a CPA to file our returns and paperwork. If anybody is interested in accessing these documents, we are glad to let you inspect them. This is consistent with our ByLaws.
Some of our volunteers will be available from 5 PM to 6 PM on Sunday 10/11 at Starbucks to let our community folks inspect these documents and answer any questions then and there itself. We are offering this to expedite this process. We would have loved to meet up earlier but unable to do so owing to our volunteers' commitments. Please sign-up here.
A. RIA’s funds are maintained in RIA’s bank account. All income & expenses are well documented as expected of a non-profit. RIA has retained a CPA to file our returns and paperwork. If anybody is interested in accessing these documents, we are glad to let you inspect them. This is consistent with our ByLaws.
Some of our volunteers will be available from 5 PM to 6 PM on Sunday 10/11 at Starbucks to let our community folks inspect these documents and answer any questions then and there itself. We are offering this to expedite this process. We would have loved to meet up earlier but unable to do so owing to our volunteers' commitments. Please sign-up here.
Q. What were the income and expenses for last year's Diwali?
A. Following is the summary of last year's Diwali's financials.
A. Following is the summary of last year's Diwali's financials.
|
Revenue |
|
% |
|
Sponsorship |
$16,020.00 |
46% |
|
Tickets |
$18,461.87 |
54% |
|
Total |
$34,481.87 |
100% |
|
|
|
|
|
Expenses |
$30,868.33 |
90% |
|
|
|
|
|
Balance |
$3,613.54 |
10% |
Apparently we have scaled Diwali to a new height. By diligently managing this event, we have been able to raise almost 46% of the event expenses with the sponsorship, otherwise the financial burden of this event will need to be passed onto the community. We have been able to raise such significant sponsorship donations by offering better visibility and ROI to our sponsors by packaging Diwali and Holi event together. Last Holi, for qualifying sponsors we provided free event advertising.
We shared all the information including financial details (sponsors, income, expenses) from last year's Diwali with the new team in good faith. However now that they have decided to create a new organization, it introduces new set of complexities. For example, as per our ByLaws Article 11.07 A, No donor records shall be made available to any other person outside the corporation except the authorized governmental agencies.
FYI the new team is reaching out to last year's donors based on the info we shared.
We shared all the information including financial details (sponsors, income, expenses) from last year's Diwali with the new team in good faith. However now that they have decided to create a new organization, it introduces new set of complexities. For example, as per our ByLaws Article 11.07 A, No donor records shall be made available to any other person outside the corporation except the authorized governmental agencies.
FYI the new team is reaching out to last year's donors based on the info we shared.
Q. How is RIA governed?
A. RIA is governed as per its Articles of Incorporation and ByLaws. You can access them from here.
Q. Is RIA still a tax-exempt non-profit?
A. Yes, we are a perpetual organization. Some paper-work for renewal is in progress.
Q. Can I join RIA’s Board?
A. Yes, anybody who is 18+, is resident of Redmond Ridge and Redmond Ridge East, believes in RIA’s mission and is willing to earnestly work to promote and preserve our rich culture can join us. Do note that RIA’s Board is not about power but it is about commitment. So far board's role has been minimal. They have been part of the core team doing real event volunteer work vs just governance.
We are open to community’s suggestions on this. Remember RIA has been created by our own community residents who have been selflessly volunteering their time and skills to the community. The present board is unequivocally willing to pass on the baton to the right folks since we want to make sure all the good work that has been done is not lost. Ref our ByLaws Article 4.01 the election of directors to replace those who have fulfilled their term of office shall take place in January of each year. If you are interested in joining the board, please write to ria.team@outlook.com
Q. What do you proposed to resolve the present impasse to make sure we are united in celebrating Diwali in its spirit?
A. We still firmly believe that there is no need to have multiple organizations to celebrate different festivals. Festivals are about uniting communities and we are still open to working with anyone who is willing to work towards this larger goal. We understand that learning the intricacies of the pertinent laws has not been easy - at least for us. With a tax-exempt non-profit organization, things have been to be done in a structured way than what we been used in the past. In the past couple of years we have come a long way from a process maturity standpoint. We definitely have lots of room for further maturity. Hopefully with the insights that we have shared here, things have been clarified. Let's put the unwarranted drama behind us, work together and keep the community united.
Following is our proposal:
1. Create a Diwali organizing team under RIA. This team will have complete ownership and accountability for this event.
2. Add Chandra and Ashutosh to RIA's board, if they agree. Let new folks take over the reigns for the next couple of years.
This will ensure that this team will have access to the funds and all resources of RIA and we do not run into avoidable legal issues with two different organizations. This has been our proposal from day one.
A. RIA is governed as per its Articles of Incorporation and ByLaws. You can access them from here.
Q. Is RIA still a tax-exempt non-profit?
A. Yes, we are a perpetual organization. Some paper-work for renewal is in progress.
Q. Can I join RIA’s Board?
A. Yes, anybody who is 18+, is resident of Redmond Ridge and Redmond Ridge East, believes in RIA’s mission and is willing to earnestly work to promote and preserve our rich culture can join us. Do note that RIA’s Board is not about power but it is about commitment. So far board's role has been minimal. They have been part of the core team doing real event volunteer work vs just governance.
We are open to community’s suggestions on this. Remember RIA has been created by our own community residents who have been selflessly volunteering their time and skills to the community. The present board is unequivocally willing to pass on the baton to the right folks since we want to make sure all the good work that has been done is not lost. Ref our ByLaws Article 4.01 the election of directors to replace those who have fulfilled their term of office shall take place in January of each year. If you are interested in joining the board, please write to ria.team@outlook.com
Q. What do you proposed to resolve the present impasse to make sure we are united in celebrating Diwali in its spirit?
A. We still firmly believe that there is no need to have multiple organizations to celebrate different festivals. Festivals are about uniting communities and we are still open to working with anyone who is willing to work towards this larger goal. We understand that learning the intricacies of the pertinent laws has not been easy - at least for us. With a tax-exempt non-profit organization, things have been to be done in a structured way than what we been used in the past. In the past couple of years we have come a long way from a process maturity standpoint. We definitely have lots of room for further maturity. Hopefully with the insights that we have shared here, things have been clarified. Let's put the unwarranted drama behind us, work together and keep the community united.
Following is our proposal:
1. Create a Diwali organizing team under RIA. This team will have complete ownership and accountability for this event.
2. Add Chandra and Ashutosh to RIA's board, if they agree. Let new folks take over the reigns for the next couple of years.
This will ensure that this team will have access to the funds and all resources of RIA and we do not run into avoidable legal issues with two different organizations. This has been our proposal from day one.