The Paper acquires nonprofit status

“We are pleased to inform you,” states part of a recent letter from the IRS to Norfolk Now, “that…we have determined that you are exempt from Federal income tax under section 501-c(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.” That was music to the ears of Norfolk Now’s editors and staff and was the result of a lot of hard work on the part of Shelley Harms, one of the paper’s executive editors.

Norfolk Now formed a Board of Directors in 2005 and in October of that year filed Articles of Incorporation with the Connecticut Secretary of State’s office. Corporation by-laws, written by Harms, were adopted and a 25-page application was submitted last summer to the IRS who, no surprise, required even more information. A September response from Norfolk Now satisfied the concerns of the agency and the paper became independent.

Norfolk Now is grateful to the Berkshire Taconic Foundation, which allowed the fledgling newsletter to operate for nearly four years under that organization’s tax-exempt umbrella. “The paper never would have flown without the support of the Foundation,” says Lloyd Garrison, co-founder of Norfolk Now. “The Foundation gave us the nonprofit status we needed in order to seek donations, and for a small fee, the Foundation staff took care of all our bookkeeping.”

The endeavor proved to be a rewarding one for editor Harms.  “Working on Norfolk Now’s incorporation and nonprofit status was good experience,” says Harms, who is returning to the practice of law as Counsel in her husband’s new firm in town.