Some SF Nonprofits At-Risk

A number of nonprofit organizations in the science fiction field that are at risk of losing their tax-exempt status because they failed to file required returns for 2007, 2008 and 2009 can save their status if they file by October 15, under a one-time relief program from the Internal Revenue Service.

Affected organizations are named in the state-by-state “List of Organizations At Risk of Automatic Revocation of Tax-Exempt Status”. The entities on the list have return due dates between May 17 and Oct. 15, 2010 and the IRS has no record of them filing.

I searched six state lists for anything with “science fiction” in the name, getting hits in California, Florida, Massachusetts and Texas, but nothing in New York or Oregon. Here’s what I found:

Exempt Organizations At-Risk of Revocation – California

77-0142484 SAN FRANCISCO AREA SCIENCE FICTION ASSOCIATION

95-4671447 SCIENCE FICTION HALL OF FAME FOUNDATION INC

Exempt Organizations At-Risk of Revocation – Florida

59-2575665 SOUTH FLORIDA SCIENCE FICTION SOCIETY INC

Exempt Orgs At-Risk of Revocation – Massachusets

04-3059899 GAYLAXIAN SCIENCE FICTION SOCIETY
GSFS

04-3411371 MARTHAS VINEYARD SCIENCE FICTION ASSOCIATION LTD

Exempt Organizations At-Risk of Revocation – Texas

75-2408737 JUSTICE SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY CONVENTION

JUSTICECON

76-0105046 NATIONAL HALL OF FAME OF SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY

The South Florida Science Fiction Society Inc. and the Gaylaxian Science Fiction Society are the most familiar names I encountered. This information may be useful to someone if the groups are still active.

The unfamiliar groups I searched on Google.

The San Francisco Area Science Fiction Association ran the 1987 Westercon; there’s nothing online about its recent history.

The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Foundation, Inc. in California was associated with Joseph Prevratil, now-retired CEO of the organization that runs the Queen Mary in Long Beach. Ten years ago he announced a plan for a saucer-shaped science fiction museum adjacent to that attraction.

The National Hall of Fame of Science Fiction and Fantasy in Texas was a project in the news about 25 years ago.

I came up with nothing for Justicecon.

The group showing the clearest signs of life is the Martha’s Vineyard Science Fiction Association, credited as sponsor of a writers’ workshop taking place next month according to the event’s website.

7 thoughts on “Some SF Nonprofits At-Risk

  1. The Martha’s Vineyard Science Fiction Association, an entity of which I have the honor to be vice-president, is the sponsoring body for the annual “Viable Paradise” SF writing workshop, a week-long event that happens annually on the island of Martha’s Vineyard just off the coast of Massachusetts. This year’s workshop will be the fourteenth in a row, and the thirteenth at which TNH and I have been instructors. Other instructors this year are John Scalzi, Elizabeth Bear, Steven Gould, Laura J. Mixon, Debra Doyle, and James D. Macdonald. We expect to be working with 24 students, a fairly typical class size in recent years. More information on the workshop can be found at viableparadise.com.

    You’ll be glad to hear that our tax-exempt paperwork was all filed and in order as of mid-August; clearly, it takes a little while for these public databases to catch up.

  2. I suspect SFASFA is defunct, but I’ve passed the information on to one of its organizers. Despite the similarity of names, it’s not the same thing as SFSFC (San Francisco Science Fiction Conventions), which, as far as we know, has all of its paperwork current.

  3. I checked and SOUTH FLORIDA SCIENCE FICTION SOCIETY INC, at least, is still active. I just joined their FB group to send them a note, letting them know.

    I’ll be googling the others on the list you’ve provided and if any are active I’ll see about letting them know.

    @ Kevin: just in case: I haven’t seen this on SMOFs, have you? I’ve been meaning to post this for quite some time and even have the partial email so I can get it done today.

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