I am a board member (Recording Secretary) of a very small kennel club. Less than 40 members. It was recommended to us that we become a non-profit corporation so people can claim donations they give us. (Not that we get very many at all.)

The board is struggling with this decision as we are so small. Is it really going to be worth it to go thru all the paperwork (now and future filings) and incur the sizable fees to do this? At any given time, our club's checking account only has between $2000 - $6000 in it.

We make our money from the entry fees from the dog shows we stage twice a year, the program ads we sell for the shows and from the occasional t-shirt sale.

We've gotten advice from 2 CPA's; one said "don't bother" because we simply don't make enough money to warrant all the extra paperwork and time, the other said "just file and pay". Which I thought was poor advice.

Our club only has the single checking account. We own no property other than the misc. equipment we use to stage our twice a year dog shows. Our club has insurance with a national insurance company.

Our little club is currently "under the radar". We were told that as long as the club keeps less than $10,000 in our checking account at all times, that no one draws a salary, that we'd be ok.

Any advice?