We (temporarily) lost our 501(c)(3) status

I’ve had to work incredibly hard to keep Iglutheca up and running this year. With grant funding drying up, we had to fundraise from $20K per year in donations to $155K. I tried juggling administrative work, fundraising, shelter logistics, etc, but I dropped the ball when it came to IRS paperwork. I knew I was behind, but I thought I was still within a safe timeframe, where the worst that could happen was a fine for late filing. I had other crises that I thought would bring more immediate consequences. I was wrong and too far behind. I received a notice that our 501(c)(3) status was automatically revoked due to failure to file 990s.

We have started the process of re-applying for 501(c)(3) status, but it could take anywhere from 9 months to 15 months! In the meantime, we can continue doing our work with some new difficulties.

What are the effects of the loss of 501(c)(3) status?

• New donations to Iglutheca will no longer be tax-deductible.

• You can still donate directly if you don’t need the deduction (~90% of Americans are better off taking the standard deduction rather than itemizing deductions).

• If you want to give to Iglutheca and need your donation to be tax-deductible. You can give to the Pine Ridge Reconciliation Center (See the additional insert in this envelope)

• Donations given before the notice date of August 18th can still be deducted from your 2025 taxes. Anything past then should be deductible once we are reinstated.

One of the problems that led to this issue was that I was handling all the tax-related matters on my own. We have now hired professional tax help and are bringing on some new board members who can help with these things. We are working to get this fixed quickly.

Thank you for your understanding. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at: abram@iglutheca.org ~Abram Neumann - Executive Director.