NYRA Gains 501c3 Status

In early January NYRA received a letter of determination from the IRS notifying the organization’s 501c3 application has been approved. With the new tax status all individuals or foundations giving money to NYRA receive tax deductions. This will allow NYRA to secure the funding it needs by applying for grants. This is a huge step forward for youth rights, but it hasn’t come without difficulty. This news comes nearly 6 years after NYRA’s formation. Much of that time was a long, frustrating story of setbacks, mistakes, and delays that would have made a lesser organization simply give up. After many years of this the forms were finally finished and submitted in July last year. The IRS finally responded in November, and the response was not cheerful. In fact it looked as if the long struggle for c3 was over. Faced with a long list of reasons the IRS didn’t think we were a c3, the Board resigned itself to the less desirable 501c4 status and sent in the application, retracting our request for c3. Through a miraculous error that form never arrived. After a conversation with the kindly IRS worker, Mrs. Smith, we were given the opportunity and confidence to defend our c3 claim. President Alex Koroknay-Palicz and Vice-President Johnathan McClure spent a whole night working on a well researched and argued appeal which led to our eventual approval in early January. The road to c3 has been a long one, and it is a great joy to finally get charitable status. The horizon is sunny and bright for NYRA, this is the end of the beginning.