Mid Ohio Filmmakers Association runs on nothing. There are no salaries — every workshop, contest, screening and mixer is put on by volunteers. What money there is goes to venue hire, printing, insurance, equipment maintenance and the software the shared kit runs on.
Where MOFA stands right now, stated plainly
MOFA is applying for 501(c)(3) recognition and does not have it yet.
That means we cannot tell you your gift is tax-deductible, and you should not claim it as though it were. An application to the IRS is being prepared. If it is granted, recognition is expected to be effective from the date the organisation was formed — which would make gifts made in the meantime deductible after the fact. Expected is not the same as granted. If your gift depends on the deduction, wait for us to say the letter has arrived, and keep your receipt either way.
If you want to be told when that happens, email
[BLANK — contact address]and we will write to you.
What MOFA actually needs
In the order it makes a difference:
| What | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Money, in small regular amounts | The dullest and most useful. A venue booked three months out needs a balance that exists in three months, not a windfall |
| Gear | Cameras, lenses, audio, lighting, stands, cases, a projector, drives. Working, and complete enough to use |
| A room | Anyone with a space that seats twenty and has power solves the single hardest problem in running a workshop |
| Time and skill | Teaching a session, judging a contest, cutting a trailer, fixing the website |
| A screen | A cinema, a bar, a hall, a wall — somewhere to put finished work in front of an audience |
Giving money
[BLANK — the actual methods: cheque payable to whom, at what address; online, if there is a processor; in person at a mixer. Do not publish this page until this row is real.]
Do not send money to an individual. MOFA's funds are held in an account in the organisation's name. If anyone asks you to make a payment to a personal account, that is not MOFA.
Giving gear — read this part
Equipment is the donation most likely to go wrong for both sides, so here is how it works.
Before you hand it over. Email [BLANK — contact] with what it is and its condition. MOFA
will say yes or no honestly. A camera nobody can get a battery for costs more to store than it
returns, and we would rather tell you that than take it.
What MOFA gives you. A written acknowledgement that describes what was received — make, model, condition, the date — signed by an officer.
What MOFA will not do, and cannot be talked into. MOFA will not tell you what your gear is worth. Not a number, not a range, not a "for your records" figure. That is not us being unhelpful: valuing a donated item is the donor's responsibility under federal law, and a charity that writes a value on a receipt is doing the donor's job and creating a problem for both of them. You decide the value and you support it.
If you are claiming a larger noncash gift, the IRS requires the donor to file Form 8283 with their return, and above a higher threshold requires a qualified appraisal. MOFA may need to sign a part of your Form 8283 — that signature acknowledges that we received the item. It is not an agreement about value. Ask and we will sign it.
If MOFA later sells or disposes of donated property within the period the IRS specifies, we may have to file Form 8282 and send you a copy. This is normal and is not a complaint about your gift.
What we do with it. Donated equipment becomes MOFA's property and goes into the shared pool that members borrow from for instruction and practice, on a written loan agreement. It is not resold for cash, and it is not rented commercially.
What you can claim, and what you cannot
While the application is pending, claim nothing on the basis of this page. Keep your acknowledgement. If recognition is granted retroactively, your accountant will know what to do with it.
When MOFA does hold recognition, three rules will still catch people out, so they are worth knowing now:
- You can deduct a gift. You cannot deduct the value of your time. Teaching a four-hour workshop for free is worth a great deal to MOFA and is worth nothing on a tax return. Mileage and out-of-pocket costs of volunteering are treated differently from the value of the labour — check the current rules for the year in question.
- If you get something back, you can only deduct the difference. A ticket, a membership perk, a piece of merchandise: the value of what you received comes off what you gave. MOFA will state the value of the benefit on the acknowledgement where this applies, which is the one number we are obliged to give you.
- Membership dues are not automatically a donation. Dues that buy borrowing rights and reduced session fees are largely payment for benefits. Dues paid by someone who wants to support the organisation and takes nothing back are a different thing. Ask, and we will tell you which yours were.
Sponsoring something specific
Some people would rather fund a thing than a budget. Things that can be sponsored:
- A workshop — venue and materials for one session, so it stays free to attend
- A contest — the judging, the screening, and the awards for one competition cycle
- A screening — the room and the projection for one public exhibition
- A piece of kit — named on the loan record for as long as it lasts
Sponsorship gets an acknowledgement at the event and on this site. Note that sponsorship which buys advertising is treated differently from a gift for tax purposes — for the sponsor and sometimes for MOFA — so tell us what you are expecting and we will get it right rather than guess.
Questions we would rather answer than have you assume
Can I donate a film? Rights are complicated and we would probably rather screen it than own it. Talk to us.
Can I give money for one person's project? No. A gift earmarked for a named individual is not a gift to a charity — it is a payment routed through one, and neither of us wants that. Fund a programme and the programme will reach people on published terms.
Can I get my gear back? No. A gift is a gift. If you want to lend equipment rather than give it, say so — a loan is a different arrangement and we will paper it as one.
Who sees my name? Nobody, unless you want them to. Tell us and we will keep it off the site and out of the acknowledgements at events.
[BLANK — contact address, and the postal address for cheques]