Big news!
A new non-profit has formed to join the city and community's efforts to keep shuffleboard thriving in St. Pete. Keep St. Petersburg Shufflin, Inc. is a new nonprofit organized by St. Pete shufflers and other community members.
While this new organization is separate from the club, they will be an important partner that can have a huge impact on our mission for many years to come.
Community members are invited to a Town Hall meeting on Thursday, April 2nd for a presentation about Keep St. Petersburg Shufflin from the organizers that will include an opportunity for you to ask any questions you may have.
Already have some questions you'd like to submit? You can reach out to Cece Clarke via email to submit them ahead of time: cdclarke@keepshufflin.org
If you receive email communications from the club, you will have recently received a message with some details about the 501c3 that will give you a good overview of the project. Just in case you missed it, you can read that information below:
Tennis has Wimbledon, Baseball has Fenway Park, Golf has Augusta National and Shuffleboard has St Petersburg. These venues are not just of interest to local fans; they are inextricably tied to the sport they host. They provide a regional or national symbol for their “tribe” of like-minded persons. They are cultural icons. In 1924 St Petersburg built 2 shuffleboard courts in Mirror Lake Park and provided the foundation for four generations of “Shufflers” to gather and play their sport. The city spawned the St Petersburg Shuffleboard Club which became the epicenter for the niche sport played in more than 11 countries today.
A new non-profit has formed to join the city and community’s efforts to keep shuffleboard thriving in St Petersburg.
- Keep St Petersburg Shufflin, Inc is a new nonprofit that has recently applied for tax deferred status (IRS regulation 501c3). It is being organized by St Pete shufflers and other community members.
- The mission of Keep St Petersburg Shufflin is to preserve and promote the sport of shuffleboard in our community. Fund raising will be used to:
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- support the preservation and enhance the historic shuffleboard facility,
- develop and fund community outreach programs,
- educate the community and visitors about the history of shuffleboard, its benefits and relationships to the community, and,
- to sponsor and promote community participation in local shuffleboard competition.
Although the St Petersburg Shuffleboard Club is also a non-profit, it is ineligible for the IRS designation as a “Tax Exempt organization” because it is not “organized exclusively for charitable…purposes” as required and defined in the IRS code. Rather than significantly alter the goals and structure of the club, the Board of Governors gave its blessing to a group of club members to organize a separate and independent organization that could meet the requirements of the IRS as a 501c3. This status allows this new non-profit to collect tax-deductible contributions as long as they are used for its declared charitable mission.
Keep St Petersburg Shufflin must have its own Board of Directors, bylaws, bank accounts and policies that all expressly support the charitable purpose. It will have different reporting requirements to the IRS. It is registered with the State of Florida, has completed filing with the IRS for the Tax Exempt status, and held its first Board of Directors meeting earlier this month.
We hope to begin fund raising soon after the IRS filing is complete. Although it will take 1-2 months for consideration and approval of our status, contributions that are made after our filing date will be retroactively tax-deductible if we are approved.
