Friends of the
Zeiss Public
Statement For
Telephone: 412-561-7876 By Glenn A.
Walsh:
Electronic Mail: < friendsofthezeiss@planetarium.cc > Friends
of the Zeiss -
Internet Web Site: < http://www.friendsofthezeiss.org > Incorporation
and
2008 May 27 Fundraising Efforts
Good afternoon. I am Glenn A. Walsh of
First I want to thank the Board of
Directors of the Allegheny
Regional Asset District for the time
spent, at the last meeting,
discussing our concerns regarding the
historic Buhl Planetarium
artifacts. I also want to thank Rob
Jones for speaking with me,
at length, following the meeting. One of
your primary messages
to us was that Friends of the Zeiss
should be raising funds to
help preserve the artifacts. I want you
to know that we heard that
loud-and-clear.
As I explained to Rob Jones, the reason
we have not done so up
until now is because the City has given
possession of the artifacts
to the
money to preserve artifacts of which we
have no access. Still, we
understand that you feel we should have
a more formal organization,
so that we could be in a position to
start fundraising, should
we achieve access to the artifacts.
On the day before last month’s RAD Board
meeting, an opportunity
arose for me to learn more about
non-profit fundraising. At that time,
I learned that a workshop titled, “The Vintage Observatory:
Thriving
in the 21st Century,” would occur
May 2 to 4 at the
Although I had less than a week to make necessary
arrangements, I did
attend the entire conference.
Among the many sessions was a session titled,
“Crash Course in Fundraising
for Vintage Observatories,” presented by a professional
fundraiser who has
helped the
from the Observatory! So, I will be using my notes,
and the handouts, from
her session as a guide as I learn more about
fundraising.
To get to the point where we could begin fundraising,
Friends of the Zeiss
needs to become a non-profit corporation. With the
assistance of a Friends
member who is an attorney, I have started
investigating all of the
requirements for this. I hope to begin filing
applications within the next
month for incorporation and for non-profit status.
From what I have read,
the IRS is the slowest to respond, so 501(c)(3)
status may take some time.
With your encouragement, we have begun the process
that will lead us to the
point where we could begin fundraising for
preservation and possible use or
display of the historic Buhl Planetarium artifacts.
Once we reach that point,
we may need your help in achieving access to the
artifacts. I will contact
you at that time.
Thank you.
gaw