When Joop Strietman announced he would be stepping down, a search committee from the Council began to talk with Jeff Turnbough about assuming the role. Because of the unique structure of Jeff’s Mission, FWBIM, it soon became evident ITA would need to function differently than it had in the past. This change necessitated the legal incorporation of the alliance, so ITA solicit and receive donations directly. The ITA Council decided to contract a lawyer to legally incorporate in the United States and also in Australia.
In November 2015, ITA was legally organized in the United States, specifically in the State of Tennessee, where the new CEO resides. ITA received tax exemption as a charitable non-profit organization under U.S. federal code 501(c)(3).
ITA opened a bank account and a PayPal account in the United States to begin receiving funds.
The budget for 2016 is significantly more than the budget for 2015. The senior leadership devised a plan of action to raise funds. The complete budget was 231,000 Euros. The budget called for 148,060 Euros in income from LMC participants. ITA has been blessed with donors in the past, and the Council anticipated continuing donations in the amount of 13,000 Euros. ITA has a specific need to raise 80,000 Euros.
For this reason, the senior leadership devised a CrowdRise Funding Campaign, asking the 2,500 LMC alumni to give the equivalent of $10 USD each, or $100 USD if they were able.
At the same time the ITA Council decided to approach foundations and corporations to request grants for its worldwide leadership training. Many participants come from economically-challenged areas of the world, and need some form of subsidy. Also, while ITA does not pay salaries to its trainers, occasionally it helps trainers with their travel expenses to our courses. These are all valid expenses for financial help. Now that ITA is officially recognized as a tax-exempt, charitable non-profit in the United States, it is in a position to both solicit and receive gifts.
Effective Date of Exemption in the USA: June 25, 2015
EIN in the USA: 47-4769113