| April 7, 2017 -- As of this writing, all Granges should have received the confirmation of acceptance for their 990N filings. There are several Granges that file on their own and do not receive a confirmation from me. If you did not receive one and expected me to file for you, please let me know. If you filed on your own and did not receive an acceptance from the IRS, please be aware that the new system does not automatically email these forms to you. Seven minutes after you submit your 990, the acceptance becomes available on the website under the section regarding management of filings. There will be a button to the right of your 990 file that says “get updated status.” By clicking on this button the system will pull up your acceptance and you can then click on the file and be taken to the confirmation page that you can then print for your files. The new system does have a couple more steps but it does work well once you get used to it.
The new Blue Books and State Directories also should have been received by all Granges (the 990s were included in these envelopes). Please keep in mind that this year’s Blue Book applies to 2017 AND 2018. Please do not discard this book at the end of this Grange year as you will need it for the following year. This new two year format is being used to save money on printing and we have only printed enough books for this year’s needs. Only a small number of books remain available at the Central Office to replace lost or discarded Blue Books.
Every year we have a great deal of difficulty in getting the updated officer and committee forms from Granges for the State Directory. When they are available, we have relied on Pomona Handbooks to pull information for Granges that have not reported. As you know, Pomona Granges will be going through restructuring this fall and no handbooks will be printed until the new Pomona Granges are established so it is extremely important that ALL Granges return their forms to the Central Office as soon after elections as possible to ensure we are able to get the 2018 Directories completed in a timely manner.
Membership Recognition certificate and seal requests have been coming in steadily to the office. Please keep in mind we have two separate forms for these requests. There is a pink form that covers seals and certificates for 25, 30, 35, 40 and 45 years of service. All other requests for Golden Sheaves, 75 year certificates and letters beyond should be on the yellow form that goes to National Grange. When making your requests, please let me know if there are members on your list that have come to your Grange from another Grange. It can be difficult to confirm their continuous membership without this information.
We continue to have a good amount of Grange equipment/regalia in the office. If you need a replacement for something that is just plain worn out, broken or missing, please let me know. Items are available free of charge. Give me a call or send an email!
Until next time… think spring (at least spring with warmer weather and no snow on the ground!). |
