How To Start Your Own Chapter
If there is not an OPRC chapter in your area, you might decide to form a new chapter. The following information should assist you in the process and we here at National are here to help. Contact a membership coordinator at Region 1 or Region 2, or contact any of the OPRC board members listed on the website at: http://oprc.us/contactus.htm
1) Before the first meeting:
a. Plan the first meeting.
It can be held in your home, a library, a school, a tack shop,
or even at a barn, if you prefer. Provide refreshments if
possible.
b. Draft an activity calendar that will include at least five activities for both English and Western riders. Don't worry about dates and other member's schedules, just put activities on the calendar and remember that the events can be rescheduled. Make sure you have plenty of copies of the OPRC Membership Form and the OPRC Activity
Release Form . Every new member must fill out and return
each of these forms to you.
c. Advertise by posting flyers at local barns, tack shops, feed stores, etc. Run ads in local equine publications (some will post for free so check them out).
d. Mounted activities cannot be hosted until your riders have signed the OPRC Release Form and have obtained a D1 rating (see below). The OPRC Release Form must be signed annually by all members and kept on file by the chapter. All riders must wear a medical armband on their person when they ride in an OPRC sponsored activity. (Armbands can be purchased from various sources, such as the Dover Saddlery catalog and Walmart (in the sporting goods section.) .
OPRC operates with Club
insurance,
which protects all members in good standing when they are at an
OPRC sponsored activity. Each chapter will need to apply for sanctioned
event insurance if your chapter plans an open OPRC mounted event (an event in which the public is invited). OPRC also offers its members the opportunity to purchase Excess Personal Liability which will cover them at non OPRC sponsored activities.
e. Establish
a chapter bank account. To protect yourself, require
two signatures (President and Treasurer are recommended)
on the checks. Each chapter
will need an Employer
Identification Number (EIN). When applying for an
EIN tell the IRS you are an informal riding group and that
your group does not generate a profit from your membership
dues. For information, look at http://www.irs.gov/charities/nonprofits/article/0,,id=96189,00.html
You may apply for your EIN online http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=102767,00.html
Click Begin Application
Choose the radial button - View Additional Types, Including Tax-Exempt
and Governmental Organizations
Click Continue
Choose the radial button – Social or Savings Club
Click Continue
Read notice
Click continue
From here I can’t go any further, so you will need to follow
the instructions.
You can also call
To apply by phone:
Taxpayers can obtain an EIN immediately by calling the Business & Specialty Tax Line at (800) 829-4933. The hours of operation are 7:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. local time, Monday through Friday. An assistor takes the information, assigns the EIN, and provides the number to an authorized individual over the telephone.
Here
we offer you an informal peek at how to incorporate your
chapter. Note: this document is to be used as a guideline,
since every state has their own regulations and laws on this
subject, but it should give you a rough over view of what
is needed and why.
Your chapter is not required to file a 990EZ or any other tax
declaration until your chapter has an excess of $25,000.00 in its
treasury, at which time you will also need to become your own non-profit
501C(3) or not for profit 501C(7). Reading material: http://www2.guidestar.org/rxg/help/faqs/form-990/index.aspx#faq1943 OPRC
does not operate under a group tax exemption, which means you must
become
your own 501C(7) once your treasury reaches the $25,000.00
mark.
f. Find a local USPC Examiner to do rating rides for your club. Explain OPRC to the Examiner. Make sure he/she thoroughly understands the OPRC jumping and non-jumping standards.
Include a rating ride in your proposed activity calendar. Determine the fee for the rating ride - we suggest $15.00 per rider; $10.00 goes to the examiner, $5.00 goes to the club's treasury. Rating is very important. Safety is of primary concern and it is the number one issue addressed during a D1 rating. Everyone must get rated at the D1 level, at the bare minimum. From that point on, members can choose whether they wish to advance from there. Even if you've been rated all the way to A in USPC, you must climb the ranks all over again in the OPRC. It's really quite fun, and allows everyone to begin on the same playing field.
2) First Meeting:
a. Introduce yourself.
b. Explain what OPRC is.
c. Ask everyone around
the room to introduce themselves, what type of riding they
do, and what they want to get out of OPRC.
d.Hand out copies of the OPRC FAQ's, Membership Form and the OPRC Activity
Release Form. Walk through the forms as members fill them out.
e. Explain the OPRC membership period and chapter dues. Membership is January to December of each calendar year. Chapter dues include $17 for National OPRC (which includes chapter liability insurance). You are encouraged to keep the dues low to promote membership. Typical chapter dues are $37 per year - $20 for the chapter and $17 for National OPRC.
e. Explain the OPRC membership
period and chapter dues. Membership is January to December
of each Calendar Year. Chapter dues include $10 (increasing to
$17 in 2009 which will include chapter liability insurance)
for the National OPRC DF. You are encouraged to keep the dues
low to promote membership. Typical chapter dues are $35 per
year - $25 for the chapter and $10 (increasing to $17 in 2009)
for the DF.
f. Collect the forms and
chapter dues.
g. Hand out the proposed
activity calendar. Ask for input on each proposed activity.
Get suggestions for where to hold them, if needed. Get suggestions
for additional activities, good clinicians, etc.
h. Plan a consistent time
and location for monthly meetings; for example, the second
Tuesday of every month at 7:00 PM at your barn.
i. Encourage members to
have and use email. This is the best way to keep members
updated on events and changes.
j. Solicit volunteers for
chapter officers (President, Vice-President, Secretary,
Treasurer, and Membership Coordinator). If necessary hold
an election.
k. Come up with a name
for your chapter. Please include OPRC as part of your name,
such as Bubble Creek OPRC or Alamade Country OPRC.
3) After the meeting, deposit the dues checks in your chapter bank account. Mail a check made payable to OPRC covering $17 for each member (for example, if you have 20 members, the check should be $340). This check should be mailed to the National Membership Coordinator for your area. Mailing addresses can be found here. Enter your member’s information into the OPRC National database. The National Membership Coordinator will process the new members upon receipt of your check. Once processed, the new members will receive a welcome letter and a link to their OPRC membership card. Both of these items arrive via email. The National Membership Coordinator will then forward your check to the National Treasurer.
4) You are encouraged to charge nominal fees for chapter activities. For example, the Founding Chapter in Southern Maryland has never charged more than $35.00 per rider for a clinic. You can make money for your club with fund raisers such as silent auctions, open horse shows, tacking on a little extra for clinics, used tack sales, etc.
5) Hold your first rating ride (see Ratings).
After you have rated members, you can hold mounted activities such as trail rides, clinics, events, horse shows, fun shows, horse swims, etc. Only rated members may ride in the chapter activities. If you want to include nonmembers in a mounted event, you must acquire sanctioned event insurance. Apply for sanctioned event insurance here. Before each mounted
event begins, collect an OPRC Competitor Activity
Release Form from each participant. We have prepared
a document that the new President may
draw from.
6) As your chapter grows, you'll find many members interested in different things. Welcome everyone and look for the talent that each individual has to offer.
7) You will eventually need to elect a clinic coordinator, rating ride coordinator, show coordinators, etc.
8) You may also want to develop your own club logo. Please incorporate OPRC into your logo. Encourage everyone to get club logo polo shirts, hats and saddle pads for team spirit. Keep it fun! If you would like to purchase items with the OPRC logo, National has registered the OPRC logo with Zazzle.com which you can access through the National website http://oprc.us/memorabilia.htm
9) Contact the OPRC National
Office with any questions or suggestions to make your life
easier. Remember, this is a constantly growing and improving organization in which we are learning together! We welcome your suggestions to make the OPRC more fun and efficient.
We at National look forward to hearing from you.
National has prepared a new chapter startup manual for your convenience. Please contact the membership coordinators for a copy of this manual.
