Application For Pro Bono Legal Assistance for Startup Organizations

To be eligible for free legal assistance through Washington Attorneys Assisting Community Organizations (“WAACO”), your organization must demonstrate that it

  1. Has primarily a charitable or community-based purpose;
  2. Is or seeks to become a 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization;
  3. Is unable to pay for legal fees without significant impairment of program resources; and
  4. Seeks legal assistance on a business or organizational matter. In other words, WAACO does not provide assistance in finding you an attorney for legal issues related to current or expected litigation.

Organizations seeking assistance in the startup phase, including assistance in incorporating, drafting initial bylaws, and applying to the Internal Revenue Service for recognition of exemption (as an organization qualified under 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4)), are eligible for legal assistance provided that they satisfy the above eligibility criteria, demonstrate potential viability, and can show a community need for the organization’s proposed services or activities.

To apply for assistance, please complete this Application and send it by e-mailalong with all other requested . If you do not have the ability to send e-mail, or if you are unable to transfer any of the requested documents into electronic format, you may mail them to:

Washington Attorneys Assisting Community Organization,P.O. Box 2134, Seattle, WA, 98111-2134.

Your application must include a check for $100.00, payable to WAACO, mailed to the address above. This is a nonrefundable screening/placement fee.

  1. Contact Information:

Name of Organization
Street Address
City / County / Zip
Telephone / Website
Primary Contact Person / Title
Telephone / Fax / Email
  1. What is your organization’s mission?
  1. Please describe all assistance you have received from technical assistance providers, nonprofit service providers, support groups, or other professionals with the start up/creation of your organization:
  1. Is the organization already providing services? If so, describe the type of services and when you began providing them. If your organization is not providing services yet, please describe the type of services your organization will be providing.
  1. What geographic area(s) or region(s) does (or will) your organization serve?

Seattle/King County Greater Puget Sound (including Tacoma, Olympia, Everett, KitsapPeninsula)
Olympic Peninsula Western Washington Eastern Washington Washington State
Pacific Northwest Nationwide International
Other:
  1. (a) What client population does (or will) your organization primarily serve?

(b) What percentage (if any) of the population that your organization does (or will) serve is low income?

  1. Is the organization already incorporated in WashingtonState?

Yes No

  1. Please indicate which of the following services your organization needs (check all that apply):

Assistance in drafting articles of incorporation and filing them with the secretary of state

Assistance in drafting bylaws

Assistance with completing the IRS application for 501(c)(3) or (c)(4) status

Guidance on compliance with federal and state laws applicable to nonprofit organizations

Other:

  1. Please describe here or include in an attached Business Plan, the following:

(a)an explanation of the unmet need the organization seeks to address, and how you determined
that need exists; AND

(b)a detailed description of the services the organization will provide or the activities it will conduct (answer “what, where, who, when, how?”); AND

(c)the organization’s fundraising plan that shows how the organization will raise the funds necessary to start its program services, and how it will raise the funds necessary to sustain its operations during the first three years of operations.

For samples of business plans, visit

  1. Has your organization engaged a lawyer in the past?

Yes No

If YES, please provide the following information:

1.The lawyer or law firm’s name
2.The general nature of legal services provided and the date the services were provided
3.Whether the organization paid for the lawyer’s services.
  1. To allow your volunteer attorney to complete a review of potential conflicts-of-interest, please list any affiliates of your organization, and list any individuals or organizations with which your organization is or expects to be (in the coming year) involved in contract negotiations or other legal issues. Please also include a list of all relevant creditors.
  1. Please describe any accommodations that your organization may need in connection with the delivery of legal services. (e.g., communication access, mobility access).
  1. Please list all classes, workshops, seminars, books, etc. where you have gained the business skills and knowledge necessary to operate your nonprofit organization.
  1. How did you hear about WAACO?

Please include the following with your application as WAACO cannot screen or place your matter without each of the following REQUIRED documents!

If the organization is already incorporated, a copy of the articles of incorporation and certificate of incorporation from the secretary of state; and

A copy of the organization’s bylaws, if they have been drafted; and

List of the names and addresses of the organization’s proposed board members (must be at least three board members). Addresses should be home addresses in order for our volunteer attorneys to verify that they do not represent existing organizations, companies or individuals with interests in conflict with your organization’s officers, directors, and key personnel; and

The organization’s business plan (unless you have provided a detailed answer to Question No. 9 above); and

A three-year budget for the organization, detailing expected expenses and revenues. If the organization is already providing services or programming, please provide a financial statement showing all income and expenses of the organization to date, along with a projected budget for at least one year in the future; and

A check for $100.00, payable to WAACO, mailed to WAACO at P.O Box 2134, Seattle, WA98111-2134. This is a nonrefundable screening/placement fee.

Please also include, to the extent applicable:

Copies of legal documents related to your particular request for legal assistance (e.g., leases, contracts, correspondence, articles of incorporation, bylaws, tax notices, employment handbooks, etc).

Consents And Acknowledgments

While we will use our best efforts to protect the confidential nature of your organization’s legal issues, we must disclose some descriptive information provided through this Application to properly place your case. Unless you inform us in writing otherwise, we also may disclose the name of your organization and the general nature of legal matters referred through WAACO in our annual reports, fundraising and outreach materials, and any success stories or articles we may publish about WAACO. By your signature below, please acknowledge your consent to such disclosures in any manner that we deem necessary and appropriate.

If we determine that your organization is eligible for free legal assistance through WAACO, we will use our best efforts to find a volunteer attorney to represent you. We do not know how long it will take to find a volunteer attorney to assist you or if we will be able to do so. WAACO itself will not be providing you with legal representation. WAACO assumes no responsibility over the representation you do receive or the outcome. By your signature below, please also acknowledge your understanding of the foregoing description of WAACO's services.

Organization
Signature / Date
Name / Title

This Application must be signed by a board member or executive director. The signature page can be scanned and e-mailed with the rest of the Applicationto or mailed along with the $100.00 payment of the screening/placement fee to WAACO at P.O Box 2134, Seattle, WA 98111-2134.Please note that if you mail us your Application and associated materials, we may still request that you email the Application and associated materials to us so as to expedite the distribution of your materials to our entire screening committee.

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