United States of America

The following contains information that may pertain to your club or district regarding compliance requirements in the U.S.

Toastmasters International

Toastmasters International is registered in the U.S. as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. It is classified as an educational nonprofit organization and possesses federal tax exempt status within the U.S. The organization’s World Headquarters is located in Colorado, which is the only location where Toastmasters International has employees or a permanent establishment.

District Compliance

According to the Bylaws of Toastmasters International, Article XII: Districts, Section 3 (e), Districts, Divisions, and Areas are not permitted to create their own legal entities as this would jeopardize our non-profit status.

Furthermore, districts in the U.S. are not required to register with any federal or state authority. If your district or club is contacted by a federal or state authority, please contact Treasury and Compliance or Legal to gain assistance in addressing the matter.

Toastmasters International shall indemnify district directors as long as the directors are in compliance with Toastmasters’ governing documents and have met the standard of conduct per Section 5238(b) or Section 5238(c) of the California Corporations Code. For more information see the Bylaws of Toastmasters International, Article XIII: Miscellaneous, Section 6(b).

Club Compliance

Clubs in the U.S. are not required to register with any federal or state authority. If your club is contacted by a federal or state authority, please contact Treasury and Compliance or Legal to gain assistance in addressing the matter.

District Financial Information

District Funds

Please be aware, district funds are owned by Toastmasters International. A district may open and operate a bank account to administer these funds for district purposes. If any district officer opens a bank account on behalf of the district, the management of the bank account resides with the district and it must be registered within the Toastmasters’ district accounting system. To register the district bank account and for further information, please contact District Finance.

Sales Tax Exemption

Toastmasters International and its subsidiaries are exempt from U.S. Federal Income tax. Sales and Use tax exemptions are not automatically granted as each state has its own requirements for exemption. To learn if Toastmasters International has a Sales and Use tax exemption for your state, please contact Treasury and Compliance for the most current information. Be aware that Sales and Use tax exemptions are only to be used by districts to purchase items for Toastmasters International purposes.

Club Financial Information

Banking

Chartered Toastmasters clubs may be required to provide three items to open a club bank account.*

• A copy of the Club Constitution and, if applicable, an Addendum of Standard Club Options.
• The unique Employer Identification Number (EIN/tax ID) assigned to your club by the IRS.**
• The meeting minutes, or a simple letter drafted by the club secretary stating the two or three club officers who are authorized as signatories on the club bank account.

For additional assistance, please contact Treasury and Compliance.

*When opening a bank account, you must inform the bank that the club is “organized as a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Un-Incorporated Association.”

**When a club is first chartered World Headquarters applies to the IRS for a unique EIN on the club’s behalf. A hard copy letter stating the newly assigned EIN number is then mailed to the club president. The IRS also informs World Headquarters of the club’s EIN, which is then entered into Club Central on the Club Demographics page (club officers may access the number there).

Tax Filings

The IRS requires all small nonprofits (i.e., Toastmasters clubs) to file a Federal 990-N tax return each year. Toastmasters International World Headquarters has taken the responsibility for filing these returns on behalf of each club. As such, clubs do not need to file the federal electronic tax return.

California Residents: At this time, only clubs physically located within the state of California have a state tax obligation; therefore, a 199-N must be filed by a club officer. Please see the USA Resources section for filing instructions.

Miscellaneous Information

Donations

U.S. Toastmasters clubs and districts are considered 501(c)(3) nonprofits. As such, they are able to provide documentation for a donor who has made a qualified charitable contribution, which may be considered tax deductible. Please note, Toastmasters is not permitted to give specific tax advice. Donors should discuss the details of this deduction and how it is used with a tax professional, accountant or CPA. To provide the donor with documentation, please complete a Written Acknowledgement Letter (see the USA Resources section). Be certain to include the donation amount. If goods or services are donated, please include their fair market value.

Please be aware that donors cannot be permitted to dictate how donated funds are to be used by the district or club. However, requests may be honored at the discretion of the district or club officer. If a donor requests something in exchange for the donation, the nature of the donation may change to a transaction or sponsorship, and may no longer be considered tax deductible.

W-9 Information

Districts or clubs may occasionally be asked to provide tax or business information to various entities. The most common method to provide this information is an IRS W-9 Form. If the entity requests a W-9 Form from Toastmasters International World Headquarters, please contact Treasury and Compliance to request the most current copy. If the district or club is asked to provide its own W-9 Form, please see the instructions in the USA Resources section.

Intellectual Property

We ask you to respect Toastmasters’ intellectual property and abide by Policy 4.0: Intellectual Property and our brand guidelines. Items that are not purchased directly from the online store or have not been approved by Toastmasters’ Brand and Trademarks teams can be considered counterfeit goods. This undermines the organization’s ability to protect our copyrights and registered trademarks and to ensure that members only receive the highest-quality goods.

If you would like to create customized goods for your district or club, please submit a Trademark Use Request. Our teams will be more than happy to assist you in designing a product that doesn’t conflict with Toastmasters’ intellectual property and follows our brand guidelines.

Toastmasters International has a portfolio of trademarks in the United States. Trademarks registered in the United States can be found in the USA Resources section.

Record Retention

During the program year, a district or club will accumulate documents and emails. Therefore, Toastmasters recommends that the district or club follow the recordkeeping policy, which can be found in the FAQs.

Additional Information
For more information, or for questions that are of an urgent nature, please contact the Treasury and Compliance team concerning financial questions or the Legal team at World Headquarters.