A snippet of an anonymous letter that appeared in an envelope at East Village businesses Wednesday. Full copies of both letters are below.
Business owners throughout the East Village Arts District Wednesday received a strange envelope with nothing more than “Business Owner” handwritten on its cover. Inside was an unsigned letter stating that the East Village Association’s advertised status as a non-profit is false along with a copy of a letter signed by EVA President Michael Mosselli from last year, requesting donations while touting his organization’s non-profit status.
The unsigned letter informed business owners that if they had donated to EVA for their annual East Village District Pride Fundraiser last year, their donations were not tax deductible since “it has been recently discovered that [the EVA] IS NOT A NON-PROFIT.”
Mosselli’s letter was a reprint of one sent out on April 27 of last year asking businesses and East Village supporters to donate towards the association’s annual East Village District Pride Fundraiser. In the letter, Mosselli states, “we are a non-profit so we rely on donations to make these type of events a great success” and listed beneficiaries as St. Mary’s C.A.R.E. Program, the NOH8 Campaign and the East Village Association. Mosselli also included a tax ID number to be used for donations.
A call to the Internal Revenue Service Thursday morning confirmed that there is “no record of tax-exempt status” for the tax ID number listed on Mosselli’s letter, though it could not be verified whether or not an application for such status was pending. It can take up to a year for the IRS to process such applications during which the EVA could still hold a business license and be allowed to accept money.
“We are addressing the issue with our businesses who donated towards this fundraiser for the C.A.R.E. program of Long Beach and [The] Center,” Mosselli told the Post after being told about the anonymous letter’s accusations. “The letter that was sent out was not for distribution and was sent in error by volunteers on our committee.”
Chatter among some business owners in the East Village Wednesday centered on how misleading the information in Mosselli’s letter was, leaving many to question why the it was written in the first place if it wasn’t intended to be sent out and why, before properly receiving a 501(c)3 status, Mosselli would claim the EVA to be a non-profit and include an ID.
Berlin owner Kerstin Kansteiner, however, was entirely supportive of Mosselli, telling the Post that she has taken charge in getting the association back into the public’s eye with open meetings. Kansteiner pointed out that she truly believes Mosselli lacked any malicious intention and simply wants a better community. After all, the EVA takes a smaller portion of what is technically part of Downtown and hones its attention on it.
“I think it’s a wake-up call, undoubtedly,” she said. “They need to involve the community more, they need to have conversations with the DLBA… If they do that, I do think they will survive this. They need to operate and become fully legal and move on from there.”
Neighborhood associations are not required to hold non-profit status in order to perform the organizing tasks they often do. If money is going to be changing hands or dues are being collected, however, a business license must be obtained, which can then be used to apply for non-profit status.
Mosselli confirmed that within this year, the organization will be receiving its non-profit status and for any business who donated to the fundraiser to contact the EVA.
“We are happy to re-issue the letter to anyone who donated towards the District Pride Fundraiser,” he explained, saying a proper tax ID for the C.A.R.E. program will be provided. “We are looking to complete 501(c)3 status this year, so that we can offer tax deductible donations [directly through the EVA] and apply for more grants to improve our community.”
Anonymous Letter Stating EVA Non-Profit Status is False East Village Association Donation Letter