Home-Welcome
Thank you for visiting and Welcome to the first website for The 501c Federal Credit Union (501cFCU), Inc.™.
The 501cFCU™ was formed as a dedicated financial and banking institution to serve the National Chamber of Tax-Exempt Small Businesses (NCTSB)™ and the Association of Tax-Exempt Startups & Entrepreneurs (ATESE)™, assuring this segment of the small business community has direct access to banking services focused on its unique needs and challenges it has as both a tax exempt organization and startup/small business concern.
501c Startups, Entrepreneurs & Small Business are both typically and consistently excluded from the same lending, grant consideration and startup technical assistance offerings as their For Profit Siblings. This occurs in equal measure by policy as it does by Federal and State legislation. As such, The 501cFCU™ along with the National Chamber and Membership Association it will serve, are all first of their kind entities established to specifically support the 501c segment of the small businesses market.
A BRIEF HISTORY
501cFCU™ is part of The Learners Lab Foundation Tax-Exempt Small Business Collaborative™ a growing group of charities working to eliminate resource gaps, funding exclusions, and access denial to assets required to perform the business side of their tax-exempt operations its parent encountered as a volunteer. The “Collaborative” is the charitable operations of is founding and parent entity, The Competence Group, LLC™, a 47-year old consultancy that originated as a pre-teens volunteer work with startups and small business concerns. That volunteer effort included using personal funds, W2 & 1099 earning, tax refunds, school refunds and birthday gifts to help cover small expenditures of struggling startups and small businesses. This effort morphed into a strategic charitable movement to empower and level the playing field specifically for tax-exempt startups, entrepreneurs, small & growing business concerns across the country when the pattern of exclusions due to tax-exempt status was observed then experienced directly. Those exclusions never stopped, those barriers are still in place.
As the LLC’s lead charity, The Learners Lab Foundation™ function included serving as Fiscal Sponsor and mentor in addition to its economic development, the LLC’s small $1 lending program (now called The Helping Hand Fund™), workforce training, media/publishing services, and channel marketing while the LLC functioned like GSA managing resources, legalities, compliance, assets, and developing solutions required by Startup & Small Business Stakeholders.
The Foundation™ has just completed a massive expansion moving each of its primary functions into a “Collaborative” of charitable organizations including a National Chamber, A Founders Association, a host of org and org-level charitable programs, initiatives, services. On equal part with this economic development work is job, career track and discipline specific workforce training, all done thru Fellowship Academy for Leadership & Business Continuity™, to (a) substantially increase its operating capacity, (b) expand the amount of tax-exempt startups & small businesses its able to help at any given time, and (c) assure this body of technical, financial, peer support, and professional & economic development continues well beyond its Founders’ presence and abilities.
The Learners Lab Foundation™ continues it support and mentorship role as Fiscal Sponsor serving both External Applicants and Referral as well as ANY Sibling Charities (SC) formed by its Parent LLC deemed necessary to the furtherance of its charitable work. Unless otherwise noted, Sibling Charities will be fiscally sponsored until such time receipt from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of their Letter of Determination approving their Form 1023-24 Application for Tax-Exempt Status.
The Charter formation process with the National Credit Union Association (NCUA) to establish 501cFCU™ as a Federal Credit Union has already commenced. It was established as a Federal Credit Union for the startup & small business markets its LLC parent has served since the 80’s.
HOW TO SUPPORT
As of this writing there are three ways you can support this effort to establish a first of its kind Credit Union specifically to eliminate the financial services chasm 501c Startups, Entrepreneurs & Tax-Exempt Small Business are perpetually in. First is Participation. Interviews are underway to convene our new FCU’s Charter Formation Committee (CFC), some banking and/or credit union experience is required.
Second, write a Letter of Support (LOS). Letters of Support for establishing an 501c FCU are being graciously accepted by its lead charity and fiscal sponsor, The Learners Lab Foundation Tax-Exempt Small Business Collaborative, and its parent entity, The Competence Group, LLC. Feel free to email your LOS on your organizations letterhead to ISupport@501cFCU.org.
Third, Contributing Financial Support toward its operations, funding capabilities or the construction of its home facilities. The launch of both crowdfunding as well as a direct contribution campaign efforts for accepting online donations and mailed-in checks directly is being arranged, email ISupport@501cFCU.org to request the donation form. The Learners Lab Foundation is fiscally sponsoring The 501cFCU and ALL its new sibling charitable endeavors, therefore all contributions falling within the IRS guidelines may be tax-deductible.
Kindly return to visit our Founding Supporters page for the most current and up-to-date information. As details on and contact information for our fundraising initiatives are finalized, that information, along with the Names of our Supporters, be they Individual, Group, or Organization, will be published on this site before any other venue or website is updated.
Thank you in advance for supporting our work. It is sincerely appreciated.
LOCATION
As of this writing, 501cFCU™ preferred location in on Maryland’s Eastern Shore within the headquarters of the future Startup2Small Business Market Exchange TLLF-TSBC & The LLC™ is currently conducting site visits for. Regardless of where its Headquarters is established, our Market Exchange which houses the 501cFCU™ banking facility will have national presence with at least 1 Branch in each of the 50 States, DC, Puerto Rico as well a virtually and digitally.
IMPACT
The 501c Federal Credit Union™ is part of a group of tax-exempt “Startup2Small Business™” empowerment charities that form The Learners Lab Foundation Tax-Exempt Small Business Collaborative (TLLF-TSBC)™.
Together and individually, these new organizations all represent the first entities of their kind to serve 501c Startups, Entrepreneurs & the Tax-Exempt Small Business, nationwide!
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Thank you for visiting. And please be advised, this site is live but still under construction.
Thank for your patience.
The Volunteer Team from TCG LLC & TLLF-TSBC