JustZ , 5 months ago

Sounds like the issue was that the girls were using the GSA name and logo without permission and without following the formalities that a 501©(3) must follow, and the IRS could theoretically revoke GSA’s status over it. Seems pretty unlikely that this small fundraiser would trigger such a harsh response from the IRS.

Or, if this has anything to do with money raised by selling cookies, it could be catastrophic for GSA. The cookie money has to go toward supporting GSA’s primary charitable endeavors, educating and enriching girls in America or whatever their mission statement is. If cookie money starts being used to fund something else, the IRS can treat it the cookie money as “unrelated business income,” and start taxing it, and also the cookie enterprise would be subject to labor laws, which I think would probably be the end of GSA, given their dependence on unpaid child labor.