[Regia-NA] Incorporating?

[Matthew Amt]

Hello, all,

   Not to be sounding like a nay-sayer, here, but is incorporating and
having group insurance really necessary?  My own group, the Twentieth
Legion, is incorporated in Maryland though we do not have federal non-profit
status, and we do not have insurance.  In 11 years, no host site has asked
once about our status, and only one (for a parade somewhere in New York) was
requiring insurance so we simply didn't go.  Now, we have done most of our
events at either Marietta Mansion (county-run) or Fort Washington (federal
park), maybe that makes a difference.  It's quite possible that if we spread
out to more sites we'd see some need for corporate status, but it hasn't
happened so far, yet.  All it means is that I have to keep scrupulous
accounts of our money and fill out tax forms each year.  Not a big deal if
it IS necessary, but...

    One theory that I've heard is that if you are incorporated and someone
decides to sue, they can't target individuals.  It's a nice theory, but no
idea how well it holds up in practice, or if it means that your life isn't
ruined by some idiot's litigous whim.  With Regia NA doing fighting demos
(which we Romans don't do), and the resulting very slight possibility of
things going into the spectators, etc., that may make it all worthwhile. 
Oh, and once you sign up for insurance, you HAVE to bring in enough money to
pay for it, of course.  So dues and paying events become very important.  (I
almost returned my Romans' dues money this year because we were spending so
little, mostly on stamps and some food for events.)

    Usually, though, if you tell a site that you are a group, all they want
to know is how many people you are bringing and how much straw you'll need. 
Had I known that when the Legion was founded, I wouldn't have bothered
incorporating.

   Any other groups have experience to share?

    Matthew/Aelfric/Quintus