Congrats on getting formally organized. I know from experience its a lot of work. YOu may want to double check on the tax deductibility thing though. i don't know the deal for California taxes, but I do know that for federal taxes and in most states donations are not deductible until all the applications have been made and approved by the state and IRS, a process that normally takes 6 months to a year. A good alternative is to find a fiscal sponsor which already has deductible status to sponsor the new organization while the IRS approval is pending. This makes donations deductible immediately, but they need to be made through the fiscal sponsor, which then usually charges a commissiion for handling the transaction.
