I am in the infancy stages of opening a Martial Arts school and am looking into applying for 501c3 non-profit status. Does anyone have any experience with filing for 501c3? Any advice/suggestions (pros/cons) would be greatly appreciated. The paperwork seems a bit overwhelming, but if successful it would be a great advantage to the future of the school and surrounding community.

Thank you

You asked for 501c3 pros and cons. Plenty of folks out there will only speak about the pros, but there are some cons you should be aware of.

One of the only web sites that lists any cons is at http://hushmoney.org

It's primarily a site for churches, but you should be able to glean some information from it that is still relevant to you.

You might want to check and make sure that you can enforce monthly dues as a 501c3, as you will likely have some bills to pay. Other than that, it seems to be a good idea, as you obviously aren't running a for profit operation. However, I wouldn't limit yourself, because my sifu ended up losing his job, and his studio had grown so much, he dedicated himself to it full time and now makes his living teaching the martial arts.

Hello.
I am sorry I cannot offer any advice in that regard, as I do not possess the experience either. However I do have one suggestion and by making it am making your thread-question prominant on the active thread list...

Have you done any google searches using the terms 501c3 and martial arts? That might get you in contact with others schools who have done so?! I believe Homma's dojo in Colorado has that classification, possibly several of the Aikido federations may have it as well....

Merely a thought for whatever it might be worth. It goes without saying you might consider retaining a corporate attorney I would assume who's expertise is this very topic.... non profit businesses.... so forth.

Please let us know how it goes regardless, many are very interested...

might be quicker if you do the search yourself Ronin...you dug up a post from a year and a half ago authored by a user with 2 posts.
They probably haven't been waiting by the thread for someone to finally suggest 'google' after this long

still, I'd be interested if you find anything.