Leadership Golden History

The Leadership Golden Alumni Association, Inc. (LGAA) is a nonprofit Colorado corporation that was "organized to promote through education, the development, maintenance and encouragement of community leadership in the area of the City of Golden, Colorado." A nine-member Board of Directors manages the affairs of LGAA. The LGAA members elect the President-Elect, Secretary, Treasurer and two Directors-at-Large at the Annual Members' Meeting each fall.

The designation "alumni" is limited to those persons who have graduated from the Leadership Golden Program and those persons who are former or present members of the Steering Committee. As of May, 2005, 415 people have graduated from Leadership Golden.

Membership in LGAA and, thus, voting privilege, is reserved for those alumni who pay dues of $15 per year, due the first of September. The Annual Members' Meeting is held each year in the fall. Membership dues provide for the operation of the Association, paying for such items as the production and mailing of newsletters and notices and funding the Alumni Directory and educational public forums.

The LGAA was originally formed in June 1985 to fund the Leadership Golden Program and to provide ongoing education for the program's alumni. Bylaws were written and accepted and Articles of Incorporation filed. The State of Colorado issued the LGAA a Certificate of Incorporation on March 27, 1986. At that time the Golden Chamber of Commerce and the Golden Civic Foundation, the program’s originators, still sponsored the Leadership Golden Program. After two years of sponsorship, these two organizations spun the program off and on June 4, 1986, the LGAA Board of Directors voted to accept complete responsibility for the Leadership Golden Program.

In December, 1986, the IRS granted the LGAA 50l(c)(3) tax status. This tax status means that the Association does not have to pay Federal Income Tax, that all donors (individuals, businesses and non-tax exempt groups) can deduct their contributions to the Association and that other 501(c)(3) organizations can contribute to us. The IRS responded to our original request for this status with eleven questions. These questions and conversations with the IRS made it clear that 501(c)(3) status would limit LGAA to educational activities or fund raising efforts to pay for the educational activities only. The 50l(c)(3) rules prohibit LGAA from community betterment or service, or social activities that are not educational in nature. The limitations imposed on LGAA by 5ol(c)(3) were thoroughly discussed and debated at the Annual Members' Meeting on September 17, 1986. At that time the members voted to seek the 50l(c)(3) status and accept the limitations it imposes.

The Leadership Golden Program is one of very few leadership programs in the nation that is tuition free. LGAA has funded the program starting with the third class and has raised approximately $5,000 annually for that purpose. Because no one wants Leadership Golden to be primarily a fund-raising organization, the LGAA established an Endowment Fund in 1987. Part of the Fund’s annual earnings have helped fund the Leadership Golden Program each year starting with the 1998-99 class, thus slightly reducing the amount of necessary fund-raising. Because LGAA has 50l(c)(3) status, the Endowment Fund has received substantial contributions from two 50l(c)(3) entities, the Golden Civic Foundation and the Adolph Coors Foundation, and significant contributions from several corporations.