Interesting thread! A small guild (35 members) would probably not have applied for IRS charity tax status. It is costly (lawyers and tax audits involved). We have about 75 members in our guild and we inquired about this when we were asked to sell tickets at the mall for our "Opportunity" quilt. (Alabama does not allow raffles. The process was just too much to do and took a fairly long time to accomplish. Was not in our time frame for the mall event. We have never pursued it. We have a quilt show every year, with bazaar table and opportunity ticket sales. As long as we donate that money back into our community there has been no IRS issues. We don't have a specific time or place requirement, we work on Quilts of Valor (one of our members is our State Representative) and support a local women'ts advocacy group with baby blankets. We also do pillow cases for hospitals, including Shriner's. I would be asking some pointed questions. It might just be what they "want" to have happen, not what is required.