Private Organizations

Private Organizations are self-sustaining special interest groups set up by people acting exclusively outside the scope of any official capacity as officers, employees or agents of the federal government. They operate on Air Force installations with the written consent of the installation Commander.

Written consent can be obtained by submitting the following documentation:

  • Request to Establish
  • Request for Name Approval
  • Statement of Understanding of Liability (Due annually)
  • Waiver of Insurance Requirement (Due annually)
  • Waiver of Liability Insurance Request (Due annually)
  • Financials Statement (Due annually)
  • Person of Contact List (Due annually)
  • Constitution and Bylaws Template (Due every 2 years)

Unofficial Activities/Organizations

UNOFFICIAL ACTIVITIES/ORGANIZATIONS ARE SMALL GROUPS THAT ARE NOT REQUIRED TO BE FORMALLY ESTABLISHED AS PRIVATE ORGANIZATION BECAUSE THEIR CURRENT ASSETS (INCLUDING CASH, INVESTMENTS, INVENTORY AND RECEIVABLES) DO NOT EXCEED A MONTHLY AVERAGE OF $1,000 OVER A THREE MONTH PERIOD.

Unofficial activities are required to submit copies of their bank statements and a Person of Contact List before submitting a fundraiser request.

References

POs can be great mediums for encouraging community involvement among like-minded individuals on base and can greatly enrich the lives of members of the DoD and their dependents. Because individuals running POs are often also members of or closely associated with the DoD, however, the possibility exists for actual or apparent conflicts of interest to sometimes arise between those dual roles.

To address this issue, Air Force-wide rules have been established to regulate and monitor the activities of base-associated POs. Such regulations and other useful information can be found below.

Unofficial activities are required to submit copies of their bank statements and a Person of Contact List before submitting a fundraiser request.

Fundraising Requests

To obtain approval for a fundraiser, the following documents must be submitted:

  • Fundraiser Request Form
  • Temporary Food Application

Fundraisers CANNOT proceed or be advertised without an approved fundraising package. Please allow at least 30 business days for this process.
Fundraisers cannot be conducted during the annual CFC or AFAF Campaigns:

  • CFC Campaign: Oct 15-Dec 15
  • AFAF Campaign: Mar 15-Apr 30

All requests, advertising, or Private Organization correspondence requires the following disclaimer: “THIS IS A PRIVATE ORGANIZATION. IT IS NOT PART OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE OR ANY OF ITS COMPONENTS AND IT HAS NO GOVERNMENTAL STATUS.”

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Private Organization (PO)?

According to AFI 34-223, “POs are self-sustaining special interest groups, set up by individuals acting exclusively outside the scope of any official Air Force Duties. They operate on Air Force Installations with the written consent of the Installation Commander. POs are not Federal entities and are not to be treated as such.”

What are Unofficial Activities (UA)?

These are coffee funds, water funds, and sunshine funds are not considered Private Organizations (POs) unless current assets, excluding inventory, exceed a monthly average of $1,000.00 over a three month period. Activities which exceed the asset limit ($1,000) must become a recognized Private Organization, discontinue operations, or reduce its current assets below the $1,000 threshold.

What is "For Us By Us" fundraising?

As a general rule, unofficial activities’ fundraising efforts are considered “for us, by us” fundraising, unless fundraising extends beyond unit personnel and family members. Unit commanders may approve unit unofficial activity fundraisers on the installation within the unit, and only for the unit’s personnel. Fundraising outside the unit requires Installation Commander or designee approval. Unofficial activities are still Federal entities and may not solicit gifts from outside sources or engage in off base fundraising.

What are the rules about Fundraisers?

With the approval of the Installation Commander or designee, Private Organizations and unofficial activities may conduct three (3) fundraisers per calendar quarter.

Private Organizations and unofficial activities must not engage in activities that duplicate or compete with activities of the AAFES or Force Support Squadron NAFI.

Direct solicitation of cash donations on Eielson AFB is prohibited.

Private Organizations may not conduct games of change, lotteries, raffles or other gambling type activities except as provided in AFI 34-223 paragraph 10.20 and unofficial activities may not conduct any of the above under any circumstances.

Is there anything else I need to know?

All requests, advertising and any Private Organization correspondence requires the following disclaimer: “THIS IS A PRIVATE ORGANIZATION. IT IS NOT PART OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE OR ANY OF ITS COMPONENTS AND IT HAS NO GOVERNMENTAL STATUS.” It is not authorized to use government e-mail to advertise Private Organization events or information.

Download and complete the applicable forms and add all necessary information, obtain facility or building manager approval before submitting your request. If the fundraiser involves food obtain training from Public Health.

Allow at least 30 business days for the approval process and do not begin advertising until you request has been approved.