It's summer, if you haven't noticed. I sent an e-mail Saturday, a work day for me, to the Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations, asking how many non-profits are chartered in Maryland. I sent e-mails to Peter Berns, the executive director; Henry Bogdan, director of public policy, and to Alison Dodge, associate director for marketing and membership. I didn't expect a reply until Monday, but received several in just a few short minutes.

First respone, at 10:13 am:
"I'm out of the office on vacation through Tuesday June 24.  For immediate assistance, contact Paul Rihani at prihani@mdnonprofit.org or 301-565-0505 x18.
I'll get back to you as soon as possible, Alison."

Second response, from Bogdan, moments later:
"I am out of the office and do not have access to email.  I will return on June 24.  If you have a legal problem that requires urgent attention, please contact Deb Jung, our General Counsel, at djung@mdnonprofit.org."

So I sent a copy of the e-mail to Jung, and got this response:

"I will be out of the office from June 19th through the 25th of June and back in the office on June 26th.  For immediate help, please contact Amy Coates Madsen (acmadsen@mdnonprofit.org) (ext.14) or Kenna Forsyth at ext.24 (kforsyth@mdnonprofit.org). I will not be monitoring this email account during my absence."

Ok, so then I sent a copy of the e-mail to Amy Coates Madsen and got this response:

"Thanks so much for your message. I will be out of the office without access to email through June 23, 2008.   I look forward to responding to your message when I return.
If you have a question about applying to earn the Seal of Excellence, please contact Angineeki Jones at 410-727-6367 ext 37 or ajones@mdnonprofit.org.
If you have questions about Standards for Excellence training or the the Standards for Excellence Licensed Consultant Program, please contact Justin Pollock at 301-565-0505 ext 30 or jpollock@mdnonprofit.org
Have a great day!"

Before I could get off new e-mails to Jones and Pollock, I got my question answered. This e-mail arrived from Berns, the executive director and a man who obviously checks his mail on weekends:
"There were 21,811 501(c)(3) tax exempt organizations on the IRS roles as
of early 2008.  Nearly two-thirds are small, all volunteer organizations
with no employees and little money."

Thank you. And I hope you're all having great vacations.