DragonFly users List (threaded) for 2012-07
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Re: donation : money : small amount : recurring
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>> OpenBSD project hesitated for a long time due to the same reason. The
>> I guess developer Bob Beck to the initnksative to start the OpenBSD
>> foundation. If some body needs info on how to do this I guess he might
>> be able to help.
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> Siju
> I think there are two important distinctions to make here. First the
> OpenBSD foundation is based in Canada, and secondly they are not a
> registered charity because of the paperwork and overhead this would
> cause. Being a non-profit doesn't automatically make your donations
> tax-deductible. In our case this would mean, on top of starting a
> non-profit, we would need to apply for 501(c)(3)
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/501%28c%29_organization#501.28c.29.283.29>
> status. Regarding the paperwork and administration, starting a
> non-profit is relatively easy, and achieving and maintaining a
> charitable status is hard.
>
> However if we just started a non-profit we could start accepting
> donations without an individual (i.e. Matthew Dillon) being personally
> responsible for the taxes, potentially creating a difficult
> bookkeeping situation for him solely.
>
> We could just start a non-profit so we can start accept donations
> right now and get to tax-deductibility later on. I'm not an American
> citizen (I'm Dutch), but if we do decide to start a non-profit I would
> be more that willing to help sort everything out.
>
> Cheers,
> Jelle
>
And to add to my last e-mail, there's also the option of joining the
Software Freedom Conservancy. They are a 501(c)(3) charity so they could
accept tax-deductible donations for DragonFly BSD. Some people think
they require projects to be GPL-licensed but the BSD-license will do fine.
This sums up how they could help:
---
Member projects can receive earmarked donations through Conservancy.
Since Conservancy is a 501(c)(3) charity incorporated in New York,
donors can often deduct the donation on their USA taxes. Additionally,
the donors can indicate that their donation should be used to advance a
specific member project, and those funds are kept in a separate account
for the member project by Conservancy. This structure prevents
developers from having to commingle project funds with their own
personal accounts or having to set up their own project specific account.
Since the Conservancy is a tax-exempt organization, there are some
limits that the law places on what member projects can do with their
assets, but those limits are the same as if the project was an
independent non-profit entity. Usually, the project leadership instructs
Conservancy's leadership on how the project's funds are spent.
Conservancy spends these funds on the project's behalf on any expenses
that constitute appropriate activity under Conservancy's 501(c)(3)
not-for-profit mission. Some typical uses of earmarked donations by
Conservancy's member projects are:
* funding travel expenses for project developers to attend relevant
conferences.
* domain name fees, bandwidth costs, and computer equipment purchases.
* purchasing media for distribution of project software at conferences
and events.
* paying key developers on a contractual basis to improve the
project's software and its documentation.
* sponsoring and organizing conferences for the project.
* trademark registration and enforcement.
* FLOSS license enforcement and compliance activity.
---
This might be the easiest route with the least amount of hassle.
Cheers,
Jelle
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<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:4FF185EE.5000900@jellehermsen.nl"; type="cite">
<blockquote type="cite">OpenBSD project hesitated for a long time
due to the same reason. The <br>
I guess developer Bob Beck to the initnksative to start the
OpenBSD <br>
foundation. If some body needs info on how to do this I guess he
might <br>
be able to help. <br>
<br>
Thanks <br>
<br>
Siju <br>
</blockquote>
I think there are two important distinctions to make here. First
the OpenBSD foundation is based in Canada, and secondly they are
not a registered charity because of the paperwork and overhead
this would cause. Being a non-profit doesn't automatically make
your donations tax-deductible. In our case this would mean, on top
of starting a non-profit, we would need to apply for 501(c)(3) <a
class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/501%28c%29_organization#501.28c.29.283.29";><https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/501%28c%29_organization#501.28c.29.283.29></a>
status. Regarding the paperwork and administration, starting a
non-profit is relatively easy, and achieving and maintaining a
charitable status is hard. <br>
<br>
However if we just started a non-profit we could start accepting
donations without an individual (i.e. Matthew Dillon) being
personally responsible for the taxes, potentially creating a
difficult bookkeeping situation for him solely. <br>
<br>
We could just start a non-profit so we can start accept donations
right now and get to tax-deductibility later on. I'm not an
American citizen (I'm Dutch), but if we do decide to start a
non-profit I would be more that willing to help sort everything
out. <br>
<br>
Cheers, <br>
Jelle <br>
<br>
</blockquote>
And to add to my last e-mail, there's also the option of joining the
Software Freedom Conservancy. They are a 501(c)(3) charity so they
could accept tax-deductible donations for DragonFly BSD. Some people
think they require projects to be GPL-licensed but the BSD-license
will do fine.<br>
<br>
This sums up how they could help:<br>
<br>
---<br>
<p>Member projects can receive earmarked donations through
Conservancy. Since Conservancy is a 501(c)(3) charity incorporated
in New York, donors can often deduct the donation on their USA
taxes. Additionally, the donors can indicate that their donation
should be used to advance a specific member project, and those
funds are kept in a separate account for the member project by
Conservancy. This structure prevents developers from having to
commingle project funds with their own personal accounts or having
to set up their own project specific account.</p>
<p>Since the Conservancy is a tax-exempt organization, there are
some limits that the law places on what member projects can do
with their assets, but those limits are the same as if the project
was an independent non-profit entity. Usually, the project
leadership instructs Conservancy's leadership on how the project's
funds are spent. Conservancy spends these funds on the project's
behalf on any expenses that constitute appropriate activity under
Conservancy's 501(c)(3) not-for-profit mission. Some typical uses
of earmarked donations by Conservancy's member projects are: </p>
<ul>
<li>funding travel expenses for project developers to attend
relevant conferences.</li>
<li>domain name fees, bandwidth costs, and computer equipment
purchases.</li>
<li>purchasing media for distribution of project software at
conferences and events.</li>
<li>paying key developers on a contractual basis to improve the
project's software and its documentation.</li>
<li>sponsoring and organizing conferences for the project.</li>
<li>trademark registration and enforcement.</li>
<li>FLOSS license enforcement and compliance activity.</li>
</ul>
---<br>
<br>
This might be the easiest route with the least amount of hassle.<br>
<br>
Cheers,<br>
Jelle <br>
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