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Re: donation : money : small amount : recurring


From: Jelle Hermsen <jelle@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 02 Jul 2012 13:49:28 +0200

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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";>&lt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/501%28c%29_organization#501.28c.29.283.29&gt;</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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