As listed by Kate in her second email (and being built out on the wiki: http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Foundation/Local_Chapters/United_States) A local chapter will do more advocacy within their own nation.
In the US, if incorporated as a non-profit, the chapter would be able to accept donations without having to pay taxes on them (and provide a tax write off to those who donate to us), be eligible for public and private grants, act as a separate legal entity that owns all data/material donated (which often makes government bodies more willing to share). I know that the OSMF can to that in the UK now, but I have the feeling the US companies/governments would be more comfortable in supporting the project if it had US legal status. (esp if its map data collected with US tax payer money). I think if we want to the US mapper community to grow, this is a way to help as well as formalize the presence here. The cons- more paperwork, money and time. On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 1:03 PM, SteveC <st...@asklater.com> wrote: > Playing devils advocate a bit - what will the chapter do that we can't > or aren't already? > > Does the aura of having an incorporated body somehow change > everything? It certainly didn't with the OSMF, it was more that we > needed a body to hold independent control of things like the domain > names. > > > On 15 Sep 2009, at 19:32, Kate Chapman wrote: > > > Hi all, > > > > I've heard various talk going on about local chapters in various > > places. I did a quick archive search but didn't find that much > > information regarding U.S. chapters. There seems to be people > > interested, but perhaps working separately. > > > > Let me preface the rest of my email with the statement that I'm not > > a lawyer, but a geonerd. I have helped establish a non-profit in > > the U.S. that obtained tax-exempt status and I can speak with > > regards to that experience though. > > > > For the group I worked with we already were operating as an L.L.C. > > at the time and moved to incorporate in D.C. In order to > > incorporate we had to pay a small fee (roughly 100 dollars), have a > > registered agent in the District and have articles of > > incorporation. The tax-exempt status was far more work and involved > > proof of events we had (in this particular case it was flyers), tax > > records as well as filling out a 27 page IRS form. If I understand > > things correctly a U.S. Local Chapter could do the same thing, but > > we might need to file paperwork with each state we are active in > > (not totally sure about this, does anyone else have a better idea?). > > > > What are people's thoughts about local chapters or having 1 large > > U.S. chapter? I can see benefits to both sides. > > > > Advantages: > > > > - I think easily enough possible members > > - Pooling of resources, one set of paper work > > > > Disadvantages: > > > > -Spread out, most work would be remote (maybe not a disadvantage) > > -Where would we be incorporated? > > > > Thoughts? I've seen in various places such as the wiki a well as > > talking to people that there is interest in some sort of U.S. based > > chapter, but exactly how has to be worked out. > > > > Thanks, > > > > Kate Chapman > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Talk-us mailing list > > Talk-us@openstreetmap.org > > http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-us > > Yours &c. > > Steve > > > _______________________________________________ > Talk-us mailing list > Talk-us@openstreetmap.org > http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-us >
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