On Fri, Jul 12, 2002 at 11:33:52AM -0400, Matthew Rice wrote: > Anthony de Boer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > > It would be useful to have at least one entity in the Canadian > > Open Source community that can give charitable-donation tax receipts, so > > that those who are motivated can financially give back to the community. > > Would it be that useful, really? It's the tax credit capped at 17%? Someone > with qualms about donating $1000 without the tax credit could just give $830 > instead.
It's also a trust issue, since the tax records are available for registered charities and they may be audited by CCRA, there is the appearance of a "clean" oganization. Also coporations and individuals prefer donating to charities because it feels good to help a charity, and looks good publically when a group like IBM Canada donates to charitible cause. > Apparently, there's also a lot more red tape once you become a charity (it > may be worth it, I dunno). Tons. But if Canadian corporations and individuals appear willing to support it (donations), it can increase revenue massively. The benefits are twofold, no income tax, and tax receipts. So the one received also goes further because the group isn't paying incoming tax on it. Here's Canada Customs and Revenue Agency's FAQ: <http://www.ccra-adrc.gc.ca/E/pub/tg/t4063eq/t4063eq.html> > > How to wisely spend the fund would be an issue too. > > hunh?!??! Ever heard of beer :) Providing a personal benefit is against the rules for a charity. Also board members wouldn't receive anything beyond expenses paid. For a charity, I suggest a seperate enitity, e.g. "Canadian Open Source Development Fund", which would a charity group, designed to fund Free Software / OSS development and documentation in Canada which provides benefit to Canadian businesses and individuals using Linux. (Basiclly Linux/OSS software and docs that benefits Canadians) That would be its entire purpose, nothing more. The board would receive donations, and grant proposals, and award grants to developers whose proposal stands to benefit Canadians the most, based on factors like how core the developer's previous contributions have been to a project, how much development experience the developer has, and how widely used is the package. -- M Taylor http://www.mctaylor.com/ --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
