Hi Rachel, This is great stuff, really! Thanks for all the effort.
One point of note on your non-profit "con" about political lobbying, at least in the USA, if an organization elects 501(h) instead of 501(c)(3) then they can lobby. Generally, organizations that make the 501(h) election under the 1976 lobbying law may spend 20% of the first $500,000 of their annual expenditures on lobbying ($100,000), 15% of the next $500,000, and so on, up to $1 million dollars. http://www.muridae.com/nporegulation/lobbying.html#lobbying_who_may http://www.asaecenter.com/PublicationsResources/whitepaperdetail.cfm?ItemNumber=12202 -Mike Schinkel Ignition Alley Atlanta Coworking http://ignitionalley.com P.S. I've recently looked into this issue for another non-profit I'm setting up. :) On Feb 22, 2010, at 11:47 PM, rachel young wrote: > > Hi all, > > On 16 February 2010 13:40, rachel young <[email protected]> wrote: > > I am volunteering to look into what an international co-op or association > could be, and I'll report back pros and cons to the group in a few days. (or > maybe by Mon, given what my weekend already looks like) > r. > > > If you don't want to read all of this info, please scroll to the end to find > a link to a very simple survey. > > There has been both support in favour of and warnings against forming some > sort of organisation. So, as promised, here is a high level comparison of the > different types of formal organisations we could form - this info is not to > sway your opinion for or against such an organisation, but merely to help > inform you of some options. Since there is money involved (now with the > acquisition of coworking.com, and potentially in future for conferences or > even other currently unknown opportunities similar to the domain acquisition) > I do recommend that if we decide we want some sort of organisation then it > should be a formal legal entity. In keeping with the wish that this not be to > any one person's benefit, the only two real options would be a co-op or a > non-profit. > > Co-operative > A co-op is an autonomous association of persons (or companies with one > representative) united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and > cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and > democratically-controlled enterprise which is incorporated. > > PROS > one share, one vote > all members are owners, all members share in the profits through dividends > CONS > a fair amount of red tape for the initial set up and distribution of dividends > all members essentially run the company, unless staff are hired (many of us > run our own company in addition to running the business of our coworking > spaces, so this would be a third company) > it is grammatically correct to include a hyphen in "co-op" or "co-operative" > and aesthetically that would look weird with "coworking" (this is not a real > point either way, just inserting some rib-jabbing levity in between corporate > mumbo jumbo) > Non-profit Corporation > Forming a nonprofit corporation is much like creating a regular corporation, > except that nonprofits have to take the extra steps of applying for > tax-exempt status. Also called a 501(c)(3) in the USA. > > PROS > tax exemption(s) > greater qualification for grants > business activities cannot result in personal benefit for any director, > officer, or member, which helps in keeping this community as great as it is > CONS > cannot participate in political lobbying (influencing legislation) as a > substantial part of its total activities (if ever we want to band together to > show support in affecting legislation in any country) > there may be some restrictions on the use of assets to purposes justifying > tax exemption > > Does anyone know of another form of legal organisational entity that would be > a possible fit for our community? > > Basically, from what I could find, it would take forming an organisation in > one country and then crafting the bylaws to include international members. > > All forms would essentially be governance, meaning that there would be one > body to make decisions for the betterment of all members or interested > parties, whether that body is composed of one representative from each > coworking space for a co-op or a smaller board of representatives for a > non-profit organisation. Either way, the structure would include variations > of these steps: > Choose a Business Name > Prepare and File Articles of Incorporation > Apply for Applicable Tax Exemption(s) > Draft Corporate Bylaws > Appoint Directors > Hold a Directors' Meeting (attendees can be virtual in most cases) > Obtain Applicable Licenses and Permits > > Survey > And with that, I think it is time for a straightforward survey on > international governance. It's time to collect brief answers to decide if we > move forward, and then if yes then how to move forward. The survey is > anonymous, but please decide amongst yourselves in your coworking space and > answer as one collective body for your space. This is the only way I can see > it being fair so that multiple people from one space don't stack the votes > for their own benefit, but is completely replying on the honour system. > Survey results will be public but I'll also summarise them in a week or so. > > Here's hoping this is helpful. > r. > > > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Coworking" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
