[EMAIL PROTECTED] said: > 1. All chapters have a representative in the executive council. (What's a > "chapter?" We'll let the governing body decide, perhaps by drafting > regulations, perhaps by vote on a case-by-case basis.)
> 2. Two or more "at large" members can serve, bringing the total count of > the group to an odd number. I would not try to keep it at an odd number unless you either finalize the number of "chapters" (I think this would be unwise) or add an "at large" member every time you add a chapter (also unwise). I would suggest this: One membership list for GNHLUG statewide and members vote for a council to lead the parent organization from the membership list. Each member can affiliate with one chapter (but attend others), and therefore get to vote for the leadership of that one chapter. Probably most people will join the chapter closest to them, but they will not have to do that. They can also join one or more SIGs, and then vote for that SIG leadership. I would like to see a database set up that holds this information (would be nice to have if the IRS comes knocking), and would make "controlling" the voting list easier also. [EMAIL PROTECTED] said: > 7. Membership is open to the public. Representation should be available to > everyone, but we may want to more clearly limit what would qualify as a > "voting member." Ideas on this sticky point very much welcomed. Sticky indeed, since we have some people on the list that live outside of New Hampshire. As to Ben's input: > The reason why I think this is simple: If we're going to go before anyone and > say we represent GNHLUG, we have to make sure we actually *DO* represent > GNHLUG. That means everyone has to agree with everything we're pushing (more > or less). I think that will be unnecessarily complicated and cumbersome -- > we can discuss this aspect more if people don't agree. I think that general guidelines of "We believe in Free and Open Source Software and its use" is a pretty general idea and leaves lots of room open for advocacy. [EMAIL PROTECTED] said: > This may have additional legal benefits as well. From what Ed has said, > 501(c)(3) groups are "better" in terms of receiving donations, but have more > restrictions on what they can do in terms of political activism. Sounds good > for the non-advocacy group. The 501(c)(6) type of group is less restricted > -- good for the advocacy group -- but contributions aren't tax-deductible. The issues of 501(c)3 vs 501(c)6 may be pretty much of a moot point at this time. The IRS (who determines such things) has been much tougher lately on who gets 501(c)3 status. So unless we are a religion or a real charitable entity (which means our members do not get compensation for what they "give"), we may have to go with a 501(c)6 as a "membership based organization" anyway. I would formulate it another way. I would create GNHLUG as a 501(c)6, then (if we wanted to do charitable things) create an offshoot as a 501(c)3 for charitable works. A 501(c)6 can always give money to a 501(c)3, but not necessarily the other way around. Ed, do you have wisdom to add? md -- Jon "maddog" Hall Executive Director Linux International(R) email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 80 Amherst St. Voice: +1.603.672.4557 Amherst, N.H. 03031-3032 U.S.A. WWW: http://www.li.org Board Member: Uniforum Association, USENIX Association (R)Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in several countries. (R)Linux International is a registered trademark in the USA used pursuant to a license from Linux Mark Institute, authorized licensor of Linus Torvalds, owner of the Linux trademark on a worldwide basis (R)UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the USA and other countries. _______________________________________________ gnhlug-org mailing list gnhlug-org@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-org
