Hello, A project like this and the way you presented seems obvious that donations are non profit focused but for you and others it consumes personal time so here comes my question:
What are your expectations talking about donations? Any number in mind? Hope my question doesn't bother anyone , but having a goal makes easier to know where we are. :) -----Mensaje original----- De: David Greaves [mailto:[email protected]] Enviado el: miércoles, 07 de marzo de 2012 23:04 Para: [email protected] Asunto: [mer-general] Setting up a Mer "not-for-profit" - information and proposal Recently we've been looking at what we can do to setup some kind of "non profit" structure around Mer. I reported to the Mer Advisory Board on this last friday. In the UK there are numerous options : charities, trusts, companies etc The most appropriate initial setup (minimising regulatory concerns) is an Unincorporated Association. This is not a discrete legal entity and cannot enter into contracts. It has no external constraints (such as regulatory, audits or an accountant), can setup bank accounts and can transform later into a Charitable Trust or the new Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) or other legal entity. This lets us setup a bank account immediately which allows a better vehicle for donations and clearer fincancial reporting. Using Santander provides free international transfers into the account and 12 months of free banking. Other options offer permanent free banking but charge (eg £6/xfr, 3%) for incoming international transfers. I'll investigate paypal charges. To keep costs down normal financial operations may go via personal accounts - ie I'll pay Hetzner from my credit card. I have asked the board to approve that we setup an account with Santander for the Mer Project with David Greaves and Denise Greaves as signatories. In order to provide some tangible proof of intent it seems reasonable for us to sign a statement of the form: "We, the undersigned promise to act as trustees for the Mer Project in the matter of the bank account <account name/number/bank etc> and to adhere to decisions made by the Mer Project Advisory Board regarding dispersment of monies." We'd send a copy of this to Carsten for safekeeping. When it comes to financial reporting I suggest we share the detailed account information (ie copies of bank statements) in a secure manner (eg GPG encrypted email) with the AB and only share anonymised summaries at AB meetings. I think the project as a whole also need to come up with some statement on what donations may be used for and how we'll handle funds. Any comments or suggestions are welcome. David -- "Don't worry, you'll be fine; I saw it work in a cartoon once..."
