Would a for-profit be able to retain Section 8 in the license?
Wolf Halton wrote on Mon, Aug 15, 2011 at 05:35:57 -0400: > One way th handle the issue is to have both a non-profit and a for-profit > arm to an organization. The NGO foundation side handling education and > development issues and the for-profit side handling everything else. > Plainly, this might not be a viable option to us for half a dozen reasons; > from a perceived dilution of the "brand," to alienating developers. It > would work in a sense just like any other for-profit company offering > support for an NGO, but would have the added benefit of making it easier for > other companies to help, as they could hand money over to the for-profit > Apache Inc in an extremely straightforward manner - payment, not donation. > This makes it no harder to get a tax break on the moneys so offered, as > "professional services" is still a deductible expense, just as "donations" > are (in some cases). > > On Mon, Aug 15, 2011 at 5:05 AM, Daniel Shahaf <[email protected]>wrote: > > > I don't have any specific comment on this; you might talk to fundraising@. > > > > Ian Lynch wrote on Mon, Aug 15, 2011 at 09:52:40 +0100: > > > On 15 August 2011 02:20, Daniel Shahaf <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > Raphael Bircher wrote on Sun, Aug 14, 2011 at 08:01:45 +0200: > > > > > > > > > I assume that a donnation to the ASF is only tax-free in the US. > > > > > Every Country has here there oven criteria. That's the reason why > > > > > Wikipedia has NGO's in each Country. It means, donnation to the ASF > > > > > will not be Tax-Free in Switzerland. > > > > > > > > I'm aware of one case of an entity incorporated in Europe having wanted > > > > to donate to the ASF but faced tax issues in the process. They ended > > up > > > > supporting the project in other ways. > > > > > > > > BTW: I don't see ASF having NGO's in each country. Having one NGO is > > > > enough overhead... > > > > > > > > > > In the UK you have to be a registered Charity with a board of trustees to > > > get tax relief on donations. Setting up a charity is much more involved > > than > > > setting up a company. Many non-profit companies are either CICs or > > companies > > > limited by guarantee rather than limited companies with shareholders. One > > > reason why we are a straight limited company is that unless we were a > > > charity there really isn't much advantage. > > > > > > One other method of getting resource into the projects is through EU > > grants. > > > Over the last 2 years I have written 3 successful applications with a > > grant > > > value of about 800,000 Euros. Unfortunately, the recent OpenOffice.org > > > application failed, but that was on a legal technicality because the > > > submitting organisation in Germany was not the right type of legal entity > > > :-( The application was deemed to be good enough. So I propose that we > > put > > > in at least 2 versions of this through 2 different teams to different > > > National Agencies. One for Apache OOo and one for LibO. Since the > > > application is based on certification of end users we could "clone" this > > > application further eg to other Apache projects that could benefit from > > > skills certification or more generally other FOSS projects such as > > Inkscape, > > > GIMP, Audacity etc. If anyone has any suggestions for Apache projects > > that > > > could be candidates, or better still interest in running such a project > > > please speak up. You need to be able to apply through a legal company or > > > public sector body in an EU country. We can get grant funding to meet and > > > plan and I will provide whatever support is necessary. I can find > > partners > > > in a range of EU countries. > > > > > > We can apply for these grants each year (unless the EU changes the > > system). > > > If we can use these to get viable certification programmes for FOSS > > going, > > > that can then generate further income in perpetuity. It's low risk > > because > > > the grants are not money that has to be repaid but it is in our (FOSS) > > > interest to set up a sustainable business so that we are not dependent on > > > them in the future. > > > > > > -- > > > Ian > > > > > > Ofqual Accredited IT Qualifications (The Schools ITQ) > > > > > > www.theINGOTs.org +44 (0)1827 305940 > > > > > > The Learning Machine Limited, Reg Office, 36 Ashby Road, Tamworth, > > > Staffordshire, B79 8AQ. Reg No: 05560797, Registered in England and > > > Wales. > > > > > > -- > This Apt Has Super Cow Powers - http://sourcefreedom.com
