I am not a lawyer, but I have watched people play lawyers in tv shows. :-) I have been involved with church groups who handled their finances this way, but I cannot give legal advice to set it up. We may have an attorney or 2 on the list here, and I was hoping one might pipe up.
On Mon, Aug 15, 2011 at 5:55 AM, Daniel Shahaf <[email protected]> wrote: > 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 > -- This Apt Has Super Cow Powers - http://sourcefreedom.com
