At 2:57 PM -0500 7/10/02, Arif Mamdani wrote: >Hey folks, I'm hoping that some of you might have some ideas on how I >can work this out: >I'm working with a group who's using Ebase, and they want to get copies >of Filemaker donated so that they can share Ebase over their network. >They went ahead and bought a copy of Filemaker, and were all set to ask >for donations when they saw the budget size limitation. *BUT* and >here's the kicker -- they're a project of a larger organization, and >don't have their own 501c3. They're essentially an independant >organization -- they don't really get much from the parent organization >aside from space and some administrative help but because of the budget >size limit, Filemaker has told them that they can't get donated copies. >So, my question is -- anyone know any other avenues for getting >free/highly discounted copies for this group? >
If they are independent enough to have a project budget that includes operating expenses, they can use their project budget, and indicated that their parent agency is their fiscal sponsor-this way only their project budget counts as their annual income. FileMaker is pretty good about this (fiscal agents), so long as a written letter of income verification, and or specific budget related to their project, can be provided at will, anytime during the year. Also if the project is truly independent except for minor administration, its just a good idea to have these documents around and updated. Consistently, one of the problems of a lot of projects is that they consider themselves independent, when they are really fundamentally tied financially and administratively to the actual larger organization. But if the project keeps its own operating budget, seeks funds specifically for its own operation, and works to ensure that reports of its mission, goals, milestones, and accomplishment are available to the public on request, both as independent documents and as part of the larger organizations annual report, then they can seek consideration for donations independently. If their not really independent, but like to consider themselves so, and the parent organizations budget is large, the next best option is to seek volume licensing through a nonprofit seller, such as Consistent Computer Bargains [ http://www.1computerbargains.com ]. The pricing won't get as low as FileMaker's discount (since they basically donate a copy of FileMaker Server, and a number of licenses), but it will be cheaper than the per seat cost associate with purchasing each copy outright. Alnisa -- ......................................... Alnisa Allgood Executive Director Nonprofit Tech (ph) 415.337.7412 (fx) 415.337.7927 (url) http://www.nonprofit-techworld.org (url) http://www.nonprofit-tech.org (url) http://www.tech-library.org ......................................... Nonprofit Tech E-Update mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ......................................... transforming nonprofits through technology ......................................... ------------------ Reminder to each recipient: To change your list account preferences, go to http://email.sparklist.com/scripts/lyris.pl?enter=support and enter the email address you used to subscribe to the ebase support list:: [email protected] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ebase - Relationship Management for Nonprofits, http://www.ebase.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------
