[Squeakfoundation]So....
squeakfoundation@lists.squeakfoundation.org
squeakfoundation@lists.squeakfoundation.org
Sun, 14 Apr 2002 19:49:21 -0700
> I think I'm the 'owner' of the task, but from the Netherlands there's
> not much actual stuff I can do.
Allow me to keep the U.S.A. end of it up. ;^)
> At the moment I'm trying to set up a
> conference call with Dan and Andrew on this topic (both of them are
> extremely busy, one with hanging around in court and the other with
> building weather stations - now that builds a lot of trust for the
> future
> of SqueakF ;-}). I'd be happy to include OP into that, because I think
> we'll
> need to go ahead just like seems to be happening with the
> German/European
> counterpart - in an XP manner: first setup a regular general purpose
> organization, start working, and figure out what bylaws you *really*
> want in a
> year or so when stuff is running.
A good plan! Until the bylaws are officially adopted (no hard deadline
required) they are very maliable. After adoption they should provide
their own change mechanism. As a slow example, one member organization
took three years of Board "discussion" (and grew to ~500 members) from
incorporation to adopting bylaws. It was another three years before the
first amendments (minor ones.) I'm stepping out of the chair position
on that Bylaws Committee.
> This work is not Andrew's specialization, although he did promise to
> try to
> get one of his colleagues who is into the loop (pro bono), so someone
> with
> actual hands-on experience might help speeding things up (as far as I'm
> concerned, I'm still committed to Dan's self-imposed deadline of June).
Accelerator apply: brick.
Consider the following as a brick -to be used or discarded as
appropriate.
I make some (hopefully reasonable) assumptions below based on my
understanding of the Squeak Foundations mission.
Hopefully the explanations will be sufficient for non-U.S. readers. I
will be gladly explain/expound as desired.
(This is my break from filling out IRS Form 990 as part of a non-profits
annual filing requirements. :-)
<IRS-Brick>
Given that the Squeak Foundation would benefit by qualifying as a
non-profit the top questions to decide before incorporation are:
1) What type of tax-exempt activity -relative to IRS (Internal
Revenue Service) regulations- will the Squeak Foundation engage in?
- Even though 'Foundation' appears in the name the IRS
classification of being a 'private foundation' is UNdesirable.
- The area to focus on is IRS Code Section 501(c)(3) for
(tax-exempt) public charities. Its common and permissible to engage in
more than one 501(c)(3) tax-exempt activity. So the activities it makes
sense for the Squeak Foundation to limit itself to in its Articles of
Incorporation are a) Charitable, b) Scientific, and or possibly c)
Educational.
"Charitable" is defined as "providing services beneficial
to the public interest" and requires that the organization be set up to
benefit an indefinite class of individuals, not particular persons. One
explicitly listed IRS charitable activity is "advancement of education
or science." {This all fits well with my understanding of the S.F.'s
intent.}
"Scientific" purposes encompass scientific research
carried on in the public interest. For S.F. this basically means that
the results are made available to the public; or that the purpose is
aiding in the scientific education of college or university students.
"Educational" purposes encompass instruction for both
self-development and for the benefit of the community. The closest fit
I find for explicitly listed exempt-purpose activities is "publishing
public interest educational materials."
- Whatever mission/purpose the S.F. determines for itself I'm
confident it will qualify for non-profit recognition. Its just good to
make it easy for the IRS clerks to grant that recognition by using the
language they're looking for. Grant giving organizations like to see
the same language too.
2) Will the S.F. have members?
- This makes for a convenient way of raising funds (membership
dues.) It also implies 'mass rule' where the Board of Directors is
elected by the members. Realistically an elected Board -once in place-
is pretty much self selecting/propagating (with some dependence on how
the bylaws are structured.) Membership criteria can also limit who
voting members are as a way of assuring continuity of reasonable
leadership (ie. avoid the organization being hijacked.)
</IRS-Brick>
Enough for now.
peace,
donald