Drupal Association Donations
So the short term is close to pass from December 2006 - any updated plans to incorporate in places other than Belgium?
Is Drupal a registered US 501(c)(3)?
No, as stated above, the Drupal Association has been incorporated in Belgium. We will explore ways of having sister / daughter organizations in different countries and what that means for different tax implications, but is not likely something we can tackle in the short term....
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Money issues patched
CDMUG has affiliated Drupal Camp Chicago with a charitable U.S.A. organization called WPTTO. WPTTO is the fiscal sponsor for Drupal Camp Chicago and all Sponsorships will be considered a contribution to a charitable organization. All profits will then be donated to the Drupal Association, a not-for-profit association, registered in Belgium.
afaik, not yet
As far as I know, nobody is working on creating a non profit organization in the US that is affiliated directly with the Drupal Association.
Its complex but US registration will be very welcome.
We also considered setting up a sister non-profit in India when we did the first drupal camp this year. Our intention was also to give back the remaining proceeds to Drupal Association. Drupal Association is not yet registered under US 501 (c)(3) and not much information is available of the regulations that apply in Belgium.
US non profit organization would give peace of mind to others. I am concerned to see http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/005661.php ( I found this on first page when I googled "Belgian non-profit". )
It is a very long process to setup non-profit in India. And when funds are to be moved out of country, I was told that there are disclosures to me made of source of funds and use of funds. Everyone's intentions are noble and we all want to help Drupal grow. Regardless, we put up http://drupalcamp08.drupalindia.in/blog/financial-overview-drupal-camp as many members of Indian community wanted financial disclosures.
We have another Drupal Camp coming up in India in February and again the debate of setting up a non-profit body would again come up. Whether the remaining proceeds can be donated to Drupal Association and how(we would love to) is still not clear.
This is certainly complex.
Roshan
US Non-Profit
Im talking with the fiscal sponsor I set up for DCC ie: (*WPTTO). Asking if they would be interested to help other USA camps and possibly the dojo group with a financial gateway to help collect money. There is a process/transaction fee associated with this model.
If you would like to speak with them contact me or WPTTO directly after Oct. 25th, 2008.
*World Peace Thru Technology Organization (WPTTO)
http://peacetour.org/
501(3) Offering To Help
Yes, the WPTTO a 501(3) in the USA would be willing to act as a fiscal sponsor in the USA for a Drupal initiative that does not have its own tax-exempt status. This will remove the tax burden from a individual or group collecting monies while organizing a open source Drupal community project. WPTTO would need a written purpose, proposed activities, budget and bill handling, and a list of board/project members.
please mail the association
Thanks for your investigation.
Could you please send an e-mail to the association about this with any details about how the arrangement works?
I tried looking on their website about fiscal sponsorship, but it appears that they don't advertise this as a service.
The short answer, of course, is this:
1. Take the amount you were planning to give to the DA
2. Reduce it by whatever amount you would save on taxes (40% is a very conservative number...)
3. Donate the remainder
In Progress
I'll speak with WPTTO and post or email an update when complete. My original pitch to the WPTTO was to act as a fiscal sponsor for the Dojo project not for donations to the Drupal Association, it might be fine? Basically they have told me that the fiscal sponsor relationship must be in line with the mission statement ( http://peacetour.org/mission ).
WPTTO was a huge help to us in Chicago ( http://CDMUG.org ) and we will be sending the Drupal Association a check soon for around $2,000 US - via Drupal Camp Chicago ( http://drupalcampchicago.org/budget ) sponsors and paid attendees.
Would help resolve some of the issues
There are probably several NPOs who would be interesting in associating themselves with open source projects and initiatives. Not sure where it would happen, but it might to create a wiki where local user groups, Dojo, etc. could post their needs. Something like this may also provide a good way to channel funds - http://groups.drupal.org/node/14587
The other issues that seem a bit murky are policies (or lack thereof) regarding things like who can represent a group, how to set sponsor levels, and how you can/can't credit sponsors. An effort to establishing guidelines should have a lot of benefit.
Gus Austin
PepperAlley Productions