Posted by nedjo on July 15, 2011 at 6:22pm
The Drupal Association is reaching out to identify candidates for a diverse board, and one of the areas we're relatively lacking is candidates with a lot of nonprofit experience.
The current DA board is mainly associated with Drupal shops (and mainly US-based).
You can find information on the nominations committee and process here: http://association.drupal.org/node/1139.
Who should we be talking to? Please consider thinking through your contact lists and coming up with people who would be strong candidates for the DA board. You can talk to any of the members of the nominations committee with your suggestions.
Thanks!
Comments
DCI or VZW?
Since the DA just announced that it no longer has or is a US non profit, could you clarify whether you are asking for people with US or Belgian/European nonprofit board experience? Is experience in a 501(c)3, like DCI, actually useful for VZW (and vice versa), and if so, how?
Alex Urevick-Ackelsberg
ZivTech: Illuminating Technology
Both are good
Just what organization we're looking for a board for is pretty much up in the air ;)
My understanding is this. The DA (VZW) is a Belgian organization, and we are the nominating committee of the DA. There is also Drupalcon Inc., a US nonprofit. There is currently a move afoot within the DA to move substantial parts of DA operations to the US entity. If that happens, it's possible that this nominations committee's work would be merged into the reshaped DCI. My view is, while there are some areas of knowledge specific to a particular jurisdiction, nonprofit experience in Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa or elsewhere is equally valuable. Particularly, I don't want to see a move to the US, if it happens, to increase the already major US predominance on the board.
Problematic...
I understand the sentiment of this:
...but I feel like this has very problematic implications if the US 501(c)3 is going to act as the "main" entity. First and foremost, US tax exempt organizations are subject to numerous laws and regulations that the (c)3 must follow to protect against both piercing the corporate veil as well as its status as a tax exempt org. This is further exacerbated by the fact that the (c)3 also must comply with many state (and potentially local) rules around tax exempt organizations (for DCI that is, at least, the state the are incorporated within and the State of California, with its very strict Nonprofit Integrity Act). I have no idea whether these sorts of issues exist within international or non-US tax exempt orgs, but it is vital that whatever is done in the US follows (or exceeds) the "letter of the law", and thus has some experience with issues around 501(c)3s (governance, best practices, legal, accounting, reporting, independent audits, etc). In addition- the reality of the situation is the the majority of the income of the DA/DCI is generated in the US, and as of now has no way to make it back to the Belgian org.
I don't know how the DA plans to "reconcile" these two orgs, but I highly suspect that the status quo is not only confusing, but potentially illegal (it is not allowable for DCI to represent itself as the DA, as it has done, nor is it allowable for a foreign charity to control the type of (c)3 that the DA is, under at least CA's nonprofit integrity act).
I know everyone wants to move forward with this, but IMO we cannot do so without some firm understanding of what the relationship really is between the DA and the (c)3 it setup, as well as what it will become. The legal issues around this should be the most concerning, but just from a communications standpoint it's completely confusing to claim they are separate entities when the staff of DCI represent themselves as DA staff members.
Alex Urevick-Ackelsberg
ZivTech: Illuminating Technology
OT
I don't see the point about discussing this here, and do not understand a word about legal matters of non-profits anywhere in the world. Perhaps DA legal representatives will appreciate your feedback better :)
Also, this is "position" opportunity, not a discussion, please address your concerns and replies to the right thread. Comments have been closed.
--
[develCuy](http://steemit.com/@develcuy) on steemit
Not OT
Hi @develCuy-
I understand that my comment may seem off-topic to you, but that's probably due to the fact that, as you note, you "do not understand a word about legal matters of non-profits anywhere in the world". Some working understanding non-profit laws in the applicable country seems like an extremely important criteria for the new board, and I attribute much of my conflict with the DA (as well as the self-dealing and conflicts of interest) to a basic lack of understanding of how US 501(c)3s are expected to operate.
I'm not sure what you mean by "position opportunity" (do you mean a job post?)- but this is a discussion, and you can always ignore it if it seems to OT for your tastes (of which there is no accounting for).
Alex Urevick-Ackelsberg
ZivTech: Illuminating Technology