Gentoo Archives: gentoo-nfp

From: Rich Freeman <rich0@g.o>
To: gentoo-nfp <gentoo-nfp@l.g.o>
Subject: Re: [gentoo-nfp] Re: [gentoo-project] Questions for Gentoo Council nominees: Gentoo Foundation - Treasurer Response!
Date: Wed, 03 Jul 2019 14:59:39
Message-Id: CAGfcS_mdE7VAfj6s94nnpHqB=JiKkJQLKT1o0o-eXA+m_k_TUg@mail.gmail.com
In Reply to: Re: [gentoo-nfp] Re: [gentoo-project] Questions for Gentoo Council nominees: Gentoo Foundation - Treasurer Response! by Matthew Thode
1 On Wed, Jul 3, 2019 at 10:45 AM Matthew Thode <prometheanfire@g.o> wrote:
2 >
3 > On 19-07-03 10:40:07, Rich Freeman wrote:
4 > > On Wed, Jul 3, 2019 at 10:34 AM Matthew Thode <prometheanfire@g.o> wrote:
5 > > >
6 > > > 1. fix all back taxes (10 years) then refile, this would cost 9k more
7 > > > for the back taxes alone (4 years was recently approved).
8 > > >
9 > > > 2. close the foundation and reform / refile as a c3. Old foundation
10 > > > donates all money to the new foundation. This is what was suggested for
11 > > > us to do, would be cheaper and give us both a fresh start, and would
12 > > > give us the best chance of attaining c3 status.
13 > > >
14 > > > 3. Like 2, but with an umbrella (not something that's actively being
15 > > > pursued). If we wish to go down this route, attaining (2) would likely
16 > > > increase the chances of an umbrella taking us in.
17 > >
18 > > Seems like the simplest option would be to start with an umbrella
19 > > (completely separate from everything to-date), operate with the
20 > > umbrella for a little while to make sure we're happy, and then have
21 > > the Foundation donate everything it has left after settling accounts
22 > > to the umbrella. Why would we need to start a 501c3 just to dissolve
23 > > it and donate it to the umbrella, when the umbrella is already going
24 > > to be a 501c3?
25 > >
26 > > 501c3s are not limited in receiving money only from other 501c3s. If
27 > > anything they're more limited in who they can give their money to.
28 > >
29 >
30 > That's a fine option if we find a umbrella that would accept that 'order
31 > of operations'. So far they seemed happier if our status was better
32 > confirmed. It's possible that the 4 years that we are doing now to get
33 > into a good state with the IRS would be enough.
34
35 I suspect that they're more concerned with being in good standing than
36 501c3 status. They probably don't want to incur any liability if the
37 IRS comes after them as some kind of successor in interest.
38
39 This is also why I think that running side-by-side could be a cleaner
40 solution. Then you can start up new operations under the new banner,
41 start closing down old stuff, get the old checkbook register into a
42 quiescent state, do the final paperwork to close things out, and then
43 write a check for whatever is left on the balance sheet. If you don't
44 do any large transfers during the transition period then you might
45 also avoid any concerns about the new entity inheriting any IRS
46 concerns.
47
48 The cleanest solution would be basically an internal fork. I'm not
49 necessarily suggesting this, but if things were really bad we could
50 just all fork ourselves (everything is FOSS), come up with a new name,
51 collect donations under the new name, and spin up all new activities
52 under the new name with the new money. The old entity could spend
53 down what it has and stop accepting donations.
54
55 However, that isn't really necessary if we can get into compliance and
56 people are willing to deal with us as-is, and going that route
57 eliminates the risk of somebody coming after the new org for the
58 remaining messes of the old one.
59
60 And all of this is why I think it would be nice if we had an
61 infra-less core. If Gentoo could withstand losing all its tangible
62 assets all of this stuff would be less of a worry...
63
64 --
65 Rich

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