interest in NPO registration? facts? has this been

[Evan Leibovitch]

C. Martens wrote:
> This is exactly what I was hoping for: a larger body that we could partner with when needed. Now suppose a business or nonprofit org we approach does decide to sponsor us, who do they make out the check to?
That depends on the longevity of the relationship, and the expected 
amount of money going through.

It's no big deal for CLUE or GTALUG to open up a second bank account 
designed exclusively for UT use; UT people would have signing authority 
and be able to deposit cheques made out to UT. On the downside, this 
costs money in bank fees and is slightly more difficult to track/audit.

The simpler option is that cheques are made out to the umbrella NPO but 
the memo field says "in trust to UT". Cheques for payables are signed by 
the NPO based on a pre-determined method of request/authorization by UT. 
It would share the main bank account but would have distinct accounting.

The second method may sound more complex, but it has worked for 
OpenSourceWeekend for years. It's only worthwhile to get a separate bank 
account if you see more than about about $7K/year (and more than a dozen 
or so transactions per month) flowing through.

> I've already looked at the clue site; is there any other information in regards to the howtos of going about collecting/signing, etc.? Forgive me, I'm an ex-sales consultant, and I'm anticipating a favourable outcome and want to be prepared to answer some of the questions that we will be asked before we get a 'yes'.
> If we want to have this first event in March, there's no time like the present for getting our house in order.
>   
Understood. I can speak on behalf of CLUE; David, newly elected to the 
board of GTALUG, can offer the POV from there.

There's no FAQ about collecting/signing on the website because needs 
differ so much from one project to the next. Just because we've done it 
a few times before doesn't mean the process will be the same the next 
time around. YMWV (Your Mileage _Will_ Vary) :-)

> And to give you a bit of my background, I currently work at one of the major clearing-houses and research centres into philanthropy, nonprofits, and charities in Toronto. We even have one of the largest private/public libraries on these subjects in the country, so I have a wealth of information at my
> disposal -- including how to become effective fundraisers. So I agree, getting organized so that we can become an effective organization is a great deal of work.
>   
That knowledge is of great value to the FOSS community as a whole...

> I just get a little nervous when I hear, 'there's lots of sponsorships and funds available.' Yes, there is a lot out there, but there's also a heckuvalot of
> competition for those resources, as it's not unusual for an org with resources to dispurse to get literally thousands of requests, like the ones we may be making,
> on any given day. Otherwise there wouldn't be so many charities complaining about the difficulties of fundraising :)
>   
FWIW, my experience to date has been from the corporate sponsorship side 
-- or rather, the lack of it. In Canada we have the extra problem in 
that, to many large FOSS vendors, Canada is just another North American 
region like "the midwest" or "California", without consideration as a 
separate country. Also, the kind of money slotted for community 
participation is pooled with marketing resources -- so money they spend 
on a user group is money taken from the budget for advertising and 
tradeshows.

> But it can certainly be done, IF we know what to expect and are prepared. This helps in that endeavour of getting prepared.
>   
Agreed.

- Evan