Foundations 101

Foundations 101 tutorial: Should I create a new non-profit?

1. Foundations 101
Should you start a new non-profit?
Moderator: Dave Neary
[email protected]

2. Panel discussion
●Dave Neary
–COSM, Yorba, GNOME Foundation
●Ian Skerrett
–Eclipse Foundation
●Bradley Kuhn
–Software Freedom Conservancy
●Cedric Thomas
–OW2

3. Answer: It depends.

4. Reasons for starting
●Opening a bank account
●Accepting donations (potentially tax-
deductible)
1. Financial infrastructure

5. Reasons for starting
●Enter into contracts (eg. conference venues,
sponsors)
●Hire staff
2. Insulate members from liability

6. Reasons for starting
●Legal safe haven for copyrights and trademark
●Formalize rules for governance of project
●Protect members from individual legal action
●Provide level playing field for members,
structure to pool resources
3. Governance and pooling resources

7. Costs
●Lawyer for drafting of by-laws and annual
registration of company paperwork
●Accountant to deal with taxes, payroll
1. Money

8. Costs
●Registering an organization, drafting by-laws,
official paperwork
●Elections, board meetings, ...
●501(c)* approval times measured in years
2. Time

9. Costs
●President and board are accountable for the
organization fiscally & legally
●Fiduciary responsibility, potentially outside
your jurisdiction
3. Risk & responsibility

10. Alternatives
●Eclipse Foundation
●Software Freedom Conservancy
●Software in the Public Interest
●OuterCurve Foundation
●OW2
●Linux Foundation
1. Umbrella organizations (in no particular
order)

11. Alternatives
●Apache Foundation
●GNOME Foundation
●KDE eV
●...
1. Umbrella organizations (in no particular
order)

12. Alternatives
●Provide fiscal entity and financial services
●Key differences:
–Cost structure
–Membership requirements (license,
infrastructure, ...)
–Philosophy and by-laws
–Ecosystem
1. Umbrella organizations (in no particular
order)

13. Alternatives
●“Benevolent” corporate sponsor
●Benefits: Salary, availability of legal and
financial services
●Risks: Changing winds
2. Sugar Daddy

14. Alternatives
●Offload financial and administrative services to
organization
●Provide staff & payroll services, etc.
●Costs money
●See panel “How should we staff & administer
it?”
3. Management services

15. Starting a foundation
●Considerations out of scope for this
discussion:
–Jurisdiction
–By-laws and corporate governance
–IRS 501(c) status
See panel “How do we form a new
Foundation?” - up next

16. Panel discussion
●Dave Neary
–COSM, Yorba, GNOME Foundation
●Ian Skerrett
–Eclipse Foundation
●Bradley Kuhn
–Software Freedom Conservancy
●Cedric Thomas
–OW2