Subject:
Re: [discuss] Free google ads for TLDP?
From:
Rick Moen ####@####.####
Date:
5 Apr 2007 21:33:54 -0000
Message-Id: <20070405213350.GP24956@linuxmafia.com>
Quoting Karl O. Pinc ####@####.####
> Maybe with the non-profit EIN TLDP will qualify
> for free google ads?
>
> Google Grants - Free Advertising for Open Source Non-profits
> http://google-code-updates.blogspot.com/2007/04/google-grants-free-advertising-for-open.html
To answer your question, unfortunately, absolutely _no_. Google is
extending its offer only to IRS-recognised _charity_ corporations / funds
/ community chests / foundations.
http://www.google.com/grants/details.html specifies:
Organizations must have current 501(c)(3) status, as assigned by the
Internal Revenue Service to be considered for a Google Grant.
Here are some comments about Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3) I
posted to the PenLUG mailing list about a similar situation. (I've also
added some comments about such matters to the Linux User Group HOWTO,
referenced below, because I keep seeing Linux hobbyist groups tripping
over incorporation / tax / non-profit / insurance / liability issues and
making embarrassing and expensive blunders.)
(The primary intended purpose of getting an EIN = Employer
Identification Number is to uniquely identify a business to the IRS and
other US Federal agencies for purposes of the business owing and paying
payroll and other business taxes. There is no such thing as a
"non-profit EIN", and having an EIN in no way demonstrates that one is
non-profit at all, let alone a 501(c)(3) charity.)
From rick Sat Mar 24 07:06:15 2007
Date: Sat, 24 Mar 2007 07:06:15 -0700
To: ####@####.####
Subject: Re: [PenLUG] Candidate PenLug meeting room, El Camino Real x Hwy 92 in San Mateo, Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Quoting Bill Ward ####@####.####
> This would be perfect but we're not a 501(c)(3) organization. svlug and
> sbay.org looked into doing that, and it proved pretty much impossible to
> achieve.
Fortunately, Silicon Valley Community Foundation doesn't seem, going by
that text on the Web site, to require that groups have IRS recognition
as tax-exempt charities (which is what a 501(c)(3) determination letter
is). It just wants applicants to be "non-profits". PenLUG's pretty
obviously a non-profit. So, I would encourage talking to them.
Of possible interest is the "Common Misconceptions" section (coverage of
IRS and other USA legal matters) in the Linux User Group HOWTO, at
http://en.tldp.org/HOWTO/User-Group-HOWTO-7.html#ss7.1
Date: Sat, 24 Mar 2007 07:15:42 -0700
From: Rick Moen ####@####.####
To: ####@####.####
Subject: Re: [PenLUG] Candidate PenLug meeting room, El Camino Real x Hwy 92 in San Mateo, Silicon Valley Community Foundation
I wrote:
> Fortunately, Silicon Valley Community Foundation doesn't seem, going by
> that text on the Web site, to require that groups have IRS recognition
> as tax-exempt charities (which is what a 501(c)(3) determination letter
> is). It just wants applicants to be "non-profits".
Eh, I posted too soon, and relied just on Lee's quotation. Having just
checked the actual Web page, I see exactly what Bill's talking about:
The foundation's conference facilities are available to 501(c)(3)
nonprofit organizations from San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, local
public agencies and branches of national organizations. All groups
must provide a certificate of insurance naming Silicon Valley
Community Foundation as an additional insured party.
So, you'd indeed need to be an IRS-recognised charity _and_ also be
shelling out a thosand dollars or so per year in liability insurance
premiums. So, no-go. Looks like this one is a big-money charity
outfit, open to participation by other big-money charity groups
only. ("The result is the fourth largest community foundation in the
nation with more than $1.5 billion in assets and more than 1,400
philanthropic funds." http://www.siliconvalleycf.org/about.html)
From rick Mon Mar 26 00:48:00 2007
Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2007 00:48:00 -0700
To: ####@####.####
Subject: Re: [PenLUG] Candidate PenLug meeting room, El Camino Real x Hwy 92 in San Mateo, Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Quoting Bill Kendrick ####@####.####
> Would they accept 501(c)7's? LUGOD got that back in its first year of
> existance.
(Just to clue people in: 501(c)(7) is the Internal Revenue Code
category for social & recreation non-profit groups. As a reminder,
501(c)(3), by contrast, is a much more restrictive IRC category for
_charities_.[0])
One of the reason tax-exempt charities like to do services only for
other tax-exempt charities is to protect their character as a charity in
case IRS comes looking at same. To quote IRS's guidelines:[1]
The organizing documents must limit the organization's purposes to
exempt purposes set forth in section 501(c)(3) and must not expressly
empower it to engage, other than as an insubstantial part of its
activities, in activities that are not in furtherance of one or more
of those purposes.
So, typically a 501(c)(3) charity wants to have _very_ little of its
activities be outside its specified charitable purpose -- to make very
sure those exceptions remain an "insubstantial part".
Also, note the societal character of groups like Silicon Valley
Community Foundation: They're (in part) vehicles for rich individuals
and corporations to feel good about themselves, being ennobled by
philanthropy / social services. Society people in nice clothes get to
be photographed doing good for the deserving poor, etc.
[0] It would be a bit pedantic to add that the category also includes
groups for religion, education, science, literary matters, public safety,
some national and international sports, prevention of cruelty to children
and animals groups, relief of the poor / distressed / underprivileged,
erection / maintenance of public buildings / monuments / works,
lessening the burdens of goverment, lessening neighbourhood tensions,
elimination of prejudice and discrimination, defence of human and civil
rights guaranteed by law, and combatting community deterioration and
juvenile delinquency -- those that are corporations, community chests,
funds, or foundations -- but someone might interject that if I don't
preempt the point. ;->
[1] http://www.irs.gov/charities/charitable/article/0,,id=96099,00.html
There's more in IRS Publication 557, "Tax Exempt Status for Your
Organization".