Re: [tdf-discuss] Foundation Fundraising

On Feb 8, 2011, at 1:00 PM, Ian Lynch wrote:

> In the UK there will be no tax to pay if you don't make a profit. Collect
> the money get an invoice from another entity to the full value of that money
> and then transfer it and that's it. The only possible problem is VAT. If
> both companies are registered for VAT in Europe, again no problem but there
> is a bit of bureaucracy involved with VAT registration. Not necessary in the
> UK if you turnover less than around 100,000 Euro. Probably spreading any
> financial transaction across two financial years would obviate the need for
> VAT registration - again, nothing deceptive simply standard accounting
> practice.

My suggestion was to use a personal account to collect and then disburse the income, which would 
probably trigger income tax, as BRM mentioned in his response. (I don't know with any certainty, 
though.)

Another platform like Kickstarter is http://www.indiegogo.com/

According to their site, you can "Start your campaign from any country in the world as long as you 
have a valid bank account." 

It also lets you collect pledged funds even if you don't meet your overall goal, but it charges 
fees of 4 or 9% (the higher fee if you don't meet your full goal, the lower fee if you do). Not 
sure what Kickstarter's fee structure is to compare.

-Ben

> On 8 February 2011 17:35, BRM <bm_witness@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > The problem there would be US tax law no? You'd have to pay taxes on it -
> > since
> > you as an individual would be receiving it, taxes which would outweigh the
> > donation write-off you'd get on the other end.
> > Now, I am not a CPA or Tax Accountant, so I would highly recommend talking
> > to
> > one before doing anything like that.
> >
> > It might be, however, feasible to get an existing 501(c)3 to do that for
> > you
> > though; perhaps the FSF, Linux Foundation, or one of the other existing
> > Open
> > Source entities could aid in that manner?
> >
> > Ben
> >
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message ----
> > > From: Benjamin Horst <bhorst@mac.com>
> > > To: discuss@documentfoundation.org
> > > Sent: Tue, February 8, 2011 12:07:42 PM
> > > Subject: Re: [tdf-discuss] Foundation Fundraising
> > >
> > > Would it be legitimate and useful for a private US citizen to set up a
> > > Kickstarter with the stipulation that the funding would all be donated to
> > the
> > > TDF legal entity in Germany?
> > >
> > > If this approach is sound, then I or another  US-based volunteer could
> > set it
> > > up. When the campaign finishes and is disbursed,  we'd transfer the money
> > to
> > > TDF.
> > >
> > >
> > > Clear messaging on the campaign  information pages would eliminate any
> > likely
> > > misunderstandings from donors and  supporters.
> > >
> > > -Ben
> > >
> > > On Feb 7, 2011, at 1:35 PM, drew  wrote:
> > >
> > > > On Mon, 2011-02-07 at 18:18 +0000, toki wrote:
> > > > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> > > > > Hash: SHA1
> > > > >
> > > > > On 02/07/2011 01:27 PM, drew wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > > A  requirement to have to have a US bank account in order to receive
> > funds
> > > is not  the same thing as saying the money must be dispersed in the US
> > only, is
> > > it?
> > > > > No.
> > > > >
> > > > > A couple of things to  do, before setting up the business account:
> > > > >
> > > > > * Make sure  that you really want to have a business presence in the
> > > > > state that  the bank that handles the account is located in.
> > > > >
> > > > > *  Decide what currency you want the account to be denominated in.
> > > > > (I  don't know how that affects Amazon Processing.)
> > > > > ( I don't know how  FDIC works for non US-Dollar denominated
> > accounts.)
> > > > > *  Verify that the bank is financially sound.
> > > > > (The Federal Reserve Bank  is on track to close more financial
> > > > > institutions this year, than in  the previous two years, combined.)
> > > >
> > > > Good points but  I don't see it quite same way, as kickstarter is an
> > all
> > > > of nothing  situation - you set a target and if you hit it or exceed it
> > > > you get the  funds, if not they go back to the donors - so I would say
> > > > you don't want  to setup to do business of any kind in the US beyond
> > the
> > > > ability to  accept funds into a checking account and then later
> > transfer
> > > > the funds  as one lump sum to the proper account for the foundation and
> > > > close the  account.
> > > >
> > > > As for the target amount for 100,000 euro with a close  date of March
> > > > 30th, and todays exchange rate or 0.73 it would take  $136,166 USD.
> > Given
> > > > the time frame $150,000 would seem a large enough  cushion, even with
> > > > fees, anyway that's just my quick swag at it.
> > > >
> > > > Also - Benjamin mentioned a different site that I have no information
> > on
> > > > and perhaps it does not have this US - either way, the necessary
> > banking
> > > > setup and then a media campaign..that is a darn tight  schedule.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > --
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> > >
> > >
> > > Benjamin Horst
> > > bhorst@mac.com
> > > 646-464-2314 (Eastern)
> > > www.solidoffice.com
> > >
> > >
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>
> -- 
> Ian
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Benjamin Horst
bhorst@mac.com
646-464-2314 (Eastern)
www.solidoffice.com


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