[luau] Ladies and Gentlemen

[Brian Chee]

far out...I did the non-profit educationally oriented corporation MANY years
ago for the Hawaii Netware Users Group (HINUG) but alas, interest in Netware
waned and the group died. However the tax exempt status was great....however
there were a couple gotchas that I'd like to pass on.

1.    You MUST run at least 1 general meeting a year and it must be run by
something like Robert's Rules of Order.
2.    At that general meeting, two things MUST happen:
    a.    An advisory board of directors must be voted upon and the
installed after voting
    b.    A rollover resolution for funds obtained but not spent in the past
fiscal year, be rolled over to the next fiscal year to help fund overall
long term goals of the organization.
3.    The minutes of this meeting must be published or be available for
public inspection.

If you can do all three, then it works and donations are legal....if you
don't....then the IRS will have a conversation with you.

Oh yeah...I made the suggestion about donating to UH since this issue came
up now....that way the donation can be made and whoever can get a donation
letter this tax year.  However, having said that, I am FULLY in support of
the group getting non-profit status and yes ALL the donations should go to
the group. However, I would still suggest that donations that will
eventually go to a school, be donated directly to said school.  If you're a
class-c corporation and the gear is two years old or less...there is a
special tax credit if it goes to a K-12 educational institution.

/brian chee

University of Hawaii ICS Dept
Advanced Network Computing Lab
1680 East West Road, POST rm 311
Honolulu, HI  96822
808-956-5797 voice, 808-956-5175 fax

----- Original Message -----
From: "R. Scott Belford" <sctinc at flex.com>
To: <luau at videl.ics.hawaii.edu>
Sent: Friday, December 27, 2002 12:12 PM
Subject: Re: [luau] Ladies and Gentlemen


> On Friday 27 December 2002 11:13 am, Brian Chee wrote:
> > May I make a small suggestion....how about you folks consider removing a
> > little of the ego, and if stuff is donated, it can be donated to the UH
ICS
> > department Advanced Network Computing Lab. I'm housing the server as it
is,
> > and can write a donation letter for tax purposes. This way donations are
> > final, and the donors gets something nice at tax time.
>
> Part of the application for 501(c)(3) status is stating what we intend to
do
> as HOSEF to perpetuate our non-profit charitable status.  I am pasting
what I
> have filed with the IRS below.  Basically, we break down our mission in
> percentages.  The largest mission of HOSEF is to accumulate, refurbish,
and
> donate hardware.  The second is to teach and educate about Open Source
> through community outreach.  The last is to support LUAU through donated
> space, hardware, and bandwidth.
>
> HOSEF is established as a non-profit charitable organization designed to
> withstand the torrid heats of ego, testosterone, and flame fests.
Donations
> to it stay with it.  No one individual controls the fate of the group.  I
> have tried to model the organizational structure on the Open Source
> philosophies.  I intend to announce and organizational meeting in the
first
> few weeks of January to establish a steering committee.  I have proposed
> people in the past who were not interested.  Maybe you would be, Brian.
> Ho'ala expressed interest earlier today.  He or your would be and
excellent
> first leader or captain or chair or whatever we want to call it.
>
> Donating to UH is good.  Donating to Mid-Pac is what we do now.  I really
> feel like we should donate to ourselves, HOSEF.  Then we own it, it is not
> institutional or individual dependant, tax-writeoffs are possible.  I am
> really trying to organize HOSEF as a LONG term solution to the current
little
> issues that arise.  I won't be on the island forever, so it is definitely
not
> MY organization, so to speak.  It is yours.
>
> scott
>
> This is the attachment sent to the IRS for our 501 app.
>
> Form 1023 Part II Activities and Organizational Information
> 1.
> Our primary activity is the collection of donated computer hardware from
> government and private sources. Using volunteer labor, the hardware is
> renovated and donated to schools, religious, and charitable organizations.
> The mission of the group is to promote the benefits of free, Open Source
> Software. This software is installed on the hardware to make it operable
with
> no licensing fees. This cycle of contribution is the primary activity
> perpetuating the charitable status.
>
> This activity has been ongoing by an informal group of individuals for
over a
> year. It is now being formalized. A local retailer and a local school have
> donated space where donated hardware is being stored and volunteers meet
to
> refurbish it. The collecting and donating of computers is 70% of the
> organization's activity.
>
> There are always going to be particular needs when computers are installed
> that cannot be met with donated hardware. Some school projects will need a
> new server with new hardware. HOSEF intends to raise funds through
> solicitations and publicity in order to buy these components for the
schools.
> This activity has not yet occurred, but it will be conducted by volunteers
> willing to spend the time doing it. It is expected to be 10% of the
> organization's activities.
>
> Another 15% of the Hawaii Open Source Education Foundation's activities
will
> be community education and outreach through free seminars and on-site
> consultations. By inviting educators, other non-profits, and the general
> public to these seminars, we will have the opportunity to demonstrate the
> comprehensive capabilities of Open Source Software, all availabe for free.
> This activity has been ongoing for a few years, again informally, by a few
> volunteer members of HOSEF. It is anticipated that, beginning in 2003,
more
> effort will be made to invite the public to informational seminars
conducted
> by volunteers in donated spaces.
>
> The remaining 5% of HOSEF's activities will be the support and sustenance
of
> the local Linux User's Group called the Mid-Pacific Linux User's Group
> (MPLUG). This is a volunteer group of computer professionals, students,
and
> enthusiasts organized around an emailing list entitled LUAU. There are no
> dues and participation is strictly voluntary. This group is the
intellectual
> engine of the Open Source community in Hawaii. Enabling it with donated
> hardware and network resources can insure its continued contribution to
our
> culture. Heretofore, resources donated to it were not recognized as having
> been given to any particular organization.
>
> These activities will be ongoing and conducted by volunteers. The
activities
> will be organized around the organization's website, hosef.org.
>
>
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