New donation center to be launched soon!

[linuxpcplus]

Bottom line, I REALLY like this distro! Not only am I going to mention it on my website, but I am in the process of adding a really cool feature to my social community tentatively called "Donation Central". What I will be doing is enabling my members to donate to their favorite Linux distros & Open Source software projects. They will be able to enter a single donation amount, then choose multiple for projects for that moeny to go to. The funds will be divided between the chosen projects, & I will forward the money to the relevant place. For example, a visitor chooses to donate $20 & they pick 4 projects to donate to. We forward $5 to each for that person.
Each month, we will select a "Feature" distro that we will specifically promote for the month. I plan on making PCLinuxOS the first featured distro!
Finally, not only will we NOT take any of the donated funds, we will add $1.00 to every $10 donated to the selected projects.
The idea here is to give folks the ability to donate to multiple projects in a single transaction, saving them time and hassles!

[Yankee]

a really cool feature to my social community tentatively called "Donation Central"

Hi,

Not to discourage, but don't you need to get NFP (not-for-profit organization)
tax status before you can do so.    Maybe you already did.    A small club getting
some money to do things is OK, but multi-distro collections wouldn't be considered
that small I would think.

FF

[linuxpcplus]

a really cool feature to my social community tentatively called "Donation Central"

Hi,

Not to discourage, but don't you need to get NFP (not-for-profit organization)
tax status before you can do so.    Maybe you already did.    A small club getting
some money to do things is OK, but multi-distro collections wouldn't be considered
that small I would think.

FF

Nope. The law does not require me to be non-profit. If that were the case, every distro & open source project would require such legal status, and I can tell you VERY FEW have it! This is because I am merely collecting money for these projects, not running them myself, I would not even be eligible for non-profit status.
Its kind of like walmart collecting money for various charities. They do not need non-profit status to collect monies for these groups. This is the same concept just on a much smaller scale.

[sling-shot]

Your concept is very good. I have long thought of a world wide organisation that can collect money and channel it to the desired project depending on the donor's preference.

The amount may be small so the cost of transferring it internationally would be bigger for an inidividual. But when many such donations are pooled together it might be easier to do.

[Yankee]

Its kind of like walmart collecting money for various charities. They do not need non-profit status to collect monies for these groups. This is the same concept just on a much smaller scale.

Walmart is already a registered corporation and it's NFP contributions
are accounted for.    I'm retired so my books aren't all here but a 501(c)
is the usual NFP AFAIR.   If you're talking only small amounts I agree, but,
if you orchestrate a large organization the dollar limit for not becoming
a 501(c) could be reached.    The Linux Foundation has general funds, res-
tricted funds, endowment funds, fund raising and distributions, etc.  so
you need to know when to go to a legal NFP at some time.    Or stay below
that level and size as I need to do.

Have a good one.

Thanks for the response.


FF

[linuxpcplus]

Sorry I have not kep this updated lately, I have been looking into all of the legal ramifications of the donor center after the comments received here. Here is what I learned: If I raise less than $25,000/year, I do not need to get any special status. If annual funds raised exceeds that $25,000 I WILL need to set up a foundation seperate from my business & get a 501(c) status. Although 501(c) NFP status can take a very long time to receive, I will not be restricted on the funds I can raise as long as the application process has been started before I reach the $25,000 limit.
This information comes from the advice of 3 different attorneys.
With all this in mind, I amnow ready to move forward on launching the Linux PC Plus Donor Center. The planned launch date is January 1 2013 & I will post a link in this thread a day or 2 before that.
Thank everyone for the encouragement and advice. It has truly saved me from future headaches!

[Texstar]

In the meantime you can get 12 month access to our premium software server for the holiday special price of 19.95!!! Just visit our donation page and click the Buy Now button.  

 http://www.pclinuxos.com/?page_id=7

[Neal ManBear]

In the meantime you can get 12 month access to our premium software server for the holiday special price of 19.95!!! Just visit our donation page and click the Buy Now button.  

 http://www.pclinuxos.com/?page_id=7

     
Wow! A "Special" on PASS!     
Worth the click, folks!     

[Texstar]

In the meantime you can get 12 month access to our premium software server for the holiday special price of 19.95!!! Just visit our donation page and click the Buy Now button.  

 http://www.pclinuxos.com/?page_id=7

   
Wow! A "Special" on PASS!    
Worth the click, folks!    

I know right! An amazing value but only for a limited time!  

[Yankee]

Thank everyone for the encouragement and advice. It has truly saved me from future headaches!

One further "hint".

See if you can find an Accounting firm in your area that
works with NFP's.   They could be very efficient and cost
effective as well as.    Lawyers are very theoretical but
if you want to maximize distributions the Accounting firm
approach could have more experience in how to do so.
As well as setting up the 501(c) if ever needed.   It's
very simple.

It never hurts to talk.    See what they say too.

Best Wishes.

Ferdes

[turk101]

I just renewed.....awesome price.....cheaper then winblows....thanks for all you go folks.... ...now I can tell my wife I bought something on sale...saved 5 bucks...LOL
 

[Texstar]

I just renewed.....awesome price.....cheaper then winblows....thanks for all you go folks.... ...now I can tell my wife I bought something on sale...saved 5 bucks...LOL
 

That should make your wife happy. Thanks for supporting PCLinuxOS!

[gandy]

I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't donated for awhile. I've been meaning to but I've been putting it off. Who can resist such a bargain? Not me  

[linuxpcplus]

Thanks Ferdes! Great advice that I plan to follow!
As for the rest of the replies, I am not really sure how they relate to this thread. Found myself thinking "HEYYY!"