On 8/16/05, Daniel Mayer maveric149@yahoo.com wrote:
Looking at how the Red Cross works would be very interesting in this regard. They are composed of one parent organization based in Switzerland and many national organizations in various countries. All the ones I'm aware of work internationally.
IIRC, The American branch of the Red Cross has specific enabling legislation for it in US federal law and enjoys a federal charter. It holds unique status even amongst the relatively small number of organizations holding federal charters. The rule about tax-exempt money entering or leaving the country is specially waived for the ARC. Obtaining the same status for Wikimedia would require a massive lobbying effort.
Kelly