On 22/09/2007, Ray Saintonge
<saintonge(a)telus.net> wrote:
Thomas Dalton wrote:
Remember, WMF is non-profit - one of the biggest
problems for profit making businesses is that they have to report
profits in one currency, so even if the actual money isn't being
converted, they still have to convert it on paper - the WMF doesn't
have to worry about that.
Non-profits have to file financial reports too, and also need to convert
currencies.
Yes, but they don't count for as much. If a for-profit reports a 10%
drop in profits, that's a very bad thing, even if it's just because
the currency they're reporting in has dropped 10% against the currency
they are earning in. A non-profit's success is not measured in
currency, so is not as directly affected by exchange rate shifts.
Profits are
characterized differently for "non-profits". Consider them
as the difference between donations received and operating costs. If
that difference drops by 10% the organisation is able to provide
proportionally less in benefits to the community.
Ec