[forwarded post from non-member]
From: Mike Godwin mgodwin@wikimedia.org Date: October 24, 2007 4:36:20 AM EDT To: foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: The question of tax-deductible donations
My own research today seems to confirm the view that, while in some nations a contribution to Wikimedia is tax-deductible, in others it is not. In effect, it seems there is no general answer, and the specific answers for each country can be maddeningly complex -- complex enough that we could spend a whole lot of time trying to dig up the answer for every nation where a donor might reside. I'll see if I can find a resource that makes it easier, but I'm not hopeful about that.
So ... I'd like to de-emphasize tax-deductibility to the extent possible, if we can do it. We so know that Americans who give can get a break on their American taxes. We also know that some donors in other nations can do something similar, sometimes, to some extent. Beyond that, we don't have a general answer yet, and there may not be one.
The point I think Brian McNeil has made is a good one -- only a third of Americans itemize their deductions, and we have no reason to believe the demographics of our American donors are different from those of Americans generally. (That's the null hypothesis.) What this suggests is, in the absence of more data about donors and deductibility, we should stress altruism more than the tax deductions. Yes, we can say "in some nations, including in the United States, you may be able to obtain a tax deduction for your donation." Or something similar. But I don't want to take the risk of overpromising on the tax-deduction question. We'd like people to give to Wikimedia because it's the right thing to do and not because they necessarily get a reduction in their taxes.
I'm sorry not to have a neat, general answer to what turns out to be complex question, but I'm still researching it.
--Mike Godwin General Counsel Wikimedia Foundation