[Foundation-l] Chapters, deductibility and donation profiles (was Wikimania 2006 - host city contest to open onSeptember 1st 20)

[Kelly Martin]

On 8/16/05, Daniel Mayer <maveric149 at 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