[Foundation-l] A US Chapter Proposal

[Andrew Whitworth]

On Thu, May 1, 2008 at 11:51 AM, Chad <innocentkiller at gmail.com> wrote:
>  1) What do you do for areas like NYC? It would be much easier to
>  coordinate a chapter for its metropolitan area as opposed to "New
>  York State Chapter" or "New Jersey Chapter." For this, I would suggest
>  we have a fairly fluid system of allowing chapters to form. While a
>  "Virginia" chapter might not be workable, a DC Metropolitan Area one
>  would work (2 hours is not unreasonable for me to drive for a meeting,
>  at least). This brings us to our second issue:

My personal opinion on the matter is that a fluid system like this is
probably the best. Consider this multipart solution:
1) Chapters can form along any boundary (metropolitan, state) so long
as they do not overlap with other chapters.
2) All chapters must include a clause in their bylaws that they will
merge into larger chapters, as "sections" if a larger chapter is
formed. So, WMF Philadelphia and WMF Pittsburgh would be forced to
merge into WMF PA, if the state chapter was organized and approved.
This allows local efforts to get the ball rolling, but also shows
preference towards more a more mature model of state-based and
eventually nation-based chapters.

This kind of model is helped by US tax exemption doctrines which, as I
learned today from Pharos, states that a sub-organization does not
need to incorporate separately as a non-profit if it is a local
section of a larger tax-exempt non-profit. For all intents and
purposes, US subnational chapters and sections could simply be
considered autonomous membership sub-organizations of the WMF itself.

>  2) Representation. If we allow per-state or per-region chapters, how much
>  of a say do each of them have in the Foundation? Is each state given a
>  voice? For this, I would say that the US gets *one* voice, much as the
>  German chapter is given *one* voice, or any of the others.

If you take the view that subnational chapters are really "sections"
of a virtual national chapter that does not yet explicitly exist, this
becomes a non-issue. Contrariwise, if we consider that sufferage is
granted based on membership, a US national chapter will have the same
"voice" that 50 smaller subnational chapters would have. Finding that
single "voice" would be a logistical matter to handle separately.

>  The only final issue I've seen is that of funding. Who do you donate to?
>  Does an American donate to the WMF or to the local American Chapter?
>  As a proposal, I would say this: money donated

There are a number of ways to handle this. First, consider that the
WMF and WMF USA would hold different fundraisers. All monies collected
during the WMF fundraiser would go to the WMF. All donations made to
the WMF go to the WMF, including donations brokered by WMF USA on
behalf of the WMF. Assuming we understand that WMF USA is a
sub-organization to the WMF, it should be possible to move money from
one to the other easily, in times of need.

Consider also that the general level of donations should increase with
an increase in on-the-ground volunteers. The WMF is currently looking
to fill a single paid position for a person to find and manage
donations. Volunteer members of WMF USA could spend hundreds or
thousands of man hours organizing fund raisers, soliciting donations
from people who otherwise would not have donated, etc. With more of an
on-the-ground presence, the WMF should expect an increase in donation
revenues, not a decrease because of sharing concerns.

>  Up until now, there has been
>  no definitive progress towards a US-based chapter

Wrong, there has been plenty of progress, as much as is possible with
the current roadblocks in place. If it were possible to create a new
US-based subnational chapter, I estimate that there would be at least
one created already, and up to half a dozen seriously in the works.
It's not that nobody is organizing, it's that these groups are being
told "Sorry, but we can't accept applications from you yet because
nobody knows what's going on in the US". Remove the roadblocks, and
progress will become self-evident.

--Andrew Whitworth