[Foundation-l] Update of the Gift Policy

[Gerard Meijssen]

Hoi,
One question, when you get a gift from another non-profit and this other
non-profit is not American how would it be qualified ? I would not be
surprised under American law it is not another non-profit. Also when the FSF
would donate to the WMF howls of protest because of the implied expectations
.. Now think of the howls of protest of a same donation from Creative
Commons :) My point would be that any sizable amount given to the WMF that
is noticed as such should be considered for its impact and when there are
implied expectations it should be approved by the WMF board.
Thanks,
    GerardM

On Jan 22, 2008 3:48 AM, Michael Snow <wikipedia at att.net> wrote:

> Gerard Meijssen wrote:
> > I am sorry I do not understand. What is an "applicable tests for public
> > support". Why are donations from other charities exempt.
> Brad Patrick wrote:
> > The idea is that other non-profits (large foundations, for example)
> should
> > be free to support the mission of the organization, but are obligated to
> the
> > same standards under the US code.  Is there a difference between the
> Gates
> > Foundation giving $ versus Bill Gates, individually, or Microsoft, as a
> > company?  The government thinks so.  The point of the gift policy is to
> put
> > the consideration of such gifts in the sound discretion of the Board.
>  Now
> > the policy is explicit.
> >
> I think Brad has the substance right, but I'd like to address one detail
> that may clear up some of the confusion. As has been mentioned, the
> tests are covered by IRS regulations, and a good deal of the language
> consists of terms of art drawn from those regulations. If you want to
> read up on all the details, you're welcome to look at IRS Publication
> 557. http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p557.pdf (PDF)
>
> Some of the discussion has assumed that donations from other charities
> are generally exempt, but the policy actually refers to "other publicly
> supported charities" (an important qualifier). This means the exception
> is not for any donation from another charity, but only from another
> charity that meets the same requirements as the Wikimedia Foundation.
> Essentially, the IRS treats the public support test as transitive, and
> that test is what the resolution is mostly about. I assume the Gates
> Foundation does not try to meet the public support test, but operates as
> a private foundation (also a non-profit, but of a different type). So
> the hypothetical donation from Bill and a grant from his foundation
> would actually be treated the same under this policy.
>
> --Michael Snow
>
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