On Wed, Aug 27, 2008 at 04:43, Thomas Dalton thomas.dalton@gmail.com wrote:
Only up to £5000 pounds, and as far as I am aware, we would be handling much larger amounts than that. So as a temporary measure to get membership fee's etc tax reimbursed would be fine, but it wouldn't work during the annual fundraiser. For that, the charity registration would be necessary.
Yes, precisely, but we can wait until after we've got the £5000 to worry about that (which eliminates the need for the foundation to give us a starting donation). You only have to register in the tax year in which your income goes over £5000, you don't have to have registered before then.
I am not sure I have followed the peculiarities of HMRC and the like, but here is what I understand, please correct me if I am wrong:
- WER (Wikimedia UK) can file for a charity-like status which allows it to receive donations, and this without having had a minimum of £5000 donation to start with. - Once that sum of £5000 is attained, then WER (WM UK) can file for full charity status which I suppose will allow for tax deductibility for donors.
In any case, here are how things can go
- WMF's (financial) help can come in the form lawyer/charity advice in order to make sure that the whole paperwork and prerequisites are filled out, also to sort out the bank account issues if needed. - If what I have stated above (the donation part) is correct, then I would propose to resort to a WMF's donation as a very last resort and try other means to get donations to get the chapter started: *For the record, last year, around £50 000 (yes, GBP) were collected during the fundraiser through the WIkimedia Foundation. This money is collected _without_ any of it offering tax deductibility to UK residents. I would be extremely amazed if we can't get 10% of that to go directly to Wikimedia UK. *This implies that the MOST URGENT of all things is simply to open a Bank account, and to find an agreement how to best advertise Wikimedia UK during the fundraiser and to agree on how Wikimedia UK will in turn redistribute this money to the sustainability of the projects and support activities.
My take is that people who wish to support Wikimedia projects and haven't done so so far because they couldn't be bothered to send money to the US will be happy to spend a few pounds to help Wikimedia UK. Those who have supported the Projects by giving will also surely find it cool to be able to give in GBPs. This should get the ball rolling and fast.
The rest should then take care of itself with time and motivation.
Let me reiterate that the Foundation's interest lies in a functional Wikimedia UK and for it to offer tax-deductibility as soon as possible in order to give a channel to all opportunities in the UK to become reality, allowing people to support the Wikimedia projects, whether financially, or through miscellaneous cool activities (partnerships with like-minded organisations, community support etc.).
In short, sorting the bank account, getting a functional body of members and strengthening the board should be the first steps to make Wikimedia UK one of the most successful chapters of all.
Cheers
Delphine