[Noisebridge-discuss] membership dues via employer matching funds?

Nathan nejucomo at gmail.com
Tue Aug 25 18:44:53 UTC 2009


I'm a little confused by this discussion.  As an ideological
non-member, can I donate money without paying membership dues?  Does
this complicate anything for NB legally?

This is in fact exactly what I'd like to do, and I have an employer
non-profit matching program.


Regards,
Nathan



On Thu, Aug 20, 2009 at 8:13 PM, Sai Emrys<noisebridge at saizai.com> wrote:
> On Thu, Aug 20, 2009 at 6:18 PM, Andreas von
> Hessling<vonhessling at gmail.com> wrote:
>> I guess the real question is whether we are legally allowed to
>> implement such a "big-donation-waives-dues" program.
>
> Not really, as stated. Donations are donations; the reason they are
> tax-deductible is because the donater is not getting something of
> value in return (like membership). To the extent that they are, it's
> considered a purchase, not a donation.
>
> However we ARE legally allowed (if the bylaws permit it, i.e. if we
> pass a resolution to amend them) to:
> * offer year-at-once memberships
> * offer multi-year-at-once memberships (though this can create
> significant complications for accounting)
> * offer lifetime memberships (though this has caveats that would be an
> issue in an organization where member expulsion is possible)
> * offer different classes of membership (e.g. a "partner" or "sponsor"
> membership, furthering the current "starving hacker" and "standard"
> classes), or entirely separate classes of status that are for sale
> (e.g. just plain "sponsor" which is distinct from "member" and does
> not give any membership rights)
>
> FWIW, my nonprofit charges annual dues and does not currently permit
> any other increment of payment, including payment in advance - it's
> just too much of a pain in the ass for us. But if this were what were
> requested for a $10k donation, we'd probably agree.
>
> - Sai
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