[Noisebridge-discuss] Fundraising and membership at NB

[Josh Berkus]

> Which is exactly why I said it's not clearly defined and he should
> talk to a tax pro if he really cares. ;-)

Yes, you did.  I just tend to overdetermine these things because I was
once peripeherally involved in a lawsuit aimed at an NPO which had made
the mistake of giving tax advice to donors.

Speaking of which, the Donations wiki page was purportedly giving tax
advice which is illegal for NPOs to do ... it could cost NB its 501(c)3.
 I've edited the wiki to remove that.

https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Donate_or_Pay_Dues

Speaking from a donor perspective, that wiki page is a bit
nervous-making.  It both says that nobody checks the mailbox, and that I
should just give my check to any board member.   This makes me kind of
dubious about making a donation by check at all, and it's hard to
believe I'm the only worried one.

Would it be possible to have designated staff and a procedure for
dealing with donations by check?  The ideal one would be (a) check the
mailbox and (b) that specific people are responsible for opening the
mail, making scans (someone does this, right?) and making deposits.  I
can write up the procedure we use for SPI if it'll help.

As a California non-profit, NB is required by law to take reasonable
precautions to prevent malfeasance. We can lose our non-profit status.
Just sayin'.

-- 
                                  -- Josh Berkus
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