[hackerspaces] 501c3 and hackerspaces in the US

[James Carlson]

What we've gotten out of it with Bucketworks:

   1. Free things -- lots of free things
   2. Ability to get large gifts
   3. Discounted things (wifi infrastructure at 1/10th the cost, for
   example.)
   4. Easy to make partnerships with like-minded organizations
   5. A legal requirement for transparency we have to honor; we would
   anyway, but no one can ever change that by force
   6. Flexibility-- we also created a for-profit and use both a non- and
   for-profit in concert (Bucket Brigade)
   7. Incredibly reduced rents, for a time.

Just some of the examples.

What it's cost:

   1. Compliance efforts are high.
   2. Audits cost between $2.5-$5k / year, but are key to unlock funds.
   3. Oversight and monitoring requirements are high (but we're using our
   501c3 under 'heavy load.' For other Space Federation spaces this year we've
   processed a total of $39,000 in donations both cash and in-kind.)
   4. Extra care with the whole topic of this thread.

There are pros and cons to it for sure. That's the whole argument for
sharing a c3, in that we can spread out some of the costs and overhead. (A
lot like a table saw, really.)

On Thu, Jul 5, 2012 at 6:07 PM, Ron Bean
<makerspace at rbean.users.panix.com>wrote:

> Pete Prodoehl <raster at gmail.com> writes:
>
> >I'd like to hear why others
> >are pursuing becoming an NPO and what you hope to get out of it.
>
> I'd rather hear about what people have actually gotten out of it, maybe
> after 5 years or so. Things don't always work out the way you expect
> (for better and worse).
>
> _______________________________________________
> Discuss mailing list
> Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>
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