On Wed, 2011-08-03 at 21:36 +0800, Frederic Muller wrote: > On 08/03/2011 08:41 PM, Karen Sandler wrote: > [...] > > I'm obviously not on the board (and also new here) but I wanted to respond > > because you mentioned being out of compliance with state laws. I believe > > the form need only be made available on request in order to meet the state > > requirements. While you definitely requested an important piece of > > information, you didn't specifically ask to see the last 990 or the form > > 1023, both of which would overall have less relevant financial information > > than what was circulated by Germán (even if the 990 had an ending > > balance).Many nonprofits choose not to put their 990s up on their websites > > and are not in violation of state laws to my knowledge. California does > > make form 990s available directly on their website without registration, > > but those forms are often not the best way to see the financial position > > of a nonprofit anyway because of the reporting format. So long as a > > nonprofit provides the forms when asked (they don't have to do it > > instantly and can also charge a reasonable fee for doing so), they are in > > compliance with the rules. I think GNOME seeks to do better than that, > > which is why the more detailed information was circulated to members. > > I wasn't requesting this form, please do not 'misquote' me. I was > highlighting government regulations (IRS website should be a good > reference no?) which says " An exempt organization must make available > for public inspection its exemption application". It does not stipulate > how to do it, it just says we have to do it. And so I showed how others > are doing it and said maybe we should do the same. > > Now failing to get a crucial information about the budget and our > financial status (how much do we have, so we know how much we can spend) > and feeling the reluctance to supply such information which I am sure > German have on his mind even if approximate (and some other people who > also didn't respond) I thought it was important to remind the board that > we are not complying to government regulations by not supplying those > forms (through whatever mean) as well. I do not have those numbers in my mind. We have different accounts and we also hold external funds. Also, I do not have access to the bank. Answering your question today or in the next budget report does not change anything; it is something you would like to know, which is fine, but there are other tasks that need more immediate action. On the other hand, saying we are not complying with the government regulations by not suppling the forms is false. If you read http://foundation.gnome.org/finance/ you will find the following paragraph: Copies of GNOME Foundation's Federal Tax Return (the 990 form) can be downloaded at Guidestar.org. You will have to register with GuideStar to access the IRS form, but the registration is free and takes only a minute. This has been since November 26, 2004. GuideStar is the service we use for this purpose. It would be more constructive if you read the information properly to avoid arriving to misleading conclusions and spreading FUD. And while you are promoting transparency, which I agree, it would be nice to have a finance report of GNOME.Asia. -- Germán Póo-Caamaño http://people.gnome.org/~gpoo/
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