Re: Call for OPW project ideas

[Magdalen Berns <m berns thismagpie com>]

Hi Jan,

Ok Yan, I absolutely see actually where you are coming from now and yay, for human rights. I suspect it's quite similar in the UK now you mention it. Sorry, for having seemed dismissive, I should have given what you said more regard. With that said, if GNOME were to be put in a situation where they had to defend themselves I still suspect that California civil laws apply.[1] But really now I am actually no longer sure. This seems like a very grey area but what I do know is that Europe does have some laws which protect Europeans over the world. For instance if you miss a connection in a US flight from Europe then a US airline would be liable for your food and hotel expenses under EU law. This sort particular scenario probably needs some research before any of us can have a clear idea about what it all means for non-US volunteers and interns.

In addition: currently the minimal required insurance for non-profits is
paid for by the Nationale Loterij ("national lottery") on request, so
volunteers are often insured for free (to some degree).

I think the national lottery in the UK would also give funding to OPW if it were a UK based non-profit. Actually I can think of a lot of UK funding providers who would give to a project like OPW, come to think of it. In the meantime, perhaps OPW could consider establishing as a non-profit in Europe to benefit from funding support and stricter human rights laws? 

When I was on the board of a non-profit, that insurance requirement &
the offer by the Nationale Loterij didn't exist yet, but IIRC we paid a
couple 100 euro / year for the insurance that we had back then (even
before it was a requirement, most non-profits had insurances like that,
because it solves most likely disputes with volunteers easily for what
is a rather modest amount).

I don't even think my charity pays that even close much per volunteer actually. I think they just pay a blanket cover that they pay for a year that applies to all members individually as they carry out their work. It's a really good idea to have this for volunteers. I should ask how much it costs and see what they say. It's definitely worth the cost either way. Volunteers are an asset to any non-profit though I am a bit biased there what with being one n'all ;-)

Magdalen

[1] http://oag.ca.gov/charities