Re: [atlarge-discuss] Short-term goals

["NameCritic" <chris1@telnor.net>]

My comments are again below.

----- Original Message -----
From: <espresso@e-scape.net>
To: <atlarge-discuss@lists.fitug.de>
Sent: Monday, September 30, 2002 1:18 AM
Subject: Re: [atlarge-discuss] Short-term goals


Judyth wrote; Just a couple of points in responde to Chris McElroy:

First of all, it is no longer true that most Internet users are in the
United States, and the proportion of Americans is declining rapidly as other
parts of the world develop their infrastructure. English has decreased from
80% to less than 50% over the past 6 years (counting both users and web
pages) -- see http://funredes.org/lc for figures on languages on the
Internet.

Chris wrote; So you think that language is the guage for participation? Do
you also have the figures for how many of those that speak other languages
or build sites in other languages that reside in the US? In other words, not
all people who speak other languages reside outside the US.

Judyth wrote; Secondly, I think it's rash to say that most potential donors
are in the U.S. and are set up only to donate to organizations which give
tax receipts for use against American taxes. 501C-3 doesn't cut much ice in
other countries although it may be "the most accepted standard" in the U.S.

I'm sorry to be so snippy about this but I'm getting rather tired of
explaining to Americans on international lists that, the DoC and ICANN
aside, they no longer "own" the Internet and need to start thinking in terms
of people in other countries having as much right to be on the 'Net. There
are nearly 600 million Internet users, while I understand there are about
300 million Americans and only around 60% have Internet access. Meanwhile,
Internet use has pretty much stopped growing in the U.S. and continues to
rise steeply elsewhere.

Chris wrote; This is not a contest about which country is bigger or my
country can beat up your country. I have long been an advocate of equal
access, so you have somehow placed me into a category in your own mind that
I am US Centric and do not see that other cultures exist. For your
information I live in Mexico. Maybe before becoming "snippy" or flying off
the handle you should do a little research. let's bring up an International
organization like say, UNICEF. Do you know what percentage of donations to
UNICEF come from US Corporations? How about to the Red Cross?

I simply made some proposals which I saw were lacking on the discussion list
based on my prior experience in nonprofits. I asked for people to expand on
the issues not attack them. The fact that you get defensive to another's
proposal and try to attack the message and the messenger rather than add
something positive like maybe we need to do multiple filings in multiple
countries. Why is it you don't choose the more positive approach?

Judyth wrote; There are nearly as many Europeans online as Americans, and I
believe there are now as many Asians, so perhaps it is time to start
thinking in terms of a fairly decentralized structure in which national or
regional organizations would look after their own fundraising (once they are
set up to do it) and contribute something to the umbrella-group.

Chris wrote; I would like to see the stats on that, because although the
online population from other countries is growing reducing the US user %,
the stats I research for marketing tell me 80% of the money is being spent
on the net by US users and that US surfers make up a little over 65% of all
users. But I don't want to debate this point any further. The above was
finally a positive suggestion. Thank you. It still doesn't answer the
questions about where to file the paperwork but it is a good operational
suggestion. Let's work together.

Judyth wrote; Finally, thus far we haven't the faintest chance of applying
for funding in any country since we have not yet been able to agree upon
what we will be doing and what will be involved in that effort. In fact,
most sources of funding want to see evidence that an organization is in
operation and doing something useful before they will consider an
application. At the very least, they want to see a charter, budget
projections and detailed plans before providing even start-up funding.

Chris wrote; Yes! I agree. That is why I made the suggestions in the order I
made them. Mission Statement time?

Judyth wrote; The only exception I can imagine under the present
circumstances is that individual members may be willing to make
contributions in cash or in kind during this "pre-launch" phase. However,
short of their sending cash through the mails to one of the Panel members,
this group would still need some kind of bank account in which to deposit
the money, not to mention somebody to keep the books.

Personally, I'd be willing to send a small donation myself but not until the
organization exists and there's a Treasurer to keep track of revenues and
expenses. And, by the way, contrary to what Jeff Williams has suggested, the
Treasurer is an elected officer of an organization, not a fancy name for a
hired comptroller or bookkeeper.

Chris wrote; I agree 100% to the above as well. See our thinking isn't all
that far apart, so please don't assume that it will be automatically because
of a few negative people you may have encountered in the past.

Regards,

Judyth


At 13:02 -0700 2002/09/28, NameCritic wrote:
[snip]
>IMHO, fundraising for a foreign corporation or association is more
difficult
>than one in the US. I don't have a personal preference of where it would be
>filed, but the fact is most users are in the US. Most potential donors are
>in the US. They are set up to approve donations to charities and
>organizations that have the specific 501C-3 status and according to their
>own set policies cannot donate funds to any other type of organization.
Send
>a funding request to any US corporation and they will request your 501C-3
>information before they can donate any money. With a 501C-3 we may also
>qualify for grants that again specifically state that you must be a 501C-3.
>That's what ICANN did and for a good reason.
>
>I'm not saying it cannot be done in a foriegn country, just saying we need
>to qualify for funding from anyone and 501C-3 is the most accepted
standard.
>To have one, we have to have articles of incorporation and bylaws and a
BoD.
>Different states have different rules as to how the BoD is structured but
>all require the Articles and bylaws.
>
>I am not familiar with foreign corporations, just looking at the future and
>see the future needs money. In order to get it we need to be structured in
>some way that is acceptable to the largest group of potential donors and
>grant givers.
>
>
>Chris McElroy aka NameCritic
>

##########################################################
Judyth Mermelstein     "cogito ergo lego ergo cogito..."
Montreal, QC           <espresso@e-scape.net>
##########################################################
"A word to the wise is sufficient. For others, use more."
##########################################################



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