Switch Open Collective "host" to Sarapis?

Nathan Schneider Public Seen by 13

It occurs to me that we could switch our fiscal sponsorship via Open Collective to Sarapis, which a) is a nonprofit affiliated with platform cooperativism, thus allowing US tax deductible donations, and b) might be able to get a lower rate than the current arrangement. We'd stay with Open Collective but change the legal entity we're part of.

Part of this would also mean joining the Internet of Ownership Project Council (https://ioo.coop/project-council/), which would be the vehicle through which we'd manage the fiscal sponsorship.

Michele Kipiel Wed 7 Mar 2018 10:18AM

Could you please elaborate? I'm not a finance person myself, and I'm not sure I understand what "we'd stay with Open Collective but chage the legal entity we're part of" means... Thanks and sorry for being dumb :)

Nathan Schneider Wed 7 Mar 2018 8:53PM

You're not dumb! I wrote that in a hurry. Sorry not to provide more explanation.

Open Collective is currently the platform that we use to process payments and manage expenses.

Open Collective also offers us a legal structure, through a company they control called the Open Source Collective, for which we pay an extra 5% fee, but it's also possible on Open Collective to use another legal "host." One such host that is already on Open Collective is Sarapis, which is a nonprofit that fiscally sponsors ioo.coop. The head is @devin on Social.coop.

This switch might allow us to pay a lower rate, and it would give us access to US tax-exempt status, should we seek donations. It would also put our legal structure under the control of an aligned organization.

Michele Kipiel Thu 8 Mar 2018 11:21AM

Thanks for the reply! Now it all seems much more clear. I wasn't aware of OpenCollective also acting as a legal "backbone" for us, good to know :)

If moving to Sarapis will allow us to pay less fees AND become eligible for tax exemption in the US too, then by all means, let's switch!

Michele Kipiel Sun 11 Mar 2018 4:04PM

Ps. Maybe we could start a vote around this?

Nathan Schneider Sun 11 Mar 2018 6:34PM

Good idea. Will do. Just getting a bit more information so I can make the proposal as clear as possible.

Matthew Cropp Sun 11 Mar 2018 6:41PM

Yeah, it would be good to get a proposal, and perhaps set up a video chat Q&A with Devin?

Michele Kipiel Sun 11 Mar 2018 7:25PM

Brilliant! Looking forward to it.

Poll Created Wed 21 Mar 2018 3:00AM

Should we switch Open Collective "hosts" to Sarapis? Closed Tue 27 Mar 2018 2:02AM

Outcome

by Nathan Schneider Tue 27 Mar 2018 2:38AM

Now moving this proposal to the main group for final approval.

Currently, Social.coop uses the legal structure of Open Collective (OC)'s company Open Source Collective. We pay 5% on all income for this, in addition to a 5% service fee. But OC also allows groups like ours to use a separate "host" legal structure, if it is registered to provide that service on OC.

It turns out that one of our new members, Devin Balkind (@devin, I believe), runs an organization, Sarapis.org, which acts as a host on OC. Devin has offered to let Social.coop operate on this host—at no cost, as long as the operating complexity remains relatively low. This would save us 50% of our overhead.

He has also asked that, if we do this, we do it through the governance structure of the Internet of Ownership Project Council, by making Social.coop an affiliate project of IoO and having a representative in the council (also a Loomio group). So if we move forward with this change, we should also choose someone to play that role. It can't be me because I am already on the council through my work running the ioo.coop website.

If this proposal passes in this working group, according to the bylaws, we'll propose it in the main group for final approval.