[Board] [Marketing] IRS 501c3 Requirement: renaming Marketing Committee to Outreach Committee

Fri Nov 30 11:30:33 PST 2012

Thanks to those who have weighed in on this thread. I'm now comfortable 
with changing the marketing committee to outreach committee.

Once decided, I suggest this is worthy of a press release.

On 01/12/12 03:41, Greg Buehler wrote:
> All,
>
> Actually, OGC has change the name of our program to "Marketing and Communications" from "Outreach" (although my title remains: Director, Outreach and Communication Services).
>
> We are however a 501c6, not a c3.  So the rules are a bit different.  With our new Executive Director coming on board this month, who knows, maybe we will change back ;)
>
> I would definitely support OSGeo using the term "Outreach", as I think that is in line with the intent of the function anyway.
>
> Greg Buehler
> gbuehler at opengeospatial.org
>
> The OGC: Making location count.
> http://www.opengeospatial.org/contact
>
>
> On Nov 30, 2012, at 5:25 AM, Dr. Franz-Josef Behr wrote:
>
>> I also second this. AS far as I know ISO and other institutions like OGC use also the term "outreach" to describe their intentions and activities.
>>
>> Regards
>> Franz-Josef
>>
>> Am 30.11.2012 10:57, schrieb Seven:
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>>> Am 2012-11-29 23:19, schrieb Alex Mandel:
>>>> I think it makes sense to do it.
>>> I second this. We have had several name changes in this committee and
>>> to be honest, we are not really marketeers and we do not really aspire
>>> to be. We are advocates and that list is probably the best proof of
>>> how we work. One previous name was "Promotion and Visibility
>>> Committee", quite a mouthful and we'd probably not want the
>>> "Promotion" bit anymore.
>>>
>>> "Outreach" sounds good to me and would get my support.
>>>
>>> Cameron,
>>> I also offer to help redirecting, renaming and changing what is needed
>>> in web site and wiki, have done it before and even now there are still
>>> old references, so a clean-up wont hurt anyway.
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>> Arnulf
>>>
>>>> Background, our application for non-profit status in the US is
>>>> held up at the moment by the IRS who isn't sure if we qualify.
>>>> 501c3 orgs have to be in the public interest and clearly
>>>> demonstrate that. To get 501c3 as opposed to some other 501c# would
>>>> mean that donations from the US would be tax deductible and we'd be
>>>> able to apply for many grants that require such a tax status.
>>>>
>>>> The IRS can be quite picky about what they perceive to be
>>>> commercial and in order to demonstrate that our mission is in the
>>>> public interest and not commercial, changing the committee name
>>>> makes sense.
>>>>
>>>> I can't decide if it's a good idea to mention we hand out
>>>> OSGeo-Live for free and give talks on the topic to encourage more
>>>> users of geospatial tools in general.
>>>>
>>>> At this point I'm sure it's just a guess by our attorney, but it is
>>>> their job to figure this out.
>>>>
>>>> I'll just note, when considering naming in regards to the IRS you
>>>> have think about the US interpretation of the word, no other
>>>> context matters.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks, Alex
>>>>
>>>> PS: Any alternate names to choose from?
>>>>
>>>> On 11/29/2012 03:01 PM, Cameron Shorter wrote:
>>>>> Daniel, I'm open to the suggestion, but only if we can see
>>>>> reasonable value in it, as name changing is a bit messy. It
>>>>> means that web pages and archives point to old URLs which
>>>>> becomes confusing for someone searching for prior information.
>>>>>
>>>>> Can you please provide some background explaining that this is
>>>>> more than just a minor hunch that we are basing a name change on.
>>>>> Maybe: * Who is suggesting it? * Is there any real or anecdotal
>>>>> evidence they can point to?
>>>>>
>>>>> On 30/11/2012 7:33 AM, Daniel Morissette wrote:
>>>>>> Board, Marketing Committee,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> One of the things that came out of my discussions with our
>>>>>> attorney around the OSGeo vs IRS 501c3 questions is renaming
>>>>>> the "Marketing Committee" to "Outreach Committee" or another
>>>>>> name along those lines which would be better perceived in a
>>>>>> non-profit context (i.e. less commercial).
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Would there be any problem with this name change? This is one
>>>>>> thing that we would like to propose in our response to the
>>>>>> IRS. See the answer to question #1 at
>>>>>>
>>>>>> http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/501c3_Application:_Questions_from_IRS,_September_2012
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>> Daniel
>>>>>> _______________________________________________ Board mailing
>>>>>> list Board at lists.osgeo.org
>>>>>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/board
>>>> _______________________________________________ Marketing mailing
>>>> list Marketing at lists.osgeo.org
>>>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/marketing
>>>>
>>> - -- http://arnulf.us
>>> Exploring Space, Time and Mind
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>>
>>
>>
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-- 
Cameron Shorter
Geospatial Solutions Manager
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