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

Mon Dec 3 19:56:48 PST 2012

Thank you everyone for taking part in this discussion. We'll go with 
"Outreach Committee" in our response to the IRS and see how it goes.

Daniel

On 12-11-30 3:17 PM, Seven (aka Arnulf) wrote:
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> On 11/30/2012 07:30 PM, Cameron Shorter wrote:
>> 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.
>
> Good idea. I am with you on this.
>
> Cheers,
> Arnulf
>
>> 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:
>> 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
>>>>> _______________________________________________ Marketing
>>>>> mailing list Marketing at lists.osgeo.org
>>>>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/marketing
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________ Marketing
>>>> mailing list Marketing at lists.osgeo.org
>>>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/marketing
>>> _______________________________________________ Marketing mailing
>>> list Marketing at lists.osgeo.org
>>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/marketing
>>
>>
>
> - --
> Seven of Nine
> http://arnulf.us/Seven
> Exploring Body, Space and Mind
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-- 
Daniel Morissette
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