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

[Greg Buehler]

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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