Re: [Fsfe-uk] An idea

[Tom Chance]

On Saturday 24 Apr 2004 10:50, Alex Hudson wrote:
> On Sat, 2004-04-24 at 10:04, Paul wrote:
> > As an idea, would it worthwhile making FSFE a charitable institution?
> > It would mean that people could donate (as with any charity) and get
> > not only the benefits of giving to support free software, but also to
> > write off part of the donation against tax.
>
> FSFE is a charitable institution. One of the reasons it's split into the
> various chapters is because there is no such thing Europe-wide (FSFE is
> German), and the chapters attempt to be a local charity of sorts.
>
> AFFS looked at charitable status when we first set up; the problem we
> encountered was basically how political you can be. Being a charity
> doesn't stop you doing political things, but you have to be very careful
> about how you go about it (the charities commission do a leaflet about
> it) and there are always various things you can't do (like spend money
> achieving political goals).
>
> So, it is potentially more trouble than it's worth, although I think the
> German setup is substantially different than what you can achieve in the
> UK.

We'd also not be able to give money to any other charities, i.e. the FSF or 
FSFE.

To be clear, the AFFS could pursue political campaigns, so long as:
- They were ancillary to the main purposes of the AFFS
- They specifically further the main purposes of the AFFS
- They don't take any party line
- They don't oppose specific legislation

To get an idea, Oxfam is a charity, but Greenpeace isn't. But, I'm not sure 
the AFFS would have substantial goals not related to political campaigns, to 
which the campaigns can be seen only as contributory.

Regards,
Tom