[Chapter-delegates] Bank Accounts was - deadline for admin funding
Joly MacFie
joly at punkcast.com
Tue Jul 7 18:59:17 PDT 2020
Hi Alexander,
I think the difference here is that the Accessibility SIG's fiscal sponsor
is the US New York Chapter.
joly
On Tue, Jul 7, 2020 at 5:05 PM Alexander Blom via Chapter-delegates <
chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org> wrote:
> Hi Judith,
>
> Interesting point. I am somewhat involved in the rejuvenation of the Malta
> Chapter, and in that case ISOC.org expressly demanded them to have their
> own legal status and bank account. Since this process in Malta easily takes
> 4 - 6 months, we proposed something very like your fiscal sponsorship, a
> Maltese non-profit that offered the use of its legal umbrella and bank
> account, but that was a nono for ISOC.
>
> Changed their policy recently?
>
> Met vriendelijke groet,
> Kind regards
>
> Alexander Blom
> CEO/owner
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> Op vr 3 jul. 2020 om 17:54 schreef Judith Hellerstein via
> Chapter-delegates <chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org>:
>
>> HI All,
>>
>> On the subject of a Bank account and Non Profit Status, Our Accessibility
>> SIG was able to get our status through a tool that many groups in the US
>> use called Fiscal sponsorship. Fiscal sponsorship refers to the practice of
>> non-profit organizations offering their legal and tax-exempt status to
>> groups—typically projects—engaged in activities related to the sponsoring
>> organization's mission. The main organization maintains the legal and
>> fiduciary responsibility for the sponsored organization. Other countries
>> probably have a similar tool. What this allows for is for an established
>> non-profit to provide fiscal sponsorship to a related organization that
>> shares several of the same goals. In our case ISOC NY graciously offered to
>> be our Fiscal Sponsor. We signed a legal agreement with them and they
>> opened up a separate bank account for us to use.
>>
>> In the US this concept of Fiscal sponsorship is widely used by many, many
>> similar groups whether they are in Tech, or any other sector it is pretty
>> common.
>>
>> I have heard that in France there is something similar called Hosted
>> Foundations and perhaps these type of arrangements should be looked into
>> more by other Chapters or SIGS.
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Judith
>>
>> _________________________________________________________________________
>> Judith Hellerstein, Founder & CEO
>> Hellerstein & Associates
>> 3001 Veazey Terrace NW, Washington DC 20008
>> Phone: (202) 362-5139 Skype ID: judithhellerstein
>> Mobile/Whats app: +1202-333-6517
>> E-mail: Judith at jhellerstein.com Website: www.jhellerstein.com
>> Linked In: www.linkedin.com/in/jhellerstein/
>> Opening Telecom & Technology Opportunities Worldwide
>>
>>
>> On 7/3/2020 11:23 AM, Christine Saegesser via Chapter-delegates wrote:
>>
>> Dear all,
>>
>> The Chapter Admin Funding programme is there to support the Chapter’s day
>> to day running of the Chapter itself.
>>
>> While the Admin funding programme was launched in Oct 2016 with an
>> application deadline in Dec 2016, the programme always closed in either May
>> or June in the following years.
>>
>> The main reasons for closing it in June are:
>> • feedback we have received from Chapters is that they would like to
>> receive their Admin Funding in the first part of the year to be able to
>> carry out their plans throughout the year.
>> • budget management and visibility (it’s is a large total amount of money
>> to allocate without knowing how many Chapters will apply)
>> • end of year accounting volume – there is a tendency for Chapters to
>> apply at deadline. Over the past years, we typically received 70% of the
>> Chapter applications within the last 3 days before the deadline, and this
>> across the various Chapter funding programmes. If the programme closes
>> towards the end of the year, this means a considerable number of
>> invoices that need to be paid on top of normal end of year closing.
>>
>> Last year, we opened a 2nd round of Chapter Admin Funding to accommodate
>> particular circumstances faced by the Chapters. Based on the feedback here,
>> we will look into opening a second round later in the year for 2020 too.
>> And, as mentioned in my earlier message, we will have a look at the overall
>> funding schedule for next year.
>>
>> In the meantime, 73% of Chapters have successfully submitted their
>> applications for 2020 by the 30 June deadline and we will work with the
>> Chapters who faced challenges to submit their applications on time due to
>> the very difficult global circumstances to identify solutions. Please reach
>> out to Stine Philipsen <philipsen at isoc.org> over the next two weeks if
>> this is your Chapter’s case.
>>
>> Also, concerning the need for a bank account on the name of the Chapter:
>> What the Chapter Charter Letter says is that the Chapter agrees to
>> “Establish a bank account or other equivalent financial account in the name
>> of the Chapter to receive and disburse funds, including funding provided by
>> the Internet Society.” (see point 3.1.V
>> https://www.internetsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/2018-2020-ISOC_Chapter_Charter_Agreement-Apr2020.pdf
>> )
>> Any "equivalent financial account" would have to be legal and secure (and
>> auditable), and the Chapter would need to make and receive payments to and
>> from it in the name of the Chapter as a legal organization.
>>
>> Wyn, to your question:
>>
>> In this vein, i am also seeking clarification of your second bullet point
>> below -- "For Chapters in a country where legal registration is not
>> necessary to open a bank account in the official name of the Chapter ..."
>> -- is this worded correctly (with the "not); or should that instead read --
>> "For Chapters in a country where legal registration is necessary to open a
>> bank account in the official name of the Chapter ...".
>>
>>
>> This is not a typo. In most cases, a local legal registration is needed
>> for the bank to be able to open a bank account in the name of the Chapter.
>> However, in some countries it is possible to constitute a group that
>> doesn’t need a legal registration in order to be able to open a Chapter
>> bank account. In South Africa for example, it is possible to
>> create "Voluntary Associations" that can open bank accounts in the name of
>> their entity without any formal legal registration. Chapters who operate in
>> a similar legal context are invited to reach out to us by contacting Stine
>> Philipsen (philipsen at isoc.org) to discuss their particular case.
>>
>> I hope this helps clarify some of the points raised.
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Christine
>>
>>
>> On 3. Jul 2020, at 14:57, Christian via Chapter-delegates <
>> chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org> wrote:
>>
>> I am sympathetic to the needs of chapters that for whatever reason can't
>> viably work within their own registered formal entity locally.
>>
>> ISOC London was informal as it became ISOC England which did formalise in
>> 1999 before it became a chartered chapter (there was already a formal ISOC
>> Scotland organisation since defunct). ISOC England again became "informal"
>> in the mid2000s and stayed informal as the core of the current team
>> refreshed it from 2011 until a couple of years ago.
>>
>> A sufficient stable revenue that would at least meet our regularised
>> costs for at least 3 years beyond the current financial year was for us an
>> essential pre condition before we formalised.
>>
>> So far that has happened according to plan.
>>
>> One thought I've had that might help with chartered but informally
>> structured chapters.
>>
>> ISOC regional offices could set up a regional secretariat entity that was
>> managed by ISOC staff with chapter leadership engagement to handle the
>> financial formalities for informal chapters.
>>
>> With grants managed from that with chapter and ISOC trustee oversight.
>> It should satisfy concerns for accountability and getting the money doing
>> useful things?
>>
>> If an informal chapter starts to get viable longer term support locally
>> that will allow it to sustain its own structure and governance then it can
>> always do that at a later date.
>>
>> ?
>>
>> C
>>
>>
>>
>> On 03/07/2020 12:46, sivasubramanian muthusamy via Chapter-delegates
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> In the case of the Chennai Chapter, we have opted NOT to incorporate,
>> because incorporation / formation as an NGO / Trust requires systematic
>> paperwork, filing of monthly / quarterly reports or what we call "returns"
>> and might involve visits to one or more Government offices, additional
>> procedures for receiving / sending money from / to accounts outside the
>> country. That makes it difficult for a Chapter of volunteers to commit to
>> such processes that might require a Chapter Accountant, and in addition
>> would require the Chapter to engage the services of a Chartered Accountant
>> and in some cases a Lawyer. Professionals with a sense of responsibility,
>> commitment and thoroughness, who also have a sense of Accountability are
>> expensive in terms of the fee payable. As a Chapter, who have handled a
>> sum total of about $ 6000 in 12 years, it was unwise to seek to commit to
>> these processes, which would have required us to spend about $5000 a year
>> in professional fees alone merely to meet the compliance requirements. The
>> $ 5000 / year indicated here is arbitrary, one could argue that there are
>> professionals of lesser standards who can be engaged at about $500 a year
>> or even less (not denying that the fee charged is not always a measure of
>> the standards of service extended, but it is often true that reliable
>> services require a good outlay for professional fees); It can also be
>> argued that much more than $ 5000 a year is to be set aside towards
>> professional fees, and even additional provisions may be required for legal
>> services; With this rationale, though not conclusively decided not to
>> incorporate in some form, we have been hesitating; We do have a bank
>> account, though I am not saying this to ask for admin funding right now.
>>
>> Sivasubramanian M
>> Internet Society India Chennai
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Jul 3, 2020 at 3:35 PM Winthrop Yu via Chapter-delegates <
>> chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org> wrote:
>>
>>> Thank you for your comprehensive reply Christine.
>>>
>>> During the campaign for signing by all Chapters of the Chapter Letter,
>>> correct me if i misheard or do not remember correctly, but i distinctly
>>> recall your mentioning that alternative procedures would be made available
>>> for those Chapters in countries where a bank account requires full
>>> incorporation. I mention this again as in some developing countries such a
>>> registration, particularly for non-profit entities, is extremely onerous.
>>> This is does not just entail red-tape and the usual mandatory regulatory
>>> requirements, but the surrender of personal privacy; for example a
>>> requirement that all officers of such an entity sign waivers allowing
>>> scrutiny of all personal bank accounts. In a country where there is
>>> reasonable rule of law, this may perhaps be barely reasonable. In a country
>>> where the government can and does "weaponize" the law, this represents a
>>> significant risk and threat against the officers of such an entity.
>>>
>>> In this vein, i am also seeking clarification of your second bullet
>>> point below -- "*For Chapters in a country where legal registration is
>>> not necessary to open a bank account in the official name of the Chapter
>>> ...*" -- is this worded correctly (with the "not); or should that
>>> instead read -- "*For Chapters in a country where legal registration is
>>> necessary to open a bank account in the official name of the Chapter ...*".
>>>
>>>
>>> Kindly advise, thank you!
>>>
>>> WYn
>>>
>>>
>>> On 3 Jul 2020 5:20 pm, Christine Saegesser via Chapter-delegates wrote:
>>>
>>> Dear Chapter Leaders,
>>>
>>> Thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts around the Chapter Admin Funding
>>> Programme (and other funding programs), please know that all your
>>> feedback is noted and taken into consideration for future improvements.
>>>
>>> We will be in touch with the Chapter Advisory Council Steering Committee
>>> later this year to agree on a timeline that works better for everyone
>>> for 2021.
>>>
>>> Based on the comments on the list, we also wish to share some
>>> clarifications that are hopefully to everyone’s benefit:
>>>
>>> Bank Accounts and Funding Eligibility:
>>>
>>> - The requirement to have a bank account in the name of the
>>> Chapter/SIG is not a new requirement. This was introduced in 2018 as
>>> reflected in the updated Charter Letters, and required for the Internet
>>> Society and the Internet Society Foundation to comply with their own
>>> accounting and liability requirements (see point 3.1.V
>>> https://www.internetsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/2018-2020-ISOC_Chapter_Charter_Agreement-Apr2020.pdf
>>> ).
>>> - For Chapters in a country where legal registration is not
>>> necessary to open a bank account in the official name of the Chapter,
>>> please reach out to Stine Philipsen (philipsen at isoc.org) with some
>>> background on the local setting your Chapter is operating in. We evaluate
>>> these circumstances on a case-by-case basis.
>>> - Concerning the 2019 round of evaluations: Please keep in mind that additional
>>> time was needed to evaluate the applications last year since we were
>>> missing documentation (legal registration and matching bank account) from
>>> a number of Chapters. We needed to have these documents on file for being able
>>> to disburse funds.
>>>
>>>
>>> Internet Society & Internet Society Foundation Funding Programs:
>>>
>>> - The Foundation handles project-related funding for Chapters as
>>> well as additional funding programs open to a wider audience. This
>>> includes Beyond the Net, SCILLS, IGF and COVID19 Emergency Response, please
>>> refer to 'Funding Areas' on the Foundation website
>>> <https://www.isocfoundation.org/funding-areas/>.
>>> - The Internet Society manages the Chapter Admin Funding (for the
>>> day to day running of Chapters/SIGs) and the Chapterthon. For
>>> Chapter Admin Funding, please refer to 'Chapter Admin Funding' on
>>> the Internet Society website.
>>> <https://www.internetsociety.org/grants/chapter-admin-funding/>
>>>
>>>
>>> Deadline for Chapter Admin Funding:
>>>
>>> - The 30 June deadline (including funding requirements) has been
>>> communicated via numerous Chapter Updates, regional calls and updates, and
>>> is listed on the website under the Chapter Admin Funding section. If you
>>> consider there to be gaps in our communication around important deadlines,
>>> we welcome your suggestions on how you wish to receive this information.
>>> Please share this feedback directly with your Regional Community
>>> Engagement Managers.
>>> - From a systems perspective, the 'Valid until July 01, 2020' is to
>>> ensure the program remains open and all applications submitted within the
>>> 30 June 2020 deadline are well-received *across all time zones*.
>>>
>>>
>>> General comment:
>>>
>>> - As Stine mentioned in her e-mail to the list on 1 July, we kindly
>>> ask those Chapters facing issues linked to the unusual circumstances the
>>> world is facing this year to contact her (Stine Philipsen) directly at <
>>> philipsen at isoc.org> by 15 July, so we can evaluate potential
>>> solutions for their Admin Funding requests.
>>>
>>>
>>> Thanks again for your collaboration. As mentioned, your feedback and
>>> suggestions are noted and taken into consideration for future
>>> improvements of our Chapter Admin Funding program.
>>>
>>> Best,
>>>
>>> Christine
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> *Christine Saegesser Baethge*, Sr. Director Chapters and Individual
>>> Members
>>> saegesser at isoc.org | Twitter: ch_saebae
>>>
>>> <image001.png>
>>> internetsociety.org | @internetsociety
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> As an Internet Society Chapter Officer you are automatically subscribed
>>> to this list, which is regularly synchronized with the Internet Society
>>> Chapter Portal (AMS):
>>> https://admin.internetsociety.org/622619/User/Login
>>> View the Internet Society Code of Conduct:
>>> https://www.internetsociety.org/become-a-member/code-of-conduct/
>>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> As an Internet Society Chapter Officer you are automatically subscribed
>> to this list, which is regularly synchronized with the Internet Society Chapter Portal (AMS):https://admin.internetsociety.org/622619/User/Login
>> View the Internet Society Code of Conduct: https://www.internetsociety.org/become-a-member/code-of-conduct/
>>
>> --
>> Christian de Larrinaga
>> ----------------------
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> As an Internet Society Chapter Officer you are automatically subscribed
>> to this list, which is regularly synchronized with the Internet Society
>> Chapter Portal (AMS):
>> https://admin.internetsociety.org/622619/User/Login
>> View the Internet Society Code of Conduct:
>> https://www.internetsociety.org/become-a-member/code-of-conduct/
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> As an Internet Society Chapter Officer you are automatically subscribed
>> to this list, which is regularly synchronized with the Internet Society Chapter Portal (AMS):https://admin.internetsociety.org/622619/User/Login
>> View the Internet Society Code of Conduct: https://www.internetsociety.org/become-a-member/code-of-conduct/
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> As an Internet Society Chapter Officer you are automatically subscribed
>> to this list, which is regularly synchronized with the Internet Society
>> Chapter Portal (AMS):
>> https://admin.internetsociety.org/622619/User/Login
>> View the Internet Society Code of Conduct:
>> https://www.internetsociety.org/become-a-member/code-of-conduct/
>>
> _______________________________________________
> As an Internet Society Chapter Officer you are automatically subscribed
> to this list, which is regularly synchronized with the Internet Society
> Chapter Portal (AMS):
> https://admin.internetsociety.org/622619/User/Login
> View the Internet Society Code of Conduct:
> https://www.internetsociety.org/become-a-member/code-of-conduct/
>
--
--------------------------------------
Joly MacFie +2185659365
--------------------------------------
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