[Chapter-delegates] Various fundraising stuff (was Re: ISOC's regional engagement)

[Andrew Sullivan]

Hi,

On Wed, Sep 20, 2023 at 11:32:46PM +0100, Christian de Larrinaga wrote:
>
>As an aside the local uk chapter hasn't developed "org" memberships or
>sponsorships […]

To be clear, the operations of chapters and how they raise their funds is completely outside of this discussion or these considerations, and chapters' funding arrangments have no effect on the Internet Society finances.

I think, for what it's worth, that that is a good thing.  There are organizations not unlike ours that have a chapter arrangement in which each chapter (or otherwise-named local affiliate of some description) is required both to raise money and to contribute some of that to the "central organization" as part of the consideration of being a local organization. This is a model we have not contemplated, it is a model I don't think would be consistent with our desire to foster community (especially among those who are least able to afford it and who are most disadvantaged in terms of network connectivity), and it is a model I would personally oppose.  But I want to note it for completeness in the course of this discussion.

>A useful description but it does sound rather incestuous. That adage
>comes to mind that tax policy shouldn't limit one's horizons but the reality is it almost always does.
>

I want to be absolutely, totally, crystal clear: there is nothing the Internet Society (or any of its supporting organizations) is doing or would do under any circumstances, so long as I hold this job, that is in any way legally dodgy, strange, or otherwise at odds with the Internal Revenue Code of the United States.  We have excellent legal counsel, both internal and external.  We have excellent finance staff with lots of non-profit experience and excellent auditors.  All of these people ensure we are complying with both the law and the generally accepted practices within our industry, according to legal and accounting norms established by the respective professions.  I am not indulging in any financial adventurism and I would not tolerate such adventures were I to uncover them.  I have total confidence in the staff who work in this area.

Wrapping one's head around the way US non-profit arrangements work does indeed take some time and, to an engineering brain, sometimes some adaptation.  But the way we operate is entirely in keeping with non-profit sector norms with a bias towards conservative estimates so that we can be confident that the Internet Society will be here to support the thriving of the Internet for decades to come.

>> lot of what people want is specific expertise on specific things, and
>> that makes the engagement not a contribution but a fee for service.
>
>Well that really isn't what ISOC is about. But it is about collecting
>support into communities of interest to do things that meet our
>principles and through that benefit those engaging in those impacted
>operational areas

Yes, exactly so.  But that value proposition takes more time than a simple transaction, so we must take that time to attract the contributions.  We have unfortunate timing, in that the organization was not really ready to make these appeals when money was more free-flowing (i.e. prior to 2020), and so we are running into headwinds.  But I believe the attacks on the Internet over the past year or so give us a rallying point around which we can attract supporters.  That takes time, but I believe we are ready to show the value we have to offer supporters.

>and so there's hopefully an opportunity to charge a
>"membership" or sponsorship supplement for joining in as a prominent
>force on those activities both globally and potentially involving local
>staff in various countries that have chapters as well?

I must note that we do have many generous sponsors of our activities already.  Those of you who have participated in some of our chapter activities over the last couple years will note the sponsors we thank with some prominence.  Many of the larger events we organize have quite significant numbers of sponsors.  We must build on this success, for sure, but I don't want anyone to go away with the picture that there isn't any support.  We just need it to be deeper and broader.

>What some UK charities I know do is because there are trading
>restrictions on the charity itself is to set up trading companies to handle
>trading activities which then if they have a surplus donate it to the
>charity. But the US connected organisational chain you cite suggests
>that probably won't help.

Yes, this doesn't work quite the same way in the US.  For an example of something similar to what you are talking about, have a look at the Mozilla Corporation and Mozilla Foundation.  We are already in something like that situation, however, with the added advantage that PIR is itself a 501(c)(3).

So, what we really need is twofold.  First, we need to diversify our revenue (and not just because of the public support test: having all your eggs in one basket is always risky).  But second, we just need to make our financial resources larger.  As I've noted elsewhere in this thread, there are a _lot_ of enemies of the Internet.  Some of them are even well-meaning, but they're still going to harm the Internet.  And we need the resources to take that on.  It means making our community bigger and better able to respond to these threats, but it also means more staff to help with those responses and more resources to mobilize the wider public and to build a movement that really understands the Internet is for everyone.

Someone recently asked me, for instance, what the IEEE is doing that we're not.  One thing they're doing is bringing in approximately 10x as much money as we are.  There's a lot more flexibility when you don't have to count your pennies to know whether you can appear at a hearing or a UN event or a community meeting or what have you.  I am confident this is an achievable goal for us, but it will not happen overnight.

Best regards,

A

-- 
Andrew Sullivan, President & CEO, Internet Society
e:sullivan at isoc.org m:+1 416 731 1261
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