[olug] (OT) - Free/Cheap Temporary Colo-space

Mon Mar 14 22:38:02 UTC 2005

A non-profit organization can do a lot of different things and even have a
reserve of "excess" income (rather than profit) in reserve. Now not all
non-profits are eligible for all forms of tax decuctions. Churches can be tax
deductible, but not be 501(c)3 which has higher standards for being a tax
deductible organization. 

Since there is a membership, albeit fairly loose in definition, and the general
purpose of the organization is educational and normally expenditures are not at
the same rate as income there can be a reserve for those expenditures. The key
thing is that the organization's financial benefits are not to those who have
oversight of the organization. We can't be a non-profit to provide financial
gain to a select few. Of course there can be reimbursement for costs and if
there are employees they could be paid, but that is the extent of how the funds
are expected to used.

So could OLUG create a colocation site for its members and receive fees for the
membership and retain the excess fees for future maintnence and upgrades? Most
likely yes. Would OLUG need to incorporate to be able to do this? For the
proctection of the members and the equipment in the site yes. Would a 501(c)3
be needed to get the tax exemption? Only if there were donations from corporate
entities that wanted full value for there donation at the federal level.

Now there was a earlier discussion of OLUG being a recognized organization under
AIM's educational status to receive donations and allow them to be tax
deductable. Has that idea progressed any where? If that status is possible,
then other issues like incorporation takes on a different meaning that may not
work in the relationship to AIM.

Tom Williamson

Quoting Sean Edwards <cybersean3000 at yahoo.com>:

> The idea of a non-profit organization is to spend as
> much as you bring in, thus the term non-profit.  The
> problem soon becomes "as much as you bring in" part. 
> Many businesses and other organizations give to
> non-profit groups for the tax deduction, but the
> non-profit organization needs to have a goal a little
> loftier than "sponsor our electronic playground,
> please."  If OLUG is already set up as a  non-profit
> organization, there should be a mission statement
> and/or a purpose for being in the articles of
> incorporation, on file with the State of Nebraska.
> 
> Install fest is a good goal, to promote Linux in the
> community.  If you look at other similar ideas in the
> Linux community, you have Open Source projects, Linux
> distributions, Source Forge, and many other entities
> operating as non-profits.  There are other companies
> which offer OpenSource projects with commercial
> support, such as JBOSS and MySQL.  The trick is
> finding an angle that attracts interest from the
> business community.
> 
> Treasurer:
> * getting the bills paid ?
> 
> Mebership Director:
> * collecting "fees" from "customers" (or "dues"
> from "members", if you prefer) ?
> 
> Secretary, President
> (isn't OLUG already set up as a non-profit?)
> * putting up with the gov'ment (they can get antsy if
> they think we're running a business and aren't paying
> our taxes)?
> 
> Secretary, President, Treasurer:
> (don't forget liability)
> * insurance (vandalism, fire, flood, etc) ?
> 
> Plenty of volunteers for this:
> * sysadmin issues - infrastructure configuration and
> maintenance, defining and enforcing an AUP and the
> like?
> 
> Organize a Data Center exploration committee:
> * getting all of the above figured out ?
> 
> -=Sean Edwards=-
> 
> --- Phil Brutsche <phil at brutsche.us> wrote:
> > Jay Swackhamer wrote:
> > > If you wanted to have an independant Data
> > Center...
> > > 
> > > The industrial park at 156th & Center would be a
> > good location
> > > If I remember correctly, you can get bays in the
> > size range of
> > > 1000 square feet and up for around $800/month, so
> > figure on
> > > 
> > > Space  $800-$1000/month
> > > Utils  $300-$500 /month
> > > T1/DSL $300-$500/month
> > 
> > That's on the low side for a T1, and we haven't done
> > any research as to
> > DSL availability in that area to know if it's
> > available.
> > 
> > Cox Optical Internet may be a better idea
> >
> (http://www.coxbusiness.com/systems/ne_omaha/coxoptical.asp)
> > - last I
> > heard they run the fiber line to the premises.
> > 
> > > Initial Wiring Costs ~$3000(unless someone's an
> > electrician)
> > > Commitment would probably be a minimum of three
> > years.
> > 
> > And let's not forget other materials - UPSs,
> > switches, rackmount gear
> > (shelves), etc.  Much of it is cheap enough that
> > some people could
> > donate hardware, but some of it isn't.
> > 
> > OK, just for the sake of argument, let's say we did
> > it (rented a bay in
> > an industrial park and set up a low-budget data
> > center).
> > 
> > Who's going to be the point man (people?) for:
> >  * getting the bills paid ?
> >  * collecting "fees" from "customers" (or "dues"
> > from "members", if you
> >    prefer) ?
> >  * putting up with the gov'ment (they can get antsy
> > if they think we're
> >    running a business and aren't paying our taxes) ?
> >  * insurance (vandalism, fire, flood, etc) ?
> >  * sysadmin issues - infrastructure configuration
> > and maintenance,
> >    defining and enforcing an AUP and the like ?
> >  * getting all of the above figured out ?
> > 
> > Is it worth it to start a non-profit organization of
> > some kind (note the
> > question above about the government)?
> > 
> > Assuming a worst case of $2000/mo in expenses we
> > would need several
> > dozen "members" @ $50/mo - how much are people on
> > this list willing to pay?
> > 
> > Assuming that we'll need more "members" than the
> > list can provide, can
> > we find enough people to be "members" to make it
> > work - alternate
> > hosting methods to help take up the slack, perhaps?
> > 
> > Are there cheaper alternatives, such as renting a
> > cage at one of the
> > already established colocation facilities (ie IP
> > Revolution or First
> > National)?
> > 
> > And no, I am *not* volunteering to do anything right
> > now, I'm just
> > trying to stimulate some discussion.
> > 
> > -- 
> > 
> > Phil Brutsche
> > phil at brutsche.us
> > _______________________________________________
> > OLUG mailing list
> > OLUG at olug.org
> > http://lists.olug.org/mailman/listinfo/olug
> > 
> 
> 
> 		
> __________________________________ 
> Do you Yahoo!? 
> Yahoo! Small Business - Try our new resources site!
> http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/resources/ 
> _______________________________________________
> OLUG mailing list
> OLUG at olug.org
> http://lists.olug.org/mailman/listinfo/olug
> 