Digital signing of Center BlackBox

[DGDanforth]

n general, nonprofit corporations enjoy the following benefits:

Limited liability protection. Directors and officers are not personally liable for the organization's debts and liabilities.
Perpetual existence. The corporation continues even if a director leaves the business or passes away.
Eligibility for grants. Nonprofits may be eligible for certain public and private grants.
While nonprofits are bound by different state laws than for-profit enterprises, in general their formation processes are quite similar. Like a regular corporation, nonprofits must file Articles of Incorporation with the state in which they wish to incorporate.

[DGDanforth]

The name "BLACKBOX FRAMEWORK CENTER" is available in California.

Should we pursue this?
Do we want to form a USA nonprofit organization?
Is there some equivalent EU form of this?
Does Switzerland support the formation of a nonprofit organization?

-Doug

[DGDanforth]

A foundation opened in Switzerland is an organization without membership, established in order to manage an asset for achieving an objective stated in its articles of association. A minimum starting capital of CHF 50000 (if it’s operates nationally or internationally) or CHF 10000 (if its activities are exclusively cantonal) is required to start this type of organization.

Well that kills that.
How about Austria?
Josef?

-Doug

[DGDanforth]

One solution commonly proffered as a panacea for nonprofit organizations’ difficulties is to develop a European legal vehicle to facilitate nonprofits that operate on a pan-European basis. To this end, demands have been made for a European Statute for Foundations and a European Statute for Associations, enacted by way of European Council Regulation and thus directly applicable in all Member States. These European vehicles, the argument runs, would have transparent and uniform requirements in each State and thereby cut down on the legal and administrative bureaucracy that nonprofits currently endure in attempting to open new branches or deal in Member States other than their founding Member State. The advantages cited in support of the adoption of such European Statutes2 tend to be three in number. First, proponents argue that the statutes would facilitate the giving and receiving of gifts and grants across borders and the general improvement of cross-border operations and activities of funders and foundations in Europe. Second, the provision of new instruments for cooperation among funders would both enhance the existing well-established practice of co-funding and engaging in joint activities and projects throughout the EU and assist in the increasing number of trans-national collaborative projects between European nonprofit organizations in other countries. And third, the statutes would enable nonprofits to enjoy the freedom of establishment for all activities that contribute to the objectives of the Community, irrespective of the form taken by the nonprofit that carries them on.

[DGDanforth]

If all else fails I do have my own company "Greenwood Farm Technologies, LLC" that we could use.

[Josef Templ]

For testing purposes we can of course use any certificate available.
In the long run I would prefer to have our own certificate.
It simply looks better, more professional, to have our own certificate.

The american model Doug pointed out seems to be very appropriate.
A Foundation is something different, as far as I understand it.
It is used to park and manage money/assets for the benefit of something or somebody without that
beneficiary having access to the assets of the Foundation. This is used for example
for putting in a company's assets when handing over the company to the next generation.
It avoids the danger of abusing the assets by the children.

Doug, do you have an idea how much money it would need in total in order to set this thing up in the US?

- Josef

[DGDanforth]

Doug, do you have an idea how much money it would need in total in order to set this thing up in the US?

- Josef

In California, the last time I checked for an LLC company it was about $800/year but let me go back and
see what it is for a nonprofit.
-Doug

[DGDanforth]

Now this is interesting. While plowing through the California.gov requirements which are low cost but can be complex
it occurred to me that maybe Stanford could help. Here is what I found.
===
Alumni Consulting Team (ACT) for Nonprofits

The Stanford Alumni Consulting Team provides pro bono consulting expertise in a wide range of areas, including strategic planning, marketing, earned revenue, financial sustainability, and organizational growth.

ACT projects are customized to the specific needs of each client organization. Created by Stanford GSB alumni in 1987, ACT has grown to be one of the largest pro bono resource providers in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Browse the articles below to see some of the ways that ACT volunteers have helped Bay Area nonprofits increase their impact.
===
That is great!

[Josef Templ]

Certum provides low cost certificates for open source projects.
See https://en.sklep.certum.pl/data-safety/ ... gning.html.
They charge only 14 Euros per year.

- Josef

[Ivan Denisov]

Certum provides low cost certificates for open source projects.
See https://en.sklep.certum.pl/data-safety/ ... gning.html.
They charge only 14 Euros per year.

Very good! With taxes it is 17.22 but anyway it is very good choice.
They need VAT number if we will want to order certificate for organization.

VAT Number *: