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On "starting a new nonprofit": yes please, it's about time to have an entity with proper accountability. Miraheze is mostly volunteer-run but it also needs a c

On "starting a new nonprofit": yes please, it's about time to have an entity with proper accountability. Miraheze is mostly volunteer-run but it also needs a commercial side (such as selling premium features/support, and paying some people to handle them), so an obvious solution is a coop. I can help found a coop in Finland, where we have several long-standing MediaWiki devs, so that any EU person can easily participate. There might be other suitable EU jurisdictions but Finnish law is quite nice and easy: https://www.finlex.fi/en/laki/kaannokset/2001/en20011488.pdf https://www.finlex.fi/en/laki/kaannokset/2001/en20011488.pdf

labster 3y ago
Right now I am US based, and I'm thinking of incorporating in the US. Not because of any preference for the venue, but because of our limited resources and volunteer distribution. Honestly I'd prefer Canada, but as I am 2000 km away from there, it's not optimal for many of us. Anywhere in Europe would be better than being in the UK. In any case I'm pretty sure we could get 501(c)3 public charity status, even though Miraheze missed out on charity status in the UK. If you could follow up on-wiki about co-op status as an option, I'd appreciate it. On accountability: Members of the board need to come from the community and represent the community. Yes, it's true that no one tried to run for the board seats that were available, but people weren't encouraged to do so enough. I don't think the decisions were bad in and of themselves, but that not enough effort was made to get community support. On paid premium features: I'm not opposed, but I want to see a business model that works without taking significant resources away from our free customers.
- Nemo_bis 3y ago
  It's very difficult to set up a proper non-profit able to handle both donations and commercial services in the USA. You'll end up spending fortunes on laywers. It's much easier to use a jurisdiction where the law already does all the legal job for you.
  - labster 3y ago
    That is a very good point. Thanks!
    - Reception123 3y ago
      That's a fair point but on the other hand I've been at Miraheze for almost 8 years and having such a huge operation rely on a few unpaid volunteers isn't realistic in the long term and people burnout, lose interest or both. There's also the anxiety of knowing that the fate of the farm depends on a yearly (or even more frequent) fundraiser.
      - labster 3y ago
        These are problems that all small nonprofits face. I would love to pay people, but even having a commercial model doesn’t mean you escape questions about funding and staffing.
        Nemo_bis 3y ago
        I agree with both. Hence I think it's better to have a legal structure which is flexible enough to allow multiple funding models.

labster 3y ago

Right now I am US based, and I'm thinking of incorporating in the US. Not because of any preference for the venue, but because of our limited resources and volunteer distribution. Honestly I'd prefer Canada, but as I am 2000 km away from there, it's not optimal for many of us. Anywhere in Europe would be better than being in the UK. In any case I'm pretty sure we could get 501(c)3 public charity status, even though Miraheze missed out on charity status in the UK. If you could follow up on-wiki about co-op status as an option, I'd appreciate it. On accountability: Members of the board need to come from the community and represent the community. Yes, it's true that no one tried to run for the board seats that were available, but people weren't encouraged to do so enough. I don't think the decisions were bad in and of themselves, but that not enough effort was made to get community support. On paid premium features: I'm not opposed, but I want to see a business model that works without taking significant resources away from our free customers.

Nemo_bis 3y ago
It's very difficult to set up a proper non-profit able to handle both donations and commercial services in the USA. You'll end up spending fortunes on laywers. It's much easier to use a jurisdiction where the law already does all the legal job for you.
- labster 3y ago
  That is a very good point. Thanks!
  - Reception123 3y ago
    That's a fair point but on the other hand I've been at Miraheze for almost 8 years and having such a huge operation rely on a few unpaid volunteers isn't realistic in the long term and people burnout, lose interest or both. There's also the anxiety of knowing that the fate of the farm depends on a yearly (or even more frequent) fundraiser.
    - labster 3y ago
      These are problems that all small nonprofits face. I would love to pay people, but even having a commercial model doesn’t mean you escape questions about funding and staffing.
      - Nemo_bis 3y ago
        I agree with both. Hence I think it's better to have a legal structure which is flexible enough to allow multiple funding models.