[Imc-finance] Incorporation & financial structures.

[dan]

Hi all,

I'm new to this list.  I'm part of the SF Bay Area IMC.  My thoughts here are
my own but will draw on discussions at SF-IMC face to face meetings.

First of all I was glad to see Michael Alberts contribution.  That was
basically the first I got on this list.  I read "Thinking Forward" in early
1999 and was quite intriqued by his work with participatory ecomincs.  That he
applied it at some length specifically to the global imc movement is
appreciated.

Yet at the same time the imc movement is currently, as I gather, at least for
the most part, all volunteer.

In San Francisco, we have discussed the 501-c-3 issue at some length.  We have
had a of concerns, that have (1) chosen us to go with sponsers we feel ok
about and (2) to take minimal financial sponsorship for sf-imc related
projects.  That is, people engaged in the project are responible for their own
fundraising.

This caution/collective distanceing comes from bascically two places:  (1) A
general reluctance to "institutioanlize" our self that comes from some
principled anarchist perspective, and (2)  for many of us, our intimate
involvement in the Pacifica struggle, in particular to save KPFA.  We have
seen, over a time longer then the imc movement has existed, an apparently
progressive board, turn on the network and destroy it from within.

Concerns I would have with turning our collective financial fate over to U-C
IMC include:

Who are your board of directors, how are they selected, how can they be
replaced, who are they accountable to, what are the specific mechanisms for
accountability?

What is your U-C IMC budget and what is it spent for.  If this involves
payment to individuals, either a staff or for projects, how is that decided
and at what rate?

Have you looked at the Michael Albert suggestions?  What are your thoughts?

All for now.  I have a rally in berkeley to cover with my video camera.

Dan Mattson



Sascha Meinrath wrote:

> Hi Fellow IMC-istas,
>
> I've been away from e-mail this last weekend presenting at a community
> empowerment conference about incorporating community organizations and
> applying for 501(c)(3) [non-profit] status -- so these issues are quite
> fresh in my own mind. I've been catching up on global finance IMC e-mail
> and wanted to add my own thoughts to the discussion -- and hopefully move
> things towards resolution.
>
> Cinde brought up an interesting problem with what to do with the Global
> IMC's finances.  I think we should be working to keep as much money as
> possible within the IMC network -- applying for non-profit status is one
> longer-term and important way to do this; using our own fiscal sponsors
> (like the Urbana-Champaign IMC) is another.  Currently, we will probably
> have to pay taxes on interest and other taxable income because we are not
> a non-profit.  If we organize (or hold our money as a program of a
> non-profit) we can keep this money in the network.
>
> One possibility is to make the Global IMC a program of the
> Urbana-Champaign IMC -- it sounds somewhat strange but would effectively
> allow us to maintain the current organizational structure and work
> financially as a program of a non-profit organization.  I would suggest
> making this for a fixed term (e.g. one year) or until the Global IMC gets
> non-profit status, whichever is sooner.  This term limit could be renewed
> by the Global IMC, and would address the problem of one IMC becoming a
> nexus for Global finances.
>
> I fully support the decentralization of financial resources -- continental
> slush-funds sound like a good idea.  However, if we organize as a
> non-profit, we must also make sure that Global IMC money is utilized in
> ways that are within the parameters of what non-profits can do.  There
> will be a tension between the desires of some IMC participants and the
> legal constraints of being a non-profit organization.  The
> Urbana-Champaign IMC has dealt with with by explicitly stating that the
> UCIMC is a common that is utilized by many different projects; as such,
> projects which threaten the viability of the UCIMC (e.g. by using funds
> for political campaigns or illegal activities) will not be financially
> supported by the UCIMC.  This is already an implicit protocol as we are
> using a fiscal sponsor, but I would like to see anyone who disburses
> funding made aware of these constraints.
>
> We need to also empower a small group of people to write mission-critical
> checks to maintain the organization and pay for some things without
> needing to have the entire financial group decide on the issue.  The way
> we've dealt with this locally is that I am empowered to pay expenses to
> keep the Urbana-Champaign IMC running and I can spend money (up to $100)
> at my own discretion without consulting the finance working group (i.e. I
> let them know after the fact, but do not have to get their approval before
> then).  Financial decisions that are over $100 or are not mission-critical
> have to be signed off on by the financial working group; and financial
> decisions that affect the UCIMC as a whole and require sizable outlays
> that mean that other programs of the UCIMC will not have funding for a
> short time (e.g. paying for the UCIMC audio, video, phone, and ethernet
> infrastructure) need to be signed off on by the UCIMC steering committee
> (which is made up of representatives from all the UCIMC's working groups
> as well as all members of the UCIMC who wants to attend the meeting).
>  These 3 levels of decision-making power enable us to be proactive in
> disbursing funding, make small decisions easy and quick, and provide
> adequate checks and balances (e.g. I can be overridden by the Finance
> Group, which in turn can be overridden by the steering committee).  I
> would like to see us emulate these decision-making processes since they
> would allow for maximum local control of financial resources while still
> providing a degree of oversight over what is in essence a monetary common
> that will be shared throughout the Global network.
>
> --Sascha Meinrath
> Urbana-Champaign IMC
>
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