Re: Information about creating a European non-profit organisation for PostgreSQL in Italy

[Magnus Hagander <magnus ( at ) hagander ( dot ) net>]

On Tue, Oct 09, 2007 at 12:45:10PM +0200, Gabriele Bartolini wrote:
> Hi guys,
> 
>    I have finally obtained the required information about the foundation of
> an European non-profit organisation for PostgreSQL in Italy. It is feasible.

Great.


>    Apart from the constitution costs (which are minimal), the fixed costs
> are the ones for accounting (funds gathering, donations, sponsorships,
> etc.). They can be around 1500-2000 euro, but they vary depending on the
> activity (and the workload of the professional accountants).

What exactly is in this cost? It seems rather high. Is it just accountants,
or something else that I'm missing.


>    The organisation can therefore collect money and invest it, by
> distributing money or products (gadgets, posters, flyers, etc.) to the local
> groups. This prevents local organisations from creating a formal
> organisation. I believe this is a great achievement.

YES!


>    Please let me know if you want me to go any further.

I would say yes, please do that.

I don't particularly care *where* a group is registered, as long as:
*) It's somewhere in the euro zone
*) We have a solid local representation there
*) It is possible to have people in responsible positions in it that are
europeans, not just <local country> (in this case italian)

The only other realistic option I've heard so far is France.


>    Briefly, we should discuss the constitution act (although we can use the
> Italian one as a base, we can commission a professional translator to work
> on it and provide us with an English version) and those people who are
> interested in the foundation should step forward.
> 
>    The Italian one will be valid from a jurisdictional point of view,
> whereas the English one (and lcoalised versions too) would be good for
> transparency issues.

No way to keep the official one in English? That would keep things easier,
since the need for a professional translator would be less in that case. Is
it a rule or a preference?

//Magnus