Compose a compeling mission statement for tax forms
Shaun pointed out that our fiscal year has come to an end, so it's time to start thinking about taxes and the form 990.
On Tue, Oct 12, 2021 at 4:51 PM Shaun McCance shaunm@gnome.org wrote:
Hi all,
Our fiscal year has come to an end, so it's time to start thinking about taxes. In the US, certain 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations are required to file an annual 990 with the IRS, regardless of whether they owe any taxes.
The 990 form includes a spot for a mission statement. The 990 from last year has this:
Building a diverse and sustainable free software personal computing ecosystem.
We can just Ctrl+V this over into this year, but this is a good chance for the board to give input. These forms are a matter of public record, and donors do look at them. Having good filings can make or break a grant application. So, you know, no pressure or anything.
As a reply I suggested we update the mission statement to reflect our discussions at #187 (closed).
But beyond reflecting our mission statement, I think we should compose some additional text that could make our case more attractive to potential donors.