What Does “Pending” Mean?

As of November 2009, the OSDV Foundation remains in a “pending” 501(c)(3) organization, although we have been informed that we’re in the final stages of this process.  And as explained below, a wonderful non-profit services organization has partnered with us to enable our fund raising efforts in a tax exempt manner.  Here are the details…

The Back Story

Currently, the IRS has elected to take all recent applications for tax exempt status whose mission is to deliver open source technology for public benefit into a special review cycle.  The reasons for this are unclear, but we are led to believe it is procedural due to the huge influx of applications of this category.

So, to enable you to enjoy the tax deduction benefit of supporting our work, we’ve partnered with Community Initiatives of San Francisco, who are acting as our interim “fiscal sponsor.”  In other words, we’ve passed the muster of their in depth review and they have determined our project should eventually earn an IRS tax exempt classification, and therefore, in the interim have stepped in as a non-profit community benefits corporation to support our fund raising efforts.

What this means is that you, as a prospective contributor are free to make donations on the basis of your personal decision to do so absent our IRS Determination Letter and with the possibility we could be denied tax exempt status, and in any event you will receive the opportunity for a tax deduction (see your accountant for details) by effectively giving to Community Initiatives of San Francisco with your gift “designated” to the Open Source Digital Voting Foundation’s TrustTheVote Project.

As to our own tax exempt status and application, we have sought out the best legal and accounting advice and counsel in preparation of our applications and we trust their work. Therefore, we believe we will be determined tax exempt, and expect that to occur before the end of the first quarter 2010.

You are welcome to examine our IRS 1023 Tax Exempt Application (including the Form 1023 filing document, all filing addenda, interrogatories, and the Form 2848), and our filing receipt from the IRS.  And of course, feel free to contact Melanie Beene, President and CEO of Community Initiatives.

NOTE: This Foundation’s tax-exempt status, when granted, will be retroactive to the formation date of the Foundation: 21 April 2007.