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[Daniel Pocock]

On 05/02/18 18:01, Reinhard Müller wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Am 2018-02-05 um 14:58 schrieb Daniel Pocock:
>> - the German laws for non-profits (this was mentioned on another list)
>> allow donors to specify that their donation or ongoing contributions be
>> used for capital purposes.  So any fellow/supporter can write an email
>> to contact at fsfe.org and declare that all or a percentage of their
>> donations are for investment / capital reserves and that money can't be
>> spent on operating expenses or campaigns.
> you misunderstood this:
>
> A donor can indicate that her donation *may* be used to build up a
> capital reserve, and unless she does so, the donation has to be used
> "immediately" (which in generally accepted interpretation of the law
> translates to "not later than in the fiscal year following the donation)
> for constitutional purposes.
>
> A donor can not *require* a donation to be held as a capital reserve,
> and it would be unlogical if this was possible, because it would mean
> that the recipient of the donation does not have the power of disposal
> over the donated amount.
>
> In practice, asking for donations for building up a capital reserve is
> done in specific cases, for example to accumulate the required capital
> for a larger investment (think of a football club wanting to renovate
> the sports stadium in 5 years).
>
> I hope this makes it clearer.

Thanks for clarifying that

Somebody could still require the donation to be used for capital reserve
in various ways though: in a will, when leaving a bequest, they can
simply write that if the money is not accepted with this condition then
it goes to some other beneficiary.  The executor of the will would then
ask FSFE to confirm it will be used for capital purposes.  e.g. somebody
could write "I give 50% of my estate to my wife, 33% to my children, EUR
25,000 to FSFE for the purpose of capital investment and anything
remaining goes to my cat".  The executor of the will would contact FSFE
and if the condition was not accepted by council, the EUR 25,000 would
go to the cat.

Donors/supporters could make similar requests to FSFE in any other
circumstances too: if the organization rejects the condition, the donor
doesn't send the money.

Regards,

Daniel

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