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Signed-off-by: Andreas K. Hüttel <dilfridge@gentoo.org>

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+---
+title: 'Gentoo Linux becomes an SPI associated project'
+---
+
+<a href="https://www.spi-inc.org/" class="news-img-right">
+  <img src="https://www.gentoo.org/assets/img/news/2024/logo-spi.png" alt="SPI Inc. logo"/>
+</a>
+
+As of this March, Gentoo Linux has become an Associated Project of 
+<a href="https://www.spi-inc.org/">Software in the Public Interest</a>, 
+see also the
+<a href="https://www.spi-inc.org/corporate/resolutions/2024/2024-03-11.js.1/">formal invitation 
+by the Board of Directors of SPI</a>. Software in the Public Interest (SPI) is a non-profit 
+corporation founded to act as a fiscal sponsor for organizations that develop open source software
+and hardware. It provides services such as accepting donations, holding funds and assets, ...
+SPI qualifies for 501(c)(3) (U.S. non-profit organization) status. This means that all 
+donations made to SPI and its supported projects are tax deductible for donors in the United States.
+<a href="">Read on for more details...</a>
+
+<!--more-->
+
+## Questions & Answers
+
+### Why become an SPI Associated Project?
+
+Gentoo Linux, as a collective of software developers, is pretty good at being a Linux
+distribution. However, becoming a US federal non-profit organization would increase 
+the non-technical workload.
+
+The current Gentoo Foundation has bylaws restricting its behavior to 
+that of a non-profit, is a recognized non-profit only in New Mexico, but a for-profit 
+entity at the US federal level. A direct conversion to a federally recognized 
+non-profit would be unlikely to succeed without significant effort and cost.
+
+Finding Gentoo Foundation trustees to take care of the non-technical work is an ongoing
+challenge.  Robin Johnson (robbat2), our current Gentoo Foundation treasurer, spent a
+huge amount of time and effort with getting bookkeeping and taxes in order after the prior
+treasurers lost interest and retired from Gentoo.
+
+For these reasons, Gentoo is moving the non-technical organization overhead to 
+Software in the Public Interest (SPI). As noted above, SPI is already now recognized 
+at US federal level as a full-fleged non-profit 501(c)(3). It also handles several 
+projects of similar type and size (e.g., Arch and Debian) and as such has exactly the 
+experience and background that Gentoo needs.
+
+### What are the advantages of becoming an SPI Associated Project in detail?
+
+Financial benefits to donors:
+- tax deductions [1]
+
+Financial benefits to Gentoo:
+- matching fund programs [2]
+- reduced organizational complexity
+- reduced administration costs [3]
+- reduced taxes [4]
+- reduced fees [5]
+- increased access to non-profit-only sponsorship [6]
+
+Non-financial benefits to Gentoo:
+- reduced organizational complexity, no "double-headed beast" any more
+- less non-technical work required
+
+[1] Presently, almost no donations to the Gentoo Foundation provide a tax benefit 
+for donors anywhere in the world. Becoming a SPI Associated Project enables tax 
+benefits for donors located in the USA. Some other countries do recognize donations 
+made to non-profits in other jurisdictions and provide similar tax credits.
+
+[2] This also depends on jurisdictions and local tax laws of the donor, and is often 
+tied to tax deductions.
+
+[3] The Gentoo Foundation currently pays $1500/year in tax preparation costs.
+
+[4] In recent fiscal years, through careful budgetary planning on the part of the 
+Treasurer and advice of tax professionals, the Gentoo Foundation has used
+depreciation expenses to offset taxes owing; however, this is not a sustainable
+strategy.
+
+[5] Non-profits are eligible for reduced fees, e.g., of Paypal (savings of 0.9-1.29% 
+per donation) and other services.
+
+[6] Some sponsorship programs are only available to verified 501(c)(3) organizations
+
+### Can I still donate to Gentoo, and how?
+
+Yes, of course, and please do so! For the start, you can go to 
+<a href="https://www.spi-inc.org/projects/gentoo/">SPI's Gentoo page</a> and scroll down to the
+Paypal and Click&Pledge donation links. More information and more ways will be set up soon.
+Keep in mind, donations to Gentoo via SPI are tax-deductible in the US!
+
+In time, Gentoo will contact existing recurring donors, to aid transitions to
+SPI's donation systems.
+
+### What will happen to the Gentoo Foundation?
+
+Our intention is to eventually transfer the existing assets to SPI and dissolve the Gentoo
+Foundation. The precise steps needed on the way to this objective are still under discussion.
+
+### Does this affect in any way the European Gentoo e.V.?
+
+No. <a href="https://gentoo-ev.org/">Förderverein Gentoo e.V.</a> will continue to exist
+independently.  It is also recognized to serve public-benefit purposes (§ 52 Fiscal Code of 
+Germany), meaning that donations are tax-deductible in the E.U.
+