gistfile1.txt

## Why become an SPI Associated Project? 

Gentoo, as a collective of software developers, is pretty good at being a Linux
distribution. However, the legal & organization overhead required to convert
the existing corporation into a successful non-profit recognized at the federal
level in the USA would be a significant increase in non-development workload.

The historical baggage of the Gentoo Foundation, with bylaws restricted
behavior to that of a non-profit, and as a non-profit recognized only in the
state of New Mexico, but considered as a for-profit entity at the US federal
level means a direct conversion to a federally recognized would be unlikely to
succeed without the aforementioned non-development workload.

For that reason, Gentoo is undertaking the process to move the non-technical
organization overhead to Software in the Public Interest (SPI).  As noted
previously, SPI is already recognized at a US federal level as a full-fleged
non-profit 501(c)(3).

The organizational structure remains very similar: Robin H. Johnson (robbat2)
as the current President of the Gentoo Foundation, and longstanding Treasurer
of the Gentoo Foundation is Gentoo Linux's official liaison to the SPI.

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

[1] Presently, almost no donations to the Gentoo Foundation provide a tax benefit for
donors anywhere in the world. This would enable 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] Also depends on jurisdictions and local legal tax laws of the donor, and is
often tied to tax deducations.
[3] Gentoo Foundation pays $1500/year in tax preperation costs
[4] In recent fiscal years, through careful budgetary planning on the part of
the Treasurer and advice of the tax professionals, the Foundation has used
depreciation expenses to offset taxes owing: however, this is not a sustainable
strategy.
[5] Non-profits are eligable for reduced fees, in both 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 SPI's Gentoo
page and scroll down to the Paypal and Click&Pledge donation links. More
information and more ways will be set up soon. As noted above, 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.