{% extends "base_members.html" %} {% block subtitle %}Member Project Services - {% endblock %} {% block category %}members{% endblock %} {% block submenuselection %}Services{% endblock %} {% block content %}

Member Project Services

Conservancy assists FLOSS project leaders by handling all matters other than software development and documentation, so the developers can focus on what they do best: improving the software for the public good. The following are the services and options that are available to FLOSS projects that have joined Conservancy as a member project.

Tax-Deductible, Earmarked Donations

Member projects can receive earmarked donations through Conservancy. Since Conservancy is a 501(c)(3) charity incorporated in New York, donors can often deduct the donation on their USA taxes. Additionally, the donors can indicate that their donation should be used to advance a specific member project, and those funds are kept in a separate account for the member project by Conservancy. This structure prevents developers from having to commingle project funds with their own personal accounts or having to set up their own project specific account.

Since the Conservancy is a tax-exempt organization, there are some limits that the law places on what member projects can do with their assets, but those limits are the same as if the project was an independent non-profit entity. Usually, the project leadership can then indicate to Conservancy's leadership how the funds should be spent to advance the project and Conservancy permits these funds to be spent in any way that is appropriate activity under Conservancy's 501(c)(3) not-for-profit mission. Some typical uses of earmarked donations by Conservancy's member projects are: