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| Black Box Voting tax forms |
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| Author |
Message |
    
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 4050
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, April 13, 2006 - 1:23 pm: | 
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Questions about BBV form 990
The first Black Box Voting 990 form will be filed on May 15. Our fiscal year is July 1-June 30. This puts the due date at Nov. 15, but because it is a nonprofit and no taxes due, there is an automatic extension to Feb. 15. We were surprised when we were notified by our accounting firm that they had filed for the six-month extension, making the due date May 15.
But this is a consultation section. My question is this: Is it traditional for nonprofits to put the 990 online? Do the other nonprofits in the election reform area have theirs online? I think we should follow the guidance of whatever the more mature nonprofit election reform groups are doing, or should we do more than those organizations in terms of transparency?
Nonprofits in the election reform area:
VerifiedVoting
Election Science Institute
VoteTrustUSA
USCountVotes
Any others?
I would imagine that USCountVotes is too new to have one, and probably the same goes for VoteTrustUSA. VerifiedVoting and Election Science Institute were nonprofits quite a while before we were. Does anyone know the accepted customs on posting the 990 online?
Also, in keeping with our "real names" policy, what are your thoughts on having the names of the donors made available? I am concerned that, for donors in the small donation category, which is most of them, it may be perceived as an invasion of privacy. It is not customary for nonprofits to provide the names of donors, and is not required by law. Most do not offer transparency in this area.
We are following accounting advice on the initial 990, which is to identify each donation by a transaction number internally, which ties to a spreadsheet for IRS use. However, I have considered making donor names public, at least large donors. I would want that to be explicit if we do so. I don't know if that will inhibit people from donating.
Anyone have thoughts on this? |
Pat Vesely
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Pat_vesely
Post Number: 166
Registered: 02-2006
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, April 13, 2006 - 1:49 pm: |
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Hi Bev, you might want to sign up at http://guidestar.org and get a "Premium" account.
Verified Voting has their 2004 and 2005 990's on file.
ESI comes back as 'International Humanities Center' and have 990's posted from 1999 through 2004
Vote Trust USA returns 31 organizations, one of which is Verified Voting
US Count Votes comes back as 'The Center for Voting and Democracy', Takoma Park, MD and they have 990's on file from 1997 and 2000 through 2004
Donor names and other ID info are redacted by the IRS before the forms are made public.
Pat A. Vesely ;-) |
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 4051
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, April 13, 2006 - 2:04 pm: |
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A premium account costs $1000, no?
I'm not sure I want to be that nosy. I just wondered if they post the 990s at their Web site. |
Pat Vesely
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Pat_vesely
Post Number: 167
Registered: 02-2006
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, April 13, 2006 - 2:26 pm: |
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Short answer, yes.
A thousand dollars? Yikes! I hadn't actually looked. 
Pat A. Vesely ;-) |
Catherine Ansbro
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Catherine_a
Post Number: 2079
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, April 13, 2006 - 2:43 pm: |
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Bev: "I just wondered if they post the 990s at their Web site."
Pat: "Short answer, yes."
In Bev's question "they" referred to the voting groups, I think. But I suspect Pat's answer referred to the guidestar website. I sense crossed wires here. |
Catherine Ansbro
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Catherine_a
Post Number: 2080
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, April 13, 2006 - 2:47 pm: |
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From the guidestar website FAQ:
"1. Do I have to pay to see 990s on GuideStar?
There is no charge for viewing the three most recent 990s we have received for an organization from the IRS; all registered users may also access any 990s a nonprofit has uploaded through our eDocs service. Older 990s received from the IRS are available to GuideStar Premium subscribers."
http://www.guidestar.org/help/faq_990.jsp#pay990s |
Catherine Ansbro
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Catherine_a
Post Number: 2081
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, April 13, 2006 - 2:50 pm: |
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and, further down,
"12. . . . GuideStar Select users can view the three most recent 990s we have received from the IRS for the organization and all uploaded by the nonprofit; GuideStar Premium users can access all 990s we have for the organization." |
Catherine Ansbro
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Catherine_a
Post Number: 2082
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, April 13, 2006 - 3:02 pm: |
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I don't think donor names belong on the internet.
I'd only make an exception if a significant donor to BBV or some other organization has a vested interest or a close connection to a vested interest. In this case disclosure is ethical.
A financial summary with broad categories might make sense to put on the internet--whatever is the norm for similar organizations.
If you feel inclined to do so, you could group donations by the ranges ($10 or less; $11-$25; $26-$100; etc.) and indicate the number of donors in each category.
(Message edited by catherine_a on April 13, 2006) |
Pat Vesely
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Pat_vesely
Post Number: 168
Registered: 02-2006
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, April 13, 2006 - 3:05 pm: |
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Hi Catherine! In my first response I listed the 990's on file for the organizations that Bev mentioned.
As you have already found out, only the 3 most recent ones can be accessed with a 'free' membership.
Pat A. Vesely ;-) |
Catherine Ansbro
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Catherine_a
Post Number: 2083
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, April 13, 2006 - 3:13 pm: |
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Hi Pat, "In my first response I listed the 990's on file for the organizations that Bev mentioned."
What I was asking was, were these on file on the websites of the organizations themselves (e.g., at the VotersUnite or VoteTrustUSA website), or just on the guidestar website?
Is it normal for activism or charitable organizations to post financial summaries on their own public websites, or not? |
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 4052
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, April 13, 2006 - 3:23 pm: |
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Well, that just shows the value of good reading comprehension. I didn't see the option that lets you see the three most recent ones for free.
So, in that case, there's no point in posting it here on BBV, or for any of the other organizations to post it on their Web site either. Easier to let everyone go to Guidestar. I just thought, if it costs a thousand dollars for people to see our 990, that's not cool.
I agree with you, Catherine, regarding the donor names. No biggie if your name is Mary Williams, with no address, but problematic if your name is Mortimer Schnauzenhazel III, and your ex-girlfriend is stalking you. Here at BBV, we do have two members who we granted privacy waivers to for that kind of reason.
So, unless there is any other feedback, the consensus is to just send it in the ordinary way, wait for it to pop up on Guidestar, and anyone can view it for free. And for those who can't wait, asking for it by email will suffice to receive one by pdf.
And the consensus is, unless a donor is a vested interest, or an exceptionally large donor, no disclosure of names.
Believe it or not, I did a fairly extensive Google on all donors that gave larger amounts just to satisfy myself we didn't have a secret shopper from some vendor who might pop up. When it comes from an individual name and not a corporate name, it would be easy not to connect them.
Very, very helpful answers. And unless there is anything else, we can let this drop down for more pressing matters. Now let's all go back to elections. |
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 4063
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Friday, April 14, 2006 - 2:19 pm: |
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I really like the site (linked below) with the way it does its "about us" pages -- much more transparency out front than I'm seeing from the other nonprofit groups. Absolutely none of the election reform groups have this level of easily located transparency.
I do believe that when we are advocating for transparency, we should be as transparent as possible ourselves.
Here's an example of making it easier for the web site visitor to learn more about the group. (This comment refers to the format of their pages, and is not a comment one way or another on the group, which I have not had the time to research.)
- They have all their 990s on their Web site, easily found.
- They have a pdf for each year listing their accomplishments for that year.
- They have their board members and their staff clearly listed.
I like the format. Clean, easy to navigate, and I'm inclined to implement that format here. Because come to think about it, people shouldn't have to go to Guidestar to find out what's going on. I never knew about that site. We already have our IRS authorization form online, we might as well put our 990 online here at this site as well.
Here's the set of transparency pages I'm referencing:
http://www.cdt.org/about/
The other voting sites don't seem to be doing this, but I see no reason not to move the bar a bit higher for all concerned.
When we post our 990, I'll create an "About Us" tab (long overdue anyway). I think I'll model the information on it after the site linked above.
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Catherine Ansbro
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Catherine_a
Post Number: 2089
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Friday, April 14, 2006 - 2:36 pm: |
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This is an outstanding idea! It's a great format, provides transparency, very user-friendly.
It will be invaluable to document BBV's many achievements in a way that is clear, well-organized and easily accessible.
It would be great to include a list of media reports (press, radio, TV, internet) which mention or use BBV as a source.
BBV donors deserve to see what an extraordinarily effective organization they are supporting. |
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 4065
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Friday, April 14, 2006 - 4:58 pm: |
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Good ideas, Catherine. Absolutely. The moment I saw how that site handles transparency, I knew we wanted to follow along the same lines. |
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