638 lines
		
	
	
	
		
			30 KiB
		
	
	
	
		
			HTML
		
	
	
	
	
	
			
		
		
	
	
			638 lines
		
	
	
	
		
			30 KiB
		
	
	
	
		
			HTML
		
	
	
	
	
	
| {% extends "base_conservancy.html" %}
 | |
| {% block subtitle %}Campaign - {% endblock %}
 | |
| {% block category %}campaign{% endblock %}
 | |
| 
 | |
| {% block head %}
 | |
| <link href="/jquery-ui.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"/>
 | |
| <script src="/jquery.min.js"></script>
 | |
| <script src="/jquery-ui.min.js"></script>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <style type="text/css">
 | |
|   #progressbar .ui-widget-header { background: rgb(206, 31, 31); }
 | |
| </style>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <script type="text/javascript">
 | |
|   $(document).ready(function() {
 | |
|     $("#progressbar").progressbar({ value: (3975 / 75000) * 100 });
 | |
| 
 | |
|     $('.toggle-content').hide();
 | |
| 
 | |
|     $('.toggle-control')
 | |
|      .addClass('clickable')
 | |
|      .bind('click', function() {
 | |
|         var $control = $(this);
 | |
|         var $parent = $control.parents('.toggle-unit');
 | |
| 
 | |
|         $parent.toggleClass('expanded');
 | |
|         $parent.find('.toggle-content').slideToggle();
 | |
| 
 | |
|         // if control has HTML5 data attributes, use to update text
 | |
|         if ($parent.hasClass('expanded')) {
 | |
|             $control.html($control.attr('data-expanded-text'));
 | |
|         } else {
 | |
|             $control.html($control.attr('data-text'));
 | |
|         }
 | |
|     });
 | |
|     $('a.donate-now')
 | |
|       .addClass('clickable')
 | |
|       .bind('click', function() {
 | |
|         var $control = $('#donate-box');
 | |
| 
 | |
|         $control.toggleClass('expanded');
 | |
|         $control.find('.toggle-content').slideUp("slow");
 | |
|         $control.find('.toggle-content').slideDown("slow");
 | |
|     });
 | |
|   });
 | |
| </script>
 | |
| {% endblock %}
 | |
| 
 | |
| {% block content %}
 | |
| 
 | |
| <div style="position:fixed;top:180px;right:2%;width:18%">
 | |
| <table style="background-color:#afe478;width:100%;">
 | |
| <tr><td style="text-align:center;padding:10px;padding-bottom:10px;">
 | |
| 
 | |
| <div id="donate-box" class="toggle-unit"><h1 class="toggle-content">Donate Now!</h1></div>
 | |
| </div>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <!--
 | |
| <script type="text/javascript" src="https://js.balancedpayments.com/v1/balanced.js"></script>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <script type="text/javascript">
 | |
|    // FOR DEMONSTRATION PURPOSES ONLY - if you already have a server you can POST to, replace
 | |
|    //                                   the URL with the URL to post to.
 | |
|    // go to http://requestb.in/
 | |
|    // click create new request bin and COPY that URL without the ?inspect at the end
 | |
|    var requestBinURL = 'http://requestb.in/1dk2x8y1';  // make sure it doesn't end in ?inspect
 | |
| 
 | |
|    var marketplaceUri = '/v1/marketplaces/TEST-MPMp7ZUPDpbj69vk2wGHRVY';
 | |
|    //var marketplaceUri = 'https://www.balancedpayments.com/marketplaces/TEST-MPMp7ZUPDpbj69vk2wGHRVY';
 | |
|    balanced.init(marketplaceUri);
 | |
| 
 | |
| var cardData = {
 | |
|   "name": "Bernhard Riemann",                 // Optional
 | |
|   "card_number": "4111 1111 1111 1111",
 | |
|   "expiration_month": 4,
 | |
|   "expiration_year": 2014,
 | |
| };
 | |
| 
 | |
| function evbind(el, ev, handler) {
 | |
| if(el.addEventListener) {
 | |
| el.addEventListener(ev, handler, false);
 | |
| } else if(el.attachEvent) {
 | |
| el.attachEvent('on'+ev, function() {handler.apply(el);});
 | |
| }
 | |
| }
 | |
| 
 | |
| /*
 | |
| 
 | |
|    function responseCallbackHandler(response) {
 | |
|       alert(response.status);
 | |
|       switch (response.status) {
 | |
|         case 400:
 | |
|             // missing or invalid field - check response.error for details
 | |
|             console.log(response.error);
 | |
|             break;
 | |
|         case 404:
 | |
|             // your marketplace URI is incorrect
 | |
|             console.log(response.error);
 | |
|             break;
 | |
|         case 201:
 | |
|             // WOO HOO! MONEY!
 | |
|             // response.data.uri == URI of the bank account resource you
 | |
|             // should store this bank account URI to later credit it
 | |
|             console.log(response.data);
 | |
|             var $form = $("#bank-account-form");
 | |
|             // the uri is an opaque token referencing the tokenized bank account
 | |
|             var bank_account_uri = response.data['uri'];
 | |
|             // append the token as a hidden field to submit to the server
 | |
|             $('<input>').attr({
 | |
|                type: 'hidden',
 | |
|                value: bank_account_uri,
 | |
|                name: 'balancedBankAccountURI'
 | |
|             }).appendTo($form);
 | |
|             $form.attr({action: requestBinURL});
 | |
|             $form.get(0).submit();
 | |
|         break;
 | |
|     default:
 | |
|         console.log(response.status);
 | |
|         }
 | |
|     }
 | |
|    //alert('allo?');
 | |
| 
 | |
|    var tokenizeInstrument = function(e) {
 | |
|         alert('what"s going on?');
 | |
|         e.preventDefault();
 | |
|    
 | |
|         var $form = $('#bank-account-form');
 | |
|         var bankAccountData = {
 | |
|             name: $form.find('.ba-name').val(),
 | |
|             account_number: $form.find('.ba-an').val(),
 | |
|             bank_code: $form.find('.ba-rn').val(),
 | |
|             type: $form.find('select').val()
 | |
|         };
 | |
|  
 | |
|  
 | |
|         balanced.bankAccount.create(bankAccountData, responseCallbackHandler);
 | |
|     };
 | |
|    $('#bank-account-form').submit(tokenizeInstrument);
 | |
| */
 | |
| </script>
 | |
| -->
 | |
| $3,975 raised toward<br/>
 | |
| our $75,000 goal.</br>
 | |
| <div id="progressbar" style="height:20px;"><span style="float:right; align:center; margin-right:40%">5.3%</div>
 | |
| <font style="font-size: 75%">(Progress bar updated daily.)</font>
 | |
| <a id="donate" style="text-decoration:none"></a>
 | |
| <h3>Help us reach our goal:</h3>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <!-- PayPal start -->
 | |
| <form action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post" target="_top">
 | |
| <input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="_s-xclick">
 | |
| <input type="hidden" name="hosted_button_id" value="3VRTJALJ5PQRW">
 | |
| <input type="image" src="https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_donateCC_LG.gif" border="0" name="submit" alt="Donate Now!">
 | |
| <img alt="" border="0" src="https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif" width="1" height="1">
 | |
| </form>
 | |
| <!-- PayPal end -->
 | |
| 
 | |
| <!-- Balanced start -
 | |
| <div class="container">
 | |
| - <form action="#" method="POST" id="bank-account-form" class="form-horizontal" onsubmit="balanced.card.create(cardData, function(response) { alert(response.status); });"> -
 | |
| <form action="#" method="POST" id="bank-account-form" class="form-horizontal">
 | |
|     <fieldset>
 | |
|         <legend>Bank Account Information</legend>
 | |
|         <p><label>Account Holder's Name
 | |
|             <input type="text"
 | |
|                    autocomplete="off"
 | |
|                    placeholder="Bank Account Holder's name"
 | |
|                    class="ba-name"
 | |
|                    name="ba_name"
 | |
|                    value="4111 1111 1111 1111">
 | |
|         </label></p>
 | |
|         <p><label>Routing Number
 | |
|             <input type="text"
 | |
|                    autocomplete="off"
 | |
|                    placeholder="Routing Number"
 | |
|                    class="ba-rn"
 | |
|                    name="ba_rn"
 | |
|                    value="4">
 | |
|         </label></p>
 | |
|         <p><label>Account Number
 | |
|             <input type="text"
 | |
|                    autocomplete="off"
 | |
|                    placeholder="Account Number"
 | |
|                    class="ba-an"
 | |
|                    name="ba_an"
 | |
|                    value="2014">
 | |
|         </label></p>
 | |
|         <p><label>Account Something
 | |
|             <input type="text"
 | |
|                    autocomplete="off"
 | |
|                    placeholder="Account Something"
 | |
|                    class="ba-as"
 | |
|                    name="ba_as"
 | |
|                    value="something someone">
 | |
|         </label></p>
 | |
|         <p><label>Account Type
 | |
|             <select name="ba_type">
 | |
|                 <option value='' disabled selected style='display:none;'>
 | |
|                     Select Account Type
 | |
|                 </option>
 | |
|                 <option value="checking" default>CHECKING</option>
 | |
|                 <option value="savings">SAVINGS</option>
 | |
|             </select>
 | |
|         </label></p>
 | |
|         <button type="submit" class="btn">
 | |
|             Tokenize
 | |
|         </button>
 | |
|     </fieldset>
 | |
| </form>
 | |
| </div>
 | |
| <script type="text/javascript">
 | |
| 
 | |
| evbind(document.getElementById('bank-account-form'), 'submit',
 | |
|   function(e) {
 | |
|     e.preventDefault();
 | |
|     console.log(this.ba_as.value);
 | |
|     balanced.card.create(
 | |
|  {
 | |
|   "name": this.ba_as.value,
 | |
|   "card_number": this.ba_name.value,
 | |
|   "expiration_month": this.ba_rn.value,
 | |
|   "expiration_year": this.ba_an.value,
 | |
| /*
 | |
|   "name": "Bernhard Riemann",                 // Optional
 | |
|   "card_number": "4111 1111 1111 1111",
 | |
|   "expiration_month": 4,
 | |
|   "expiration_year": 2014,
 | |
| */
 | |
|  },
 | |
|     function(response) {
 | |
|       console.log(response);
 | |
|       console.log(response.data.uri);
 | |
|       $.ajax("/campaign/?token=" + response.data.uri + '&amount=' + document.getElementById('bank-account-form').ba_an.value);
 | |
|       alert(response.status);
 | |
|     });
 | |
| });
 | |
| 
 | |
| </script>
 | |
| - Balanced end -->
 | |
| 
 | |
| <p>
 | |
| Other donation methods:
 | |
| <div class="toggle-unit">
 | |
|     <h4 class="toggle-control" data-text="Google Checkout" 
 | |
|     data-expanded-text="Google Checkout:">Google Checkout</h4>
 | |
|     <div class="toggle-content">
 | |
| <!-- Google Checkout start -->
 | |
| <script type="text/javascript"> 
 | |
| function validateAmount(amount){
 | |
|     if(amount.value.match( /^[0-9]+(\.([0-9]+))?$/)){
 | |
|         return true;
 | |
|     }else{
 | |
|         alert('You must enter a valid donation.');
 | |
|         amount.focus();
 | |
|         return false;
 | |
|     }
 | |
| }
 | |
| </script>
 | |
| <form action="https://checkout.google.com/cws/v2/Donations/622836985124940/checkoutForm" id="BB_BuyButtonForm" method="post" name="BB_BuyButtonForm" onSubmit="return validateAmount(this.item_price_1)" target="_top">
 | |
|     <input name="item_name_1" type="hidden" value="Directed Donation for Conservancy's NPO accounting software project"/>
 | |
|     <input name="item_description_1" type="hidden" value="This donation to the Software Freedom Conservancy, Inc. is directed toward Conservancy's NPO accounting software project.  Conservancy is a 501(c)(3) charity in New York."/>
 | |
|     <input name="item_quantity_1" type="hidden" value="1"/>
 | |
|     <input name="item_currency_1" type="hidden" value="USD"/>
 | |
|     <input name="item_is_modifiable_1" type="hidden" value="true"/>
 | |
|     <input name="item_min_price_1" type="hidden" value="6.0"/>
 | |
|     <input name="item_max_price_1" type="hidden" value="25000.0"/>
 | |
|     <input name="_charset_" type="hidden" value="utf-8"/>
 | |
|     <table cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" width="1%">
 | |
|         <tr>
 | |
|             <td align="right" valign="top" style="padding-top:9px;" nowrap="nowrap" width="1%">$ <input id="item_price_1" name="item_price_1" onfocus="this.style.color='black'; this.value='';" size="6" type="text" value="250.00"/>
 | |
|             </td>
 | |
|             <td align="left" width="1%">
 | |
|                 <input alt="Donate" src="https://checkout.google.com/buttons/donateNow.gif?merchant_id=622836985124940&w=115&h=50&style=trans&variant=text&loc=en_US" type="image"/>
 | |
|             </td>
 | |
|         </tr>
 | |
|     </table>
 | |
| </form>
 | |
| <!-- Google Checkout end -->
 | |
|     </div><!-- /.toggle-content -->
 | |
| </div><!-- /.toggle.unit -->
 | |
| 
 | |
| <div class="toggle-unit">
 | |
|     <h4 class="toggle-control" data-text="Wire Transfer" 
 | |
|     data-expanded-text="Wire Transfer:">Wire Transfer</h4>
 | |
|     <div class="toggle-content">
 | |
|         Please
 | |
|             contact <a href="mailto:accounting@sfconservancy.org">Conservancy
 | |
|             by email</a><br/> for wire transfer instructions.<br/>
 | |
|             Please Include your currency and country.<br/>
 | |
|     </div><!-- /.toggle-content -->
 | |
| </div><!-- /.toggle.unit -->
 | |
| 
 | |
| <div class="toggle-unit">
 | |
|     <h4 class="toggle-control" data-text="Paper Check" 
 | |
|     data-expanded-text="Paper Check:">Paper Check</h4>
 | |
|     <div class="toggle-content">
 | |
|     Send paper check donations to:<br/>
 | |
|     Software Freedom Conservancy, Inc.<br/>
 | |
|     137 MONTAGUE ST  STE 380<br/>
 | |
|     BROOKLYN, NY 11201-3548<br/>
 | |
|     Please write <q>NPO ACCOUNTING</q> in the memo line. 
 | |
|     </div><!-- /.toggle-content -->
 | |
| </div><!-- /.toggle.unit -->
 | |
| 
 | |
| <!-- Flattr start -->
 | |
| <p><a href="https://flattr.com/thing/1296704/Campaign-to-develop-Free-and-Open-Source-Non-Profit-Accounting-Software" target="_blank"><img src="https://api.flattr.com/button/flattr-badge-large.png" alt="Flattr this" title="Flattr this" border="0" /></a></p>
 | |
| <!-- Flattr end -->
 | |
| </td></tr></table>
 | |
| </div>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <div style="align:left;width:80%;">
 | |
| <!-- begin campaign text -->
 | |
| 
 | |
| <h2>Fundraising Campaign: Non-Profit Accounting Software</h2>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <img src="/img/conservancy-accounting-campaign-logo.png" alt="Conservancy accounting campaign logo" style="float:left;" />
 | |
| 
 | |
| <p>Conservancy has a plan to help all non-profit organizations (NPOs) by
 | |
| creating an Open Source and Free Software accounting system usable by
 | |
| non-technical bookkeepers, accountants, and non-profit managers.  You can
 | |
| help us do it by donating now.
 | |
| </p>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <p>To keep their books and produce annual government filings, most NPOs rely
 | |
| on proprietary software, paying exorbitant licensing fees.  This is
 | |
| fundamentally at cross purposes with their underlying missions of charity,
 | |
| equality, democracy, and sharing.</p>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <p>You can help Conservancy fix this problem by <a href="#donate-box" class="donate-now">donating now</a>.  We seek to
 | |
| raise $75,000 to employ a 
 | |
| developer for one year to make substantial progress on this project.</p>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <p>This project has the potential to save the non-profit sector
 | |
| millions in licensing fees every year.  Even non-profits that continue to use proprietary accounting
 | |
| software will benefit, since the existence of quality Open Source and Free
 | |
|   Software for a particular task curtails predatory behavior by proprietary
 | |
|   software companies, and creates a new standard of comparison.</p>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <p>But, more powerfully, this project's realization
 | |
| will increase the agility and collaborative potential
 | |
| for the non-profit sector — a boon to funders, boards, and employees —  bringing the Free Software and general NPO communities
 | |
| into closer collaboration and understanding.</p>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <p>Thanks in advance for <a href="#donate-box" class="donate-now">helping us</a> develop Free Software to benefit all
 | |
| non-profit organizations, and the 
 | |
| populations they serve.</p>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <p>Donors of $500 or more will be acknowledged in the THANKS file and other
 | |
|   appropriate places in the codebase itself.</p>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <p><a href="#endorsements">Endorsers of this effort</a> include Fractured Atlas, The Free Software
 | |
| Foundation, Mozilla Foundation, GNOME Foundation, OpenHatch, Open
 | |
| Source Initiative, QuestionCopyright.org, and Software in the Public
 | |
| Interest; all encourage you to <a href="#donate-box" class="donate-now">donate and support it</a>.</p>
 | |
| 
 | |
| 
 | |
| <h3>Background</h3>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <p>Like many non-profit organizations (NPOs) in the USA, Conservancy's
 | |
|   financial accounts are audited annually by an independent accounting firm;
 | |
|   we recently completed our fiscal year 2011 audit.  As usual, our auditors
 | |
|   asked plenty of questions about our accounting software.  Conservancy uses
 | |
|   only Free Software, of course, centered around a set of straightforward reporting
 | |
|   scripts that we created to run on top
 | |
|   of <a href="http://www.ledger-cli.org/">Ledger CLI</a>. (Conservancy's
 | |
|   current configuration using Ledger CLI
 | |
|   is <a href="https://gitorious.org/ledger/npo-ledger-cli">publicly
 | |
|   documented and explained</a>.)</p>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <p>Our auditors were only familiar with proprietary accounting software, and
 | |
|   so our system seemed foreign to them, as it relies on Ledger CLI's text files, Emacs and
 | |
|   version control.  During their questions
 | |
|   about our setup, we asked them to hypothetically prescribe a specific
 | |
|   proprietary software setup as a model for  managing Conservancy's
 | |
|   accounts.  Our chief auditor started by mentioning a few well-known
 | |
|   proprietary solutions.   But then he paused and continued:  <q>Given
 | |
|   that Conservancy's a fiscal sponsor with so many temporarily restricted
 | |
|   accounts, existing systems really wouldn't do that good of a job for
 | |
|   you</q>.</p>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <p>Indeed, Conservancy reached out into the broader fiscal sponsorship
 | |
|   community beyond the <acronym title="Free, Libre and Open Source Software">FLOSS</acronym>
 | |
|   <acronym title="Non-profit Organization">NPO</acronym> community and discovered that many larger fiscal sponsors — even
 | |
|   those willing to use proprietary components — have cobbled together
 | |
|   their own unique systems, idiosyncratically tailored to their specific
 | |
|   environments.  Thus, good, well-designed, and reusable accounting software
 | |
|   for non-profit fiscal sponsorship is not just missing in the software
 | |
|   freedom community; it's missing altogether.</p>
 | |
| 
 | |
| 
 | |
| <p>The project that Conservancy proposes will take a modest step
 | |
|   forward in creating a better solution for everyone. 
 | |
|   <a href="#quotes">Many NPO leaders and academics agree</a> with Conservancy about the
 | |
|   immediate need for work to begin on this
 | |
|   effort.  <a id="endorsements" style="text-decoration:none"></a><a href="https://www.fracturedatlas.org">Fractured Atlas</a>, The <a href="http://fsf.org">Free Software
 | |
|   Foundation</a>, The <a href="https://www.mozilla.org/foundation/">Mozilla
 | |
| Foundation</a>, The <a href="http://www.gnome.org/foundation/">GNOME Foundation</a>,  <a
 | |
|         href="https://openhatch.org/">OpenHatch</a>, <a href="http://opensource.org/node/658">Open Source Initiative</a>,
 | |
|   <a href="http://QuestionCopyright.org">QuestionCopyright.org</a>, and <a href="http://www.spi-inc.org/">Software in the Public Interest</a> have
 | |
|   all endorsed Conservancy's plan, and they encourage you to <a href="#donate-box" class="donate-now">donate and
 | |
|   support it</a>.</p>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <p>Conservancy is uniquely qualified to undertake this task.  Using only Free
 | |
|   Software, Conservancy already meets the complex accounting challenges of
 | |
|   earmarked, directed donations for over thirty different projects.  We've
 | |
|   learned much about this work in our first seven years of
 | |
|   operation, and we're prepared to apply what we've learned to solve
 | |
|   this problem not just for ourselves, but for anyone who seeks a
 | |
|   solution that both respects software freedom and handles non-profit
 | |
|   accounting for all sorts of NPOs, including fiscal sponsors.  General NPO
 | |
|   accounting is just a “base case” of fiscal sponsorship (i.e.,
 | |
|   an NPO is just a fiscal sponsor for one and only one specific project),
 | |
|   and Conservancy therefore believes a solution that handles fiscal sponsors
 | |
|   will also handle the simpler case as well.</p>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <h3>The Plan</h3>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <p>Conservancy proposes to hire a software developer for one year to
 | |
|   accomplish the first two phases of this project.  Conservancy seeks to
 | |
|   raise $75,000 toward this project to help cover salary and benefits for a
 | |
|   full-time staffer to work on this project.  We ask that you give generously
 | |
|   via the donation buttons on this page to support our work.</p>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <h4>Phase 0</h4>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <p>Some Free Software accounting systems do exist.  A previous informal
 | |
|   survey of these systems that Conservancy conducted in 2007 led us to the
 | |
|   conclusion that, in general, these systems were heavily geared toward
 | |
|   for-profit endeavors, ignored the unique needs of NPOs generally, and
 | |
|   were completely hopeless for the specific needs of a fiscal sponsoring
 | |
|   organization.  Conservancy's assessment at the time was that these
 | |
|   challenges could be addressed only with a large rewrite of one of these
 | |
|   systems.  Conservancy chose
 | |
|   <a href="http://www.ledger-cli.org/">Ledger CLI</a> precisely because
 | |
|   it provided flexibility and configurability not present in any other Free Software
 | |
|   double-entry accounting system.</p>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <p>However, while that previous informal survey informs Conservancy's
 | |
|   existing hypothesis that Ledger CLI is the right base system here,
 | |
|   Conservancy will first test that hypothesis.  The first phase of this
 | |
|   project (estimated to last approximately 6-8 full-time weeks) will produce
 | |
|   a written survey of all known Free Software accounting systems, and
 | |
|   indicate what challenges exist to adapt such systems for the needs of
 | |
|   NPOs.  The <a href="https://fsf.org/">Free Software Foundation</a> has
 | |
|   pledged their help in the evaluation of SQL-Ledger,
 | |
|   and <a href="http://www.gnome.org/foundation/">the GNOME Foundation</a> has pledged their
 | |
|   help in the evaluation of <a href="http://www.gnucash.org/">GNUcash</a> (which they
 | |
|   currently use, respectively).</p>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <h4>Phase 1</h4>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <p>Phase 1 of the project will select the preferred codebase from Phase 0,
 | |
|   and improve that system to create a basic accounting system for
 | |
|   small-to-medium sized USA NPOs (i.e., Form 990-filers) — including fiscal
 | |
|   sponsors — with the following features:
 | |
| <ul>
 | |
| <li>Basic accounts payable/receivable (with invoicing)</li>
 | |
| <li>Tracking and reporting of non-profit income types (related business
 | |
|   income, unrelated business taxable income, donations, etc.)</li>
 | |
| <li>Basic backup documentation tracking for expenses and payments</li>
 | |
| <li>Basic bank statement reconciliation reporting</li>
 | |
| <li>Basic annual audit preparation reporting
 | |
|   (A <a href="https://github.com/ledger/ledger/tree/next/contrib/non-profit-audit-reports">prototype
 | |
|   of this portion is already complete</a> and has been relied on for
 | |
|   real-life audits; but the prototype is just a hack and needs to be
 | |
|   rewritten.)</li>
 | |
| <li>Ability to easily handle all these features on a project-by-project
 | |
|   subset of the accounts, and to easily export and excise that subset from
 | |
|   the system. (i.e., support for temporarily restricted assets, earmarked for
 | |
|   fiscal-sponsored projects)</li>
 | |
| <li>Multi-currency support and reporting</li>
 | |
| </ul>
 | |
| </p>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <p>We will consider the first year of this project successful <em>only if all these
 | |
|   functions can be performed by a bookkeeper who is generally qualified as a
 | |
|   bookkeeper</em>, but not necessarily familiar with standard Free Software tools
 | |
|   such as GNU/Linux, Emacs, version control, and command line scripts.  This
 | |
|   requirement is essential: Conservancy's existing system using Ledger CLI
 | |
|   already provides sufficient functionality to manage non-profit accounting,
 | |
|   but our system requires a bookkeeper who is also adept with the
 | |
|   aforementioned tools already.</p>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <p>Finally, while the first year of work focuses on USA NPO needs,
 | |
|   Conservancy seeks to lead an international effort, and welcomes
 | |
|   contributions and input from everyone in the non-profit community from
 | |
|   around the world.  Conservancy has created
 | |
|   a <a href="http://lists.sfconservancy.org/mailman/listinfo/npo-accounting">mailing
 | |
|   list for discussion of this project</a> and encourages interested parties
 | |
|   from around the world to join the mailing list and contribute to the
 | |
|   project!</p>
 | |
|   
 | |
| <h3>Why Conservancy Must Fund This Work</h3>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <p>As it stands, nearly all Open Source and Free Software NPOs either use
 | |
|   proprietary software, or fully outsource their bookkeeping and accounting
 | |
|   to third-parties.  Those that don't do so (such as Conservancy and the Free
 | |
|   Software Foundation) have long complained that existing Free Software in
 | |
|   this area is inadequate, and have been forced to develop customized,
 | |
|   one-off solutions in-house to make the systems work.</p>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <p>It's highly unlikely that the for-profit sector will adapt existing Free
 | |
|   Software accounting systems to meet the differing needs of NPOs (let alone
 | |
|   the more complex needs of fiscal sponsors; based on
 | |
|   advice from our auditors and other fiscal sponsors, Conservancy understands that <em>no existing
 | |
|   solution — proprietary or Free — meets the requirements of fiscal sponsorship accounting</em>).  Fiscal sponsors like
 | |
|   Conservancy must track a separate set of books for every project, keeping
 | |
|   in mind that a project may leave at any time for another NPO and need to take
 | |
|   their books with them.  Yet, the books of the entire organization are the
 | |
|   aggregate of the books of all these projects, and internally, they need to
 | |
|   be presented as a single set of books for those purposes.</p>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <p>Meanwhile, even if an organization is not a fiscal sponsor, non-profit
 | |
|   accounting is <em>just different</em> than for-profit accounting, particularly in
 | |
|   the USA.  For example, for-profit-oriented systems often make problematic
 | |
|   assumptions about the workflow of accounting tasks (often because NPOs
 | |
|   rely primarily on donations, rather than fee-for-service or widget-selling
 | |
|   income).  Also, non-profit income is categorized differently than
 | |
|   for-profit income, and the reporting requirements vary wildly from their
 | |
|   for-profit equivalents.</p>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <p>Conservancy's existing system is working adequately, but requires daily
 | |
|   the relatively more expensive time of a highly technical person to do the
 | |
|   job of bookkeeping.  Also, the system cannot easily be adapted in its
 | |
|   current form for another NPO, unless they also have a
 | |
|   skilled technical employee to act as bookkeeper.  This project aims to build
 | |
|   on what Conservancy has learned and produce a non-profit accounting system
 | |
|   that corrects these flaws.</p>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <p>Finally, Conservancy's mission (as stated
 | |
| on <a href="http://sfconservancy.org/docs/conservancy_Form-1023.pdf">our Form
 | |
| 1023 with the USA IRS</a>) includes producing Open Source and Free Software.
 | |
| Thus, this project is a great way to pursue Conservancy's mission and address a
 | |
| specific need that so many NPOs (including us) have.  If no one steps up to create Free Software to replace the widely used
 | |
| proprietary software, NPOs in aggregate will pay <em>much more</em> money for
 | |
| proprietary licensing than Conservancy will ever spend in developing a
 | |
| replacement. Please <a href="#donate-box" class="donate-now">donate
 | |
| generously</a> to help us do it!</p>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <a id="quotes"></a>
 | |
| <h3>Statements of Support For This Project from Others</h3>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <p><q>As a national fiscal sponsor with over 3,000 arts and cultural projects
 | |
| under our umbrella, Fractured Atlas is ecstatic about this effort's
 | |
| potential. After 15 years wrestling with Quickbooks and other inadequate
 | |
| options, the idea of an open source tool designed specifically for this niche
 | |
| of the field is beyond welcome. We wholeheartedly support the Conservancy's
 | |
| work on this front and look forward to seeing where it leads.</q> —
 | |
| <a href="https://www.fracturedatlas.org/site/bios/staff/1/Adam%20Forest_Huttler">Adam
 | |
|   Huttler</a>, Executive Director, <a href="https://www.fracturedatlas.org">Fractured Atlas</a></p>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <p><q><a href="http://QuestionCopyright.org">QuestionCopyright.org</a> is
 | |
| just one of many organizations that would benefit from a Free Software
 | |
| accounting system that is usable by non-technical people.  We
 | |
| enthusiastically support the Conservancy's campaign to create one, and look
 | |
| forward to using the result.</q>
 | |
| — <a href="http://questioncopyright.org/speakers/karl_fogel">Karl
 | |
| Fogel</a>, Executive Director,
 | |
|   <a href="http://QuestionCopyright.org">QuestionCopyright.org</a></p>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <p><q>As a fiscal sponsor organization with over 30 currently-associated Free
 | |
| Software projects, Software in the Public Interest shares the Conservancy's
 | |
| needs and interests in this area, and welcome the opportunity to collaborate
 | |
| on the development of a Free Software solution to our accounting needs.</q>
 | |
| — Bdale Garbee, President,  <a href="http://www.spi-inc.org/">Software
 | |
|     in the Public Interest</a></p>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <p><q>Open Source accounting software specifically tailored for non-profits
 | |
|     will fill a pretty large need.</q>
 | |
|     — <a href="http://wagner.nyu.edu/calabrese">Thad Calabrese</a>,
 | |
|     Assistant Professor of Public and Nonprofit Financial Management
 | |
|     at <a href="http://wagner.nyu.edu/">NYU Wagner</a>, and co-author
 | |
|     of <cite>Financial Management for Public, Health, and Not-for-Profit
 | |
|     Organizations, 4th Edition</cite>.</p>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <p><q>Creating free software specifically designed to address the needs of
 | |
| nonprofits is a laudable goal and one that Conservancy is extremely well
 | |
| positioned to achieve.</q>  — <a href="http://gnomg.org">Karen
 | |
| Sandler</a>, Executive
 | |
| Director, The <a href="http://www.gnome.org/foundation/">GNOME Foundation</a></p>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <p><q>The Open Source Initiative has shared the experiences of Software
 | |
|      Freedom Conservancy in navigating the financial management needs of
 | |
|      non-profit organisations and shares their concern. We have many NPOs as
 | |
|      members and we welcome this useful initiative by Conservancy.</q>
 | |
|      — Simon Phipps, President, <a href="http://opensource.org/node/658">Open Source
 | |
|      Initiative</a></p>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <p><q>The <a href="https://fsf.org/">Free Software Foundation</a> is committed to doing all of its work,
 | |
| both public-facing and internal, using only free software. We are thankful to
 | |
| the developers of SQL Ledger for providing the accounting software that has
 | |
| served us well for many years. As we have grown, so have the complexities of
 | |
| our finances.  Because of our own needs and our mission to help other
 | |
| organizations — both inside and outside of the technology sphere
 | |
| — run their operations on exclusively free software, we wholeheartedly
 | |
| support this Conservancy initiative.</q> — <a href="http://www.fsf.org/about/staff-and-board#johns">John Sullivan</a>, Executive
 | |
| Director, <a href="https://fsf.org">Free Software Foundation</a></p>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <p><q>Open source is a great way to solve new problems and make software that
 | |
| is more flexible and responsive to the needs of the people who use it. That's
 | |
| as true for the finance industry as it is on the web.</q>
 | |
| — <a href="http://blog.mozilla.org/press/bios/mark-surman/">Mark
 | |
| Surman</a>, Executive
 | |
| Director, <a href="https://www.mozilla.org/foundation/">Mozilla
 | |
| Foundation</a></p>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <p><q>As a young free software non-profit, OpenHatch is thrilled to see this
 | |
| effort; it would let us spend more of our time on programs and less on
 | |
| paperwork.  I have already personally <a href="#donate-box" class="donate-now">donated</a>.</q> — Asheesh Laroia,
 | |
| Executive Director, <a href="https://openhatch.org/">OpenHatch</a></p>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <h3>Some Important Details for this Fundraiser</h3>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <ul>
 | |
| <li>Donations made are general donations to the Software Freedom
 | |
|   Conservancy, Inc., a 501(c)(3) charity incorporated in New York.
 | |
|   Conservancy is committed to doing this work described herein, but cannot
 | |
|   promise to complete the work if the fundraising goal is not reached.  If
 | |
|   the fundraising goal is not reached, Conservancy will do its best to make
 | |
|   progress on the plan above with the resources available.  It's expected
 | |
|   that work will simply proceed, but more slowly and take more time, if the
 | |
|   fundraising goal is not reached.</li>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <li>The license for the project is not yet chosen, since Phase 0 might
 | |
|   prescribe contribution to particular upstream projects, and Conservancy is
 | |
|   committed to contributing to upstream projects under their chosen license,
 | |
|   where possible.  However, Conservancy promises that all software that is
 | |
|   written will be released under a license that is both approved by
 | |
|   the <a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html#GPLCompatibleLicenses">FSF as a Free
 | |
|   Software license</a> <strong>and</strong> by the OSI as
 | |
|   an <a href="http://opensource.org/licenses">OSI-approved license</a>.  New
 | |
|   documentation that is written will be released under some license
 | |
|   compatible with <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/">CC BY-SA 3.0 USA</a>.</li>
 | |
| 
 | |
| <!-- end campaign text -->
 | |
| </div>
 | |
| 
 | |
| {% endblock %}
 | 
