Ask HN: Non-profits looking for volunteer developers?
10 comments
This brings up an interesting question. You can't deduct time or services donated from your annual tax return, but could you deduct the value of the product you gave them? If I create and donate a website to the nonprofit, can the value of that be deducted based on fair-market value?
No, you may not.
The relevant sections of the tax code are in Pub561 and Pub526. Basically: the IRS would consider your custom website to have a FMV of $0, because it couldn't be sold to anyone else.
If you made a genuine software tool that was applicable to more than just the charity (and you successfully sold copies of that software), then the FMV would be the purchase price of the software in the open market.
There was a law passed in 2004 (can't remember which, sorry) that cracked down on the charitable donations of intangible property.
[1] http://www.irs.gov/publications/p561/index.html
[2] http://www.irs.gov/publications/p526/index.html
The relevant sections of the tax code are in Pub561 and Pub526. Basically: the IRS would consider your custom website to have a FMV of $0, because it couldn't be sold to anyone else.
If you made a genuine software tool that was applicable to more than just the charity (and you successfully sold copies of that software), then the FMV would be the purchase price of the software in the open market.
There was a law passed in 2004 (can't remember which, sorry) that cracked down on the charitable donations of intangible property.
[1] http://www.irs.gov/publications/p561/index.html
[2] http://www.irs.gov/publications/p526/index.html
I'm working for a German based non-profit on a project called spenden.de (roughly translates to donate.com). We are planning to do something inbetween www.guidestar.org an www.charitynavigator.org (the regulatory framework in Germany is much different therefore the comparison is very rough). Currently there is only a placeholder on the main page but you can find our prototype at http://beta.spenden.de. The new site is developed in RoR.
We are thinking about making the code available as open source and are able to provide donation receipts but the latter would probably only help you if you fill your taxes in Germany.
Currently we are relying on freelancers which are doing a great job and don't charge their usual rate but since our budget is extremely limited we could move much faster with some extra help.
I even started to teach myself some programming but might never be able to contribute significantly to the project (codewise).
If this sound at all interesting to anyone please let me know. I have very good experience with people working from abroad so at least that shouldn't be an issue. Besides actually code contribution a mentor helping me to improve my RoR skills would also be very appreciated (I'm currently at chapter 4 of railstutorial.org but without any prior programming knowledge this might be a long journey... ).
We are thinking about making the code available as open source and are able to provide donation receipts but the latter would probably only help you if you fill your taxes in Germany.
Currently we are relying on freelancers which are doing a great job and don't charge their usual rate but since our budget is extremely limited we could move much faster with some extra help.
I even started to teach myself some programming but might never be able to contribute significantly to the project (codewise).
If this sound at all interesting to anyone please let me know. I have very good experience with people working from abroad so at least that shouldn't be an issue. Besides actually code contribution a mentor helping me to improve my RoR skills would also be very appreciated (I'm currently at chapter 4 of railstutorial.org but without any prior programming knowledge this might be a long journey... ).
i am new to RoR but have significant programming experience and would like to help. contact me at helpspenden at soven dot org
I have sent you an email.
Im a social entrepreneur who just started volunteering my programming skills to various non profits. Im working on probably about 5 projects right and could certainly use your help. Plus im looking to connect with other volunteer programmers as well to establish a group of some kind to talk about issues and projects we can build to deal with them. Whats a contact for you?
The animal rights group I work with, Compassionate Action for Animals (http://exploreveg.org), has several technical tasks that we could use help with.
I'd say that top of the list is helping us convert from Plone to Drupal. This involves working on a new information architecture (though I've started work on it), a new design, and converting all the existing content.
I'd also like help developing VegGuide.org (http://vegguide.org). It's kind of like Yelp but focused on vegetarian- and vegan-friendly restaurants, grocers, etc. The site is built with Perl, using the Catalyst framework. Unfortunately, it's using a crufty old ORM I built, which makes working on certain features much harder.
Contact us ([email protected]) if you're interested.
I'd say that top of the list is helping us convert from Plone to Drupal. This involves working on a new information architecture (though I've started work on it), a new design, and converting all the existing content.
I'd also like help developing VegGuide.org (http://vegguide.org). It's kind of like Yelp but focused on vegetarian- and vegan-friendly restaurants, grocers, etc. The site is built with Perl, using the Catalyst framework. Unfortunately, it's using a crufty old ORM I built, which makes working on certain features much harder.
Contact us ([email protected]) if you're interested.
Sorry but why would you want to use drupal. Its a very limiting piece of software that is non scalable and non customizable. Why dont you create something custom that allows the site to be flexible. Im working on moving some non profits i deal with off drupal and joomla as well since both are crap.
I was kidding. Sorry if my dry humor was missed.
When i first got involved with pro bono work i looked at drupal and joomla and decided i preferred to focus on custom solutions because i have a background in that. Obviously thats not always the best solution as its sometimes more trouble then its worth.
Good luck with your sites though. :-).
When i first got involved with pro bono work i looked at drupal and joomla and decided i preferred to focus on custom solutions because i have a background in that. Obviously thats not always the best solution as its sometimes more trouble then its worth.
Good luck with your sites though. :-).
[deleted]
Our NP just got accepted into Give Camp. They're telling us we're going to get a lot of support (if only for a weekend).
http://givecamp.org/
FYI, ours is Remas: http://www.sendremas.org/
We're doing price comparison for sending money overseas. So obvious, but so needed.
FYI, ours is Remas: http://www.sendremas.org/
We're doing price comparison for sending money overseas. So obvious, but so needed.
The sunlight foundation does an amazing job of connecting volunteer engineers with opportunities to help make the US government more transparent and accountable: http://sunlightlabs.com/
Not sure if it's still as good as it was in the early 2000s, but http://www.idealist.org is a wonderful directory of NPO and NGO volunteer opportunities.
If you're willing to give a slightly larger commitment, try Code for America: http://codeforamerica.org.
So, the Methuselah Foundation is looking for a reliable LAMP volunteer - someone who is very interested in the future of longevity science, and can help build and maintain:
http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2010/12/the-methuselah-fo...
http://www.mfoundation.org
"The Methuselah Foundation, founded back in 2003, aims to promote and support scientific progress towards defeating age-related disease, repairing the damage of aging, and greatly extending the healthy human life span. To that end the Foundation has raised more than $10 million in funding pledges, and their initiatives include the Mprize for longevity science, the recently launched NewOrgan Prize, investment in tissue engineering startups such as Organovo, and - prior to the establishment of the SENS Foundation as a separate entity - the funding of Aubrey de Grey's research program for rejuvenation biotechnology.
"These activities, and the networking to support them behind the scenes, have had a great impact upon the state of the aging research community, media treatment of longevity science, and public perception of the plausibility of medical research aimed at reversing aging. Thanks to the efforts of the Foundation volunteers and thousands of supporters, the environment for longevity science today is far improved over that of ten years ago. That in turn means that our chances of seeing working rejuvenation medicine within our lifetimes are also improved."
http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2010/12/the-methuselah-fo...
http://www.mfoundation.org
"The Methuselah Foundation, founded back in 2003, aims to promote and support scientific progress towards defeating age-related disease, repairing the damage of aging, and greatly extending the healthy human life span. To that end the Foundation has raised more than $10 million in funding pledges, and their initiatives include the Mprize for longevity science, the recently launched NewOrgan Prize, investment in tissue engineering startups such as Organovo, and - prior to the establishment of the SENS Foundation as a separate entity - the funding of Aubrey de Grey's research program for rejuvenation biotechnology.
"These activities, and the networking to support them behind the scenes, have had a great impact upon the state of the aging research community, media treatment of longevity science, and public perception of the plausibility of medical research aimed at reversing aging. Thanks to the efforts of the Foundation volunteers and thousands of supporters, the environment for longevity science today is far improved over that of ten years ago. That in turn means that our chances of seeing working rejuvenation medicine within our lifetimes are also improved."
So treat this as a who's hiring post, more or less, but for non-profit volunteering with technical skills.
(A thought on the issues: reliability is the key, central value needed for a technical volunteer. In any non-profit, volunteers come and volunteers go, but it is very challenging to find people who follow through on a commitment to stay for a given project, or to act as support for a non-profit site for the necessary months and years to build up familiarity with the systems used. When it comes to technology, those rare few are absolutely necessary, however - you simply can't run a tight ship if developers flake out on a regular basis. This is especially true when it comes to projects wherein the team is scattered across the US or the world, and rarely meets in person).
My ulterior motive: I get to tack my search for a LAMP developer volunteer for the very hip Methuselah Foundation in here an early comment.