TOS change notice
Written on June 22nd, 2008 by phirate
Please note, the TOS will be changed in the following manner. Those users affected by this change that we are aware of, have been notified. Existing affected users who have not received notification will receive one warning four days prior to the change applying to their account.
The TOS will have the following condition appended:
Entrecard will no longer accept sites representing themselves as religious organizations or any other charitable organization for the purposes of soliciting donations without the account being held directly by a registered charity. Such charities should apply to us directly, providing their listing on the IRS site:
http://www.irs.gov/app/pub-78/
Or the appropriate site for their country. Details given by the IRS will be contacted to verify the account is to be held by the charity concerned.
Entrecard does not discriminate on the basis of religion or other affiliation, this ruling applies to all charities and is in place to help protect Entrecard users from fraud.
June 23rd, 2008 at 7:21 am
SO we won’t have anyone screaming that EC stole $100 any more? Gee, how I will miss such quality discussions!
It’s fair.
June 23rd, 2008 at 8:46 am
At this time we are reviewing that users petition for validation. Since this is a new process for us it’s taking a bit of time to figure out precisely how it all works and what information the applicant needs to provide.
June 23rd, 2008 at 9:41 am
There are quite a few sites on here that need to be validated…
I’d be happy to take that on as a part time job, paid in credits.
June 23rd, 2008 at 11:36 am
Entrecard is an excellent way to build a community and to gain interest and participation in charitable efforts. I hope this change of TOS doesn’t deter such organizations from participating. Thanks for your support!
June 23rd, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Okay but I’m a little concerned.
You see I have two children a husband and a dog and I’m having a hard time affording my marijuana prescription.
If I don’t raise $200 SuperQuick what will become of my family?
June 24th, 2008 at 9:29 am
Be careful how you play this. I am President of a Non-Profit, that is also a Church. If the non-profit or church never files a 990, you will never see them on the list.
Chasing after churches with NP status can open up huge 1st amendment civil actions.
I know if I was told our church MUST have a 990 on file, we would be the first to launch a class action. We would also be the first to defend a church/NP being given a 990 demand.
Some NP’s might be shady, but you still have to allow for the 25k provisions of a church.
June 24th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Eek- *Poof* Freedom is leaking somewhere? quick patch it up before we are left without freedom.
Discrimination towards Religious Group * That cant be good! Amirite?
Just watch out what you shove out as trash.
June 24th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
We are aware a Church does not need to file a 990. We have worked through the documentation and we’re aware of the tax filing requirements. The presence of a valid EIN is sufficient to determine charitable donation status within the US.
We are not aware of any situation where an organization is capable of accepting tax-deductible donations without an EIN. If you are aware of one, please let me know directly via PM.
June 24th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
We are not discriminating against any group. We are imposing a theoretically trivial additional verification step to help protect those organizations from the fraudulent use of their name to obtain donations. Given the lengths other users have gone to to obtain ECs, this does not appear in the least bit far-fetched.
If a number of organizations of this nature contacted us and stated that they believed the potential for fraud was not a concern, we would be happy to remove the requirement. We have no problem with religious groups on EC and have gone to considerable lengths to help out in every instance we’re aware of.
June 25th, 2008 at 9:56 am
I think this is a good move on Entrecards part. I am fairly sick of seeing all of the solicitations, and either I do hours of research trying to figure out if they are frauds or just count them in my “ignore” pile…
Mommie
June 26th, 2008 at 8:28 am
Actually… Donations can be accepted by a Church without an EIN. There is no compulsion where a church is concerned. A church needs no banking ties if it chooses not to.
Which is why I said beware of some Non-Profits, they might have a Church as the cornerstone of their foundation. Not all, but a close look before issuing the request would save from unnecessary embarrassment. Be sure not to jump quickly, do a good dig before the decision process.
Have you reviewed this? http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1828.pdf
501(c)(3) runs pretty deep among the religious sector.
EIN is not always a good method either. See if the NP accepts paypal, if they do, check the type of account, if it is an NP account, there is no further need to look, paypal has strict rules for accepting NP donations. Some will use the donations button at paypal to collect money, but that does not mean that they have been cleared as an NP.
If you want an example of a NP’s ethical standards of financial transparency, look here: http://www.gcmchurch.org/financial.html
Along with your legal counsel, you might want to enlist the help of some legitimate NP’s to discuss ethics, and what is expected of NP’s from an NP point of view.
It is a good thing to separate the chaff from the wheat as far as the IRS is concerned with your business, as long as you are careful not to spill a few wheatypoos by accident.
July 2nd, 2008 at 1:29 am
Is this happening more and more in the US or is this a global concern. As a Canadian I don’t know really know that much about the IRS but I know in Canada registered business’ need a valid GST# to do business. I’m not sure if Non Profit organizations require the same tax documents or if there are other tax documents that are required.
Its good to crack down on shady organizations that calling themselves Non Profit organizations, but I do think you should proceed with caution on the international stage that is the Internet.