GitHub Sponsors

[Ryan Schmidt]

On Nov 10, 2021, at 14:02, Ryan Schmidt wrote:
> 
> On Nov 10, 2021, at 14:01, Perry E. Metzger wrote:
> 
>> On 11/10/21 14:59, Ryan Schmidt wrote:
>>> On Nov 10, 2021, at 12:11, Perry E. Metzger wrote:
>>> 
>>>> Should we turn on the GitHub Sponsors functionality for the project on GitHub?
>>>> 
>>>> It doesn't cost us anything to do it, and the money raised could be used to do things like buying hardware for builds and such.
>>> MacPorts is not a legal organization so I don't see how it could accept donations.
>> 
>> You don't need to be incorporated to accept money. Incorporation is only necessary if you want to claim to be a nonprofit or if you worry that you need limited liability. There's no legal obstacle to an unincorporated association opening a bank account, and they do all the time.
> 
> These donations would be classified as somebody's income. Somebody would have to pay income taxes on them. Who?
> 

To expand on that: Some years we receive income from Google Summer of Code. When we do, that money goes to one of the MacPorts elder council. He holds the money in his personal bank account and distributes it as needed for MacPorts-related purposes, and he pays tax on that income on his personal income taxes. I feel that this situation would be compounded by starting to accept donations.