Wiki source code of FLOSS entities survey

Last modified by Administrator on 2023/02/17 01:52
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1 This is a space for the FLOSS entities working group to design a survey of existing FLOSS nonprofits. The survey's purpose is to gather data on the structure and operation of community organizations, so that the working group can target its guidance to new organizations and determine how well-suited alternative structures are to the community's needs.
2
3 === Survey Categories ===
4
5 * Basic characteristics & governance structure
6 * Main activities
7 * Financials
8 * Contribution policies
9 * Sources of support
10 * [more?]
11
12 === Specific Questions ===
13
14 ==== Basics & Governance ====
15
16 * When were you incorporated/organized?
17 ** In what state?
18 * Are you a:
19 ** Non-profit corporation
20 ** Limited liability company
21 ** Benefit corporation
22 ** Cooperative
23 ** Other (specify)
24 * Are you a recognized tax-exempt entity?
25 ** What kind?
26 ** Of the following, what was the most important reason that you sought tax-exempt status:
27 *** Our anticipated donors only fund tax-exempt organizations/require a deduction for their donation
28 *** To avoid paying state and federal income tax
29 *** Because developers trust tax-exempt nonprofits to represent community interests
30 *** Other (specify)
31 ** When did you receive recognition of exemption?
32 ** Did you receive any questions from the IRS in response to your tax-exempt application? (If so, would you be willing to provide them?)
33 ** Have you ever been examined (audited) by the IRS?
34 * Membership
35 ** Do you have members?
36 *** How many?
37 *** How does someone become a member?
38 **** Contributions to the project
39 **** Dues
40 **** Other
41 *** Do you offer corporate memberships?
42 *** How often does the membership meet?
43 *** What decisions are voted on by your membership?
44 *** What percentage of your membership are project contributors?
45 *** How does the membership meet/coordinate?
46 * Board of Directors
47 ** How many people are on your board of directors?
48 ** How many of your board members are project contributors?
49 ** How often does the board meet?
50 ** What decisions are voted on by your board?
51 ** How does the board meet/communicate?
52 * Are you affiliated in any way, apart from being funded by, any for-profit entity?
53
54 ==== Activities ====
55
56 * Which of the following best describes your mission or purpose? To:
57 ** Produce and distribute software
58 ** Promote the development of and participation in FLOSS
59 ** Promote technology standards
60 ** Advance science or scientific knowledge
61 ** Educate people or produce educational materials
62 ** Advance democracy or democratic values
63 ** To benefit poor, distressed, or marginalized people or populations
64 ** Promote social welfare or benefit a local community
65 ** Other (specify)
66 * Do you produce or support particular software projects?
67 ** How many software projects do you support?
68 ** Do you control the codebase for these projects?
69 ** What (overall) licenses do these projects use?
70 ** What is your contribution policy?
71 *** No contribution policy
72 *** We require copyright assignment to the organization
73 *** We use a contributor license agreement, but do not require assignment
74 *** We require contributors to submit a Developer Certificate of Origin
75 *** Other
76 ** Is the software //primarily// designed or intended to be used to:
77 *** Advance science or scientific knowledge
78 *** Educate people or produce educational materials
79 *** Advance democracy or democratic values
80 *** Advance universal human rights
81 *** To benefit poor, distressed, or marginalized people or populations
82 *** Promote social welfare or benefit a local community
83 ** Into which category do most of your users fall?
84 *** General computer users
85 *** Programmers, sysadmins, or other technically skilled users
86 *** Students
87 *** Educators
88 *** Employees or agents of nonprofits
89 *** Government employees
90 *** Other (specify)
91 ** Do you offer any fee-based services to users?
92 ** Are there any for-profit entities producing similar software?
93 * Do you directly fund software development in any of the following ways?
94 ** Grants, awards, or stipends
95 ** Contracts
96 ** Employing developers
97 * Do you hold copyrights in any software?
98 ** How did you acquire them?
99 *** They were assigned by contributors
100 *** They arose from works made for hire, produced by the organization's employees or contractors
101 *** They were donated by another entity
102 **** For-profit
103 **** Non-profit
104 *** Other
105 * Do you organize any conferences or other events?
106
107 ==== Financials ====
108
109 * What was your average net income over the past 3 years?
110 ** $0 - $4,999
111 ** $5,000 - $14,999
112 ** $15,000 - $24,999
113 ** $25,000 - $49,000
114 ** $50,000 - $99,999
115 ** $100,000 - $249,999
116 ** $250,000+
117 * What percentage of your contributions come from each of the following sources:
118 ** Membership dues
119 ** Individual contributions
120 ** Corporate contributions
121 ** Grants from foundations or other nonprofits
122 ** Government grants
123 ** Sales of services
124 ** Sales of merchandise
125 ** Conference/event fees
126 ** Other (please specify)
127 * What were your average annual expenditures over the past 3 years?
128 * What percentage of your annual expenditures went toward:
129 ** Maintaining online resources (website, software repository, etc.)
130 ** Salaries
131 ** Software development contracts
132 ** Other services contracts
133 ** Conference/event production costs
134 ** Computing hardware
135 ** Other goods and services (specify)

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