Sasquan, the 2015 Worldcon, announced today that it has distributed some surplus funds from the convention.
Sasquan is delighted to announce our surplus disbursements: Pass-along funds to Kansas City, Helsinki, the winner for 2018.
— sasquansf (@sasquansf) December 2, 2015
In addition, we are making donations to the following: DUFF ASFA The Hugo Awards (MPC)
Efanzines…— sasquansf (@sasquansf) December 2, 2015
MACII, for bringing an astronaut to KC, and NASA related costs; Worldcon History Organization, Con or Bust…
— sasquansf (@sasquansf) December 2, 2015
Donations to Int'l Costumers Guild, TAFF, https://t.co/WOgVw237U9, Westercon 69, Westercon 70
— sasquansf (@sasquansf) December 2, 2015
KEY
Pass-On Funds
- Kansas City: MidAmeriCon II, the 2016 Worldcon. MAC II also received funds to bring an astronaut to next year’s con.
- Helsinki: Worldcon 75, the 2016 Worldcon.
- 2018 Worldcon: Reserved for the winner. At this time, the bidders are New Orleans in 2018 and San Jose in 2018.
Worldcon-Related Donations
- The Hugo Awards (MPC) Grant: MPC is the Mark Protection Committee, an adjunct of the World Science Fiction Society that registers and monitors usage of the Worldcon’s service marks.
- Worldcon History Organization: The Worldcon Heritage Organization, incorporated in 2012 as a Colorado nonprofit, acquires, maintains, stores, and displays the Worldcon History Exhibits.
Other Donations
- ASFA: The Association of Science Fiction & Fantasy Artists.
- Con-or-Bust helps people of color/non-white people attend SFF conventions.
- DUFF: The Down Under Fan Fund, created to increase the face-to-face communication between science fiction fans in Australia and New Zealand, and North America.
- Efanzines hosts fanzines online.
- FANAC.org is “is devoted to the preservation and distribution of information about science fiction and science fiction fandom.” It hosts an extensive online archive of fanhistorical material.
- International Costumers Guild: an “affiliation of amateur, hobbyist, and professional costumers dedicated to the promotion and education of costuming as an art form in all its aspects.”
- Westercon 69: The 2016 Westercon in Portland, OR.
- Westercon 70: The 2017 Westercon in Tempe, AZ.
Donation amounts were not stated in today’s announcement, although it is known that DUFF received $2,000, as did TAFF.
The MPC/Hugo Awards donation was $1000 for the operation of the Hugo Awards web site and associated functions including the CoverItLive coverage of the Hugo Awards. This is in addition to $10,500 previously donated to the MPC for ongoing operations, some of which is going to help pay for the cost of registering the WSFS service marks in the EU. (Other groups have also donated toward the cost of the EU registration.)
I gather all this surplus money is the result of the surge of memberships inspired by the effort to oppose the slates? I guess it’s an ill wind that blows no good. This may be the only positive thing to come out of the slates.
Greg Hullender: Nearly all North American Worldcons have surpluses and make these kinds of donations. We need to know how large the surplus was, and the dollar amount of the donations (apart from a few that have already been in the news) before we can speak definitively about the impact of supporting memberships on the bottom line.
Please be aware that Worldcon’s donation to Con or Bust, or any other donations, are still not tax deductible because as of this date their “parent” sponsor, The Carl Brandon Society, DOES NOT have tax exempt status. Note this is 100 days after admitting they hadn’t filed the necessary documents to the IRS for over two years and promising on their website they would do so asap. See
carlbrandon.org
You are wrong. The nonprofit corporation which ran Sasquan can deduct any payment or distribution done in furtherance of its tax-exempt purpose.
Leaving aside whether a contribution to an organization that discriminates on the basis of race is a “furtherance of its tax-exempt purpose,” I will leave the question as to whether a tax exempt organization can legally contribute to a non-tax-exempt charity to licensed professionals in the field. Are you one?
It is curious that the Carl Brandon Society still doesn’t have its tax exempt status reinstated when it represented on its website that it soon would. Until that is done, all private donations are still non tax deductible. Agree?
Why, yes, I have 36 years as a tax professional.
However, it doesn’t take a tax professional to understand the freely available guidance publications for federal tax exempt organizations. You might give it a try.
Thank you for the advice.
Which licenses and/or certifications as a tax professional do you have? I may want to retain you.
Like Mark Twain’s steamboat on the Riverworld, I’m Not For Hire.
Rarely does the internet provide quite such a perfect set up, but when it does it must be savoured.
Mark-kitteh: indeed.
Us oldsters remember when Baltimore in 83 went so far into debt that not only did they not pass along money, LA 84 (biggest attendance ever) had to retroactively bail them out. People were Miffed. It took a while before Baltimore got another Worldcon.