OK. Regardless, we do not have a fundraising problem/need. In fact, we have quite the opposite: we have a steady stream of funds, but few ways to use the funds for the benefit of the project.
That is what I suspected from your previous note about funds being available.
However, my impression is that only @Nick-Hall , @bmatherly and @sam888 have purchase making authority. And since you control the pursestrings, you prefer that new outlays be initiated by someone else. (To avoid any appearance of impropriety.) Is that accurate?
I think that is fair to say. I don’t like the “control the pursestrings” terminology. But the fact is that the account is in my name and if something happened to me, I am not sure how Gramps would get access to the money.
If possible, it is best to create accounts for the project instead of using personal accounts. This allows access by more than one person as a representative of the project. When it comes to holding money I think that there are two options: form a legal entity or join an umbrella organisation.
Forming a legal entity takes some work setting it up, and then the directors have legal responsibilities such as filing tax returns. Then there are ongoing costs - for example business bank accounts tend not to be free. Where would we incorporate the company? Who would volunteer to run it?
Joining an umbrella organisation would appear to be the easier route. Both OSC and SPI seem like reasonable options to me and provide similar services.
Looking at some statistics that the Snap Store gives me from a very small sample size, users in the USA make up about 17% of installations, so the 501(c)(3) tax deductible status may not be significant. The USA alongside Germany does have our biggest user base though. As a matter of interest, most of our users (about 69%) are European.
In this case, I think that Microsoft didn’t want software from an untrusted source with risks of malware in their store. Accepting open source software directly from the author would be safer. In the future we may well benefit from help and advice from an organisation that specialises in helping open source projects.
I’ve always trusted Brian with our finances, so I have never placed this as high priority in the past. Perhaps we should ask Don Allingham for his opinion.
If Microsoft offers something for free then I would seriously scratch my head and ask the question in what way they will gain (money or otherwise) by putting Gramps into Microsoft Store.