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  #1  
Old 10-29-2007, 01:15 PM
ItalianFX ItalianFX is offline
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Default I have an idea and need advice

I thought of an idea that I want to do and it involves donating money sort of like a charity.

I'm going to be completely anonymous. This charity that I want to start will be specific to a certain group, which I will not discuss here because of the "anonymous" nature of what I want to do. I do not believe anyone has ever thought about it or that there is anyone currently doing what I want to do.

My question is, is there a way I can make some kind of income from it? I know, I know, "research charities, not-for-profit, for-profit, blah blah blah." I'm not asking how to do it, and I don't really want to sift through all of the nonsense just yet without a clearer idea of if this is plausible.

Now, I'm not doing it because I want to make a profit, but because the charitable givings will depend on generating more money while being able to support the "charity" as a whole. So to my question above, I'm looking for a little bit of guidance.

Thanks.

If you have any questions, I'll be back in an hour to answer them.
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  #2  
Old 10-29-2007, 01:31 PM
stephenNUTS stephenNUTS is offline
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Default Re: I have an idea and need advice

[ QUOTE ]
I thought of an idea that I want to do and it involves donating money sort of like a charity.

I'm going to be completely anonymous. This charity that I want to start will be specific to a certain group, which I will not discuss here because of the "anonymous" nature of what I want to do. I do not believe anyone has ever thought about it or that there is anyone currently doing what I want to do.

My question is, is there a way I can make some kind of income from it? I know, I know, "research charities, not-for-profit, for-profit, blah blah blah." I'm not asking how to do it, and I don't really want to sift through all of the nonsense just yet without a clearer idea of if this is plausible.

Now, I'm not doing it because I want to make a profit, but because the charitable givings will depend on generating more money while being able to support the "charity" as a whole. So to my question above, I'm looking for a little bit of guidance.

Thanks.

If you have any questions, I'll be back in an hour to answer them.

[/ QUOTE ]

1.You want to be completely anonymous

2.You want to "make some sort of income from it"

3.BUT..."I'm not doing it because I want to make a profit"

Sounds abit fishy,and I'd do some research before you get into something over your head IMO
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  #3  
Old 10-29-2007, 01:47 PM
Big TR Big TR is offline
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Default Re: I have an idea and need advice

In short, you can start a charity and pay yourself a salary from the charity. There are all sorts of charities paying large salaries to their directors.

I would say, good luck getting people to donate to your charity given that you will be anonymously taking a salary in order to profit from the activity. Typically, large donors will want to know what percentage of their donation will go toward the charitable activity and what percentage goes to admin costs. Trying to remain in the shadows while getting people to give you money will be difficult.
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  #4  
Old 10-29-2007, 02:36 PM
ItalianFX ItalianFX is offline
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Default Re: I have an idea and need advice

What I mean by Anonymous is that I won't be donating money in my name. It'll be in the name of the business/charity and I'm going to try to conduct it in a way that nobody will know that it is coming from me. The specific group that I want to target is a group that is generally forgotten or unknown. It's not like a group like donating to people who need money to pay the bills, people who need money to buy christmas gifts, or people who need money because they have a family financial crisis and are struggling to get by. I don't mean anonymous to the point where nobody knows where the money is going, but rather that it is unknown that I am the one who is doing it. I'm not trying to deceive anyone.

I didn't say I wanted to make income from it, but wondering if it was possible. If I continue to donate money, then my donations will depend on my income. And my donations will depend on factors that are related to the group I am targeting, and so to stay ahead of the game, I want to be able to grow.

As I think about it more and more, there are some issues that I am wondering about, such as moral hazard.

I was just asking some preliminary questions. There is nothing fishy about it, as anyone who knows me knows I'm not a "fishy" person.

Stephen, you're right though, I do need to do some research before I get in over my head. I definitely wouldn't do it without a plan.

Part of this idea came from my mother who donates 80% of her income to people, 10% to her church, and keeps 10% for herself. I want to make a spin on it and target a selected group. Her donations are a large function of her income and she can't expand beyond that.
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  #5  
Old 10-29-2007, 02:44 PM
Henry17 Henry17 is offline
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Default Re: I have an idea and need advice

Your mom donates 90% of her income? wow.

I'm still having trouble understanding your idea.

This is what I have so far. Correct what is wrong.

You want to start a charity. You want to be known to the people who donate to the charity but anonymous to the people who benefit from the charity. You'd like to gain some additional income from this yet you'd also be donating a large portion of your income to the charity.

Is this correct?
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  #6  
Old 10-29-2007, 03:10 PM
ItalianFX ItalianFX is offline
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Default Re: I have an idea and need advice

[ QUOTE ]

You want to start a charity. You want to be known to the people who donate to the charity but anonymous to the people who benefit from the charity. You'd like to gain some additional income from this yet you'd also be donating a large portion of your income to the charity.

Is this correct?

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't necessarily want to be known by the people who donate to the charity, but I don't mean to be anonymous like a black hole where people have no idea what the money is being used for, where it is going, or what the heck is even going on. I would need to sustain some type of credibility.

Yes, I want to remain anonymous to the people who benefit, as in donating in the name of the charity.

I was wondering if there would be a way to gain additional income to sustain the growth (if there is any) so that I would be able to take something out of it.

Yes, I would donate a portion of my income, but I don't know how "large."
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  #7  
Old 10-29-2007, 03:57 PM
Badger Badger is offline
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Default Re: I have an idea and need advice

File to form a 501c3. This is not a trivial thing.
Info

Pay yourself a reasonable salary.
Info on excess benefits

Running a non-profit is no easy task. You'll want to be efficient in order to encourage donors. You'll need to be a little more transparent than you're willing to let on here, however.

I'm not positive, but I'm assuming all donors could remain anonymous.
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  #8  
Old 10-29-2007, 04:09 PM
wdcbooks wdcbooks is offline
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Default Re: I have an idea and need advice

It sounds like you may be describing a Charitable Trust or a Remainder Trust of some sort.

Here is the way one might work. You have a property, or a cash account that is highly appreciated. You give it to charity through a trust arrangement and in turn the charity pays you an income based on the size of the gift as an annuity for life. At your death the remaining value of the property becomes property of the charity.

You can also do the opposite by donating the income stream from the asset to charity and having the corpus resort back to your estate upon death. These are both very common among high net worth donors. There is no reason you can't be anonymous working through an attorney who represents you.

The tax laws surrounding this are quite complex and you should engage is some discussion as to what arrangement is in your best interest. You should call the charity you are interested in and ask to speak to the person in charge of planned giving, every charity has such a person. They can guide you as to the most efficient way to both give and get the income you need.
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