Interesting reference. Non profits cannot hoard money. I believe it becomes taxable and they can lose their non profit status (i am not an expert)

Though, hoarding seems like a mischaracterization. Per the article linked, the cash burn rate is on the order of $100M/yr, having $150M in the bank is 18 months worth of funding.

The biggest gripe I read in the article is the "high" expenditure rate and how necessary it is. It seems like reasonable people may disagree on whether that spend rate is excessive.

If the expenditure rate were lower, I'd agree it would be hoarding.

I guess I can't see the reasonable argument that it is necessary when you look at the growth rate of their spending.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Guy_Macon/Wikipedia_has...

If they kept expenditures low and hoarded, I would actually be fine with that and happy to contribute. I see nothing wrong with forming a large endowment for a project like Wikipedia.

Citation needed for your claim about hoarding money, which is refuted by simple observation of the many, many endowments that exist.

I was confused about another situation - I was quite sure about this - and was incorrect. This speaks to the benefits of speaking from data and not just what you think the data was. Thank you for calling me out here, it was merited and the info was bad.

There are no limits on a nonprofit's ability to raise and maintain cash reserves; there are limits on how and to whom funds can be disbursed and (to a lesser extent) the kinds of activities that can be used to generate funds. But a nonprofit can sit on an endlessly-growing hoard of cash if that's what they (and their donors) want to do.

HAHA, apparently my comment is the number 1 result from google to the question: "can a nonprofit hoard cash", and the answer quotes me from this very thread with "Non profits cannot hoard money"

I believe I was likely incorrect and you are correct here @HillRat. The nuance where I was incorrect was if the nonprofit fails to properly pay taxes on unrelated activities - in which case the government can decide that entity is a for-profit entity. This link was helpful for me for that clarification: https://www.findlaw.com/smallbusiness/incorporation-and-lega...

I recall this being an issue for an HOA which wound up collecting more than it needed and there was concern that (A) it would be taxed & (B) nonprofit status would be lost. Paying taxes correctly is very important, but does not speak to a non-profits ability to hoard cash. My earlier comment is incorrect, I apologize for the bad information.

I think the distribution requirement is specifically for private foundations, not public charities.

>I will get downvoted for this, but it's my perception.

I will always downvote a comment when someone writes something like this. It is irrelevant to the conversation and screams insecurity.

100%

It's also tinged with a "People can't handle the based truth I'm laying down" attitude, which is annoying to read.

Based. It is r*ddit-tier passive aggression. This place is not much better, but we should still resist this type of crap when we can.

Downvoted your comment immediately, as unnecessary and hostile. Parent just made a comment that knew would be unpopular and expressed that.

That's so Reddit, this here is Hacker News.

I'm fine with that.

> the yearly round of donations comes around

The what? I cannot visit Wikipedia without seeing a donate bar, even when I close it every time. "Year-round" maybe.

One person's hoard is another person's endowment. To-mah-to, to-may-to.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_endowment