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SoylentNews
prospectacle writes:
"An important choice remains for this site. What kind of organisation will we be, practically, legally and financially?
A for-profit, shareholder corporation seems out of the question, by general consensus (correct me if I'm wrong), but other questions remain. The basic choice is this:
Will we be like a charity, a co-op, or a recreational club?
- (Like a) Charity:
Being like a charity means operating for the public benefit. What we produce is news and englightened commentary for the benefit of the world. All our finances and operations would be geared towards this aim. All excess revenue is reinvested into the site. - Co-op:
A co-op is for the mutual financial benefit of individual (possibly paid) members. Three main sub-options for this exist that might be appropriate for this site:
2a) A retailer's co-op. Members use a common organisation in order to make individual profits. For example if members used this site to display their stunning intelligence, and then put their resume or website links on their profile page so people could hire them. Maybe there are services built into the site to find someone to hire who fits your requirements.
2b) A worker's co-operative: Employees share any excess revenue. Some revenue would go to expenses, some would be reinvested, whatever remains is shared among employees.
2c) A buyer's co-op. We exist to get discounts, or to buy together what we can't afford separately. Maybe we're buying well-written news and analysis from professional authors. Or maybe we're bulk-buying electronics, etc, so the price-per individual can be lower. - A Recreational Club:
This takes membership fees to provide access to equipment, organize competitions, etc. Maybe paid members would get to use extra services, like an email account, or storage space, or their own discussion thread area, or software project hosting, or chat-rooms, etc. Non-members could still be permitted, with fewer privileges, and would have to pay-per-use for the extra services (or pay to become a member).
This is a gross simplification, but gives some idea of the options involved. Feel free to offer alternatives. So what should we be, what is our purpose, really? And what kind of a structure is required to make sure we serve that purpose, and that money doesn't end up in the wrong pockets?
Bonus question: which jurisdiction should we set ourselves up in to fulfil our mission most effectively?"
(Score: 1) by freesword on Wednesday March 12 2014, @08:44PM
Don't pick a structure and try to fit into it!
Define what the site should be and how you want it run and then pick the structure that will let you achieve this.
The news and commenting need to remain free with no paywall or membership requirement. This is the core that the site/community is built on. Barriers to entry will only weaken it.
Benefits for subscription/donation are not a bad thing. Access to group buy (as in the buyers co-op) or e-mail accounts (listed in the club description but not exclusive to that structure) would be good perks to encourage subscriptions without creating an elitist sub-group. Having a retail outlet component for "geek swag" was mentioned, and this would in addition to a revenue option offer another possible perk of subscriber discounts. The key is they are a bonus and not tied to the core news/commenting functionality of the site.
I do feel that subscriber/donor perks should not include buying "voting rights" or any other controlling interest in the site as this could be open to being leveraged and abused.
If advertising revenue becomes a necessary evil, then care should be taken to keep it unobtrusive.
While I admit to a very limited knowledge of business structure and legal matters, I feel what I just described appears to fit best with the buyer's co-op option, but I could be wrong.