Community : General Discussion : Community-Funded Journalism

Hi everyone, first-time poster here :-)

I’m part of a volunteer group at http://www.SomervilleVoices.org and we are looking to set up a community-funded journalism project (similar to Spot.Us) where we’d pitch story ideas, collect small donations from the public, and then use the money to pay writers/reporters.

However, we want to avoid the overhead of reporting revenues to the IRS. So, could we just have ThePoint send us the check (to our address) with the name of the reporter/writer on the check, so we can hand it to him or her once the story is finished? Alternatively, could the name portion of the check be left blank so we can fill it in later?

Thanks and hope to hear back on this soon!
Barry

Hi Barry,

You have a few options here. You could have The Point send a check to your address but made out the the reporter or you could choose “Address not yet determined” and then let us know where to send the check once the campaign tips.

As far as taxes and the IRS are concerned, it will be the responsibility of the recipient to list this as an income if that’s what it is—The Point is only acting as a agent of the donors.

I hope this clears things up, let me know if there is anything else I can help with. Best of luck with your project!

Joe

Thanks, Joe! Could the total also be delivered in more than one check, made out to different people at different addresses?

Hi Barry,
We can only write one check for each campaign, so for each different amount and check you would have to start a different campaign.
- Joe

Thanks for your help, Joe!