The idea of dedicating a section of TheAcerGuy to worthy causes has been sitting at the back of my mind for a while and as I mentioned in a previous post, Emily’s mail from Earthrace really snapped it into focus.

However, before you find yourself faced with a little old lady armed with a collection box on the front page of the site, I though I’d try to describe it a little bit more.

The plan is really simple: Use the power, generosity and reach of TheAcerGuy community to provide Acer computers to schools or organizations in need.

In other words, do something we can all share in and be proud of.

Now before you start complaining that “Acer isn’t doing enough…!” or “Acer should be involved…” they are.

There are currently dozens of charitable causes Acer is involved in however, as they are done on a local basis (Acer Africa sponsors the Girls Of Golf programme or Acer USA with the The Acer Education Technology Initiative, Acer Italy with Futuro @l femminile and the list goes on…), well you kind of get the idea.

Besides, I would like to keep Acer out of this for now so that we’re free to create this thing without worrying about guidelines, mission statements, funding approval and the kind of corporate governance that would stifle Jack’s beanstalk! Where I would like to see Acer’s involvement is, maybe, by offering discounts on products or guaranteeing customer support wherever these products end up. Ideas on a postcard…

Anyway, I though I’d keep you informed about the progress this project makes and so without further ado, here’s the first hurdle: Taxes.

One of the best things about social media is the fact that it’s just so transparent. Great for building a reputation but there’s a downside to this. When David Armano set up a ChipIn fund to help his friend Daniela, he did it out of the kindness of his (private) heart. If I raise money and buy notebooks (say 10/20 at a time), as the legal owner of the site and manager of the fund I’m going to have to declare this income/expenditure to the Italian tax authorities…

Unless you set up a non-profit organization, which a) I’m not ready to commit to just yet as I’m not sure how successful this initiative will be and b) costs something like €4K/year to manage which, if there are €0 margins, is going to be a little difficult to explain to the wife…

I’ll be talking to my accountant this week and let you know what he suggests.

This is definitely going to be a long, uphill battle but where there’s a will there’s a way eh?