Official Statement of TarValon.Net Regarding Riley Robinson

[Hammar O'Justice]

Would donors have some kind of right to demand to know what the donated money was used for?

I forgot to answer this initial question. If a donor makes a general donation ("Here's a check for $100! Bye!") then they really don't have any grounds to special information. Only if they have a particularized interest ("Here's $10K for servers, and servers only!") do they have any real grounds, IMO.

This is completely different from the question of whether it's smart politics for the organization to show what it spends money on in order to market itself as a worthy recipient of money.

 

[Tazren Talamar]

Hammar: Thanks for the replies.

Lillian: I guess my question was just very hypothetical, then

 

[Lilli O' Neeus]

Not at all. I just felt the need to point out historical precedent. The administration may choose to change procedure, but I just don't see any indication and I don't really see a need.

 

[Hilwa Katir]

The administration has earned my trust. This is a glitch..
I do not need any extra information..

 

[Emerald ní Róhan]

Warning: I've re-read this post, and I kind of sound like a know-it-all, but I don't mean it. It's just me rambling. Not trying to tell anyone what to do.

Think of other non-profits one might donate to; the Red Cross, World Wildlife Fund, Humane Society, etc. Most of these don't set up specific types of donation sets. You send them money, and theoretically they are doing the appropriate things with it. This is not always the case, but there you go.

With TV.net there are often specific things for which "members" send in money. Maybe it's for an event, in which case, we'd have every right to expect that money to go towards the event. Maybe it's for the scholarship, in which case there is reasonable expectation that the money go to the scholarship. In general, though, I think donations are taken in and used where the Board sees the most need.

While some non-profits do make their financials available to *members*, this probably isn't the same as just having people who donate. Therefore, the people who donate, but are not members, have no right to financial info in any form. This is part of why I was hoping to have some consideration given to stronger definitions of the levels of membership here. I don't think it would really change anything about what we have the right to know unless maybe the Tower started offering some kind of "Supporting Membership" or something.