Mid-July HardenedBSD Foundation Status

Submitted by Shawn Webb on

On 09 July 2018, the HardenedBSD Foundation Board of Directors held the kick-off meeting to start organizing the Foundation. The following people attended the kick-off meeting:

1. Shawn Webb (in person)
2. George Saylor (in person)
3. Ben Welch (in person)
4. Virginia Suydan (in person)
5. Ben La Monica (phone)
6. Dean Freeman (phone)
7. Christian Severt (phone)

We discussed the very first steps that need to be taken to organize the HardenedBSD Foundation as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization in the US. We determined we could file a 1023EZ instead of the full-blown 1023. This will help speed the process up drastically.

The steps are laid out as follows:

  1. Register a Post Office Box (PO Box) (completed on 10 Jul 2018).
  2. Register The HardenedBSD Foundation as a tax-exempt nonstock corporation in the state of Maryland (started on 10 Jul 2018, submitted on 18 Jul 2018, granted 20 Jul 2018).
  3. Obtain a federal tax ID (obtained 20 Jul 2018).
  4. Close the current bank account and create a new one using the federal tax ID (completed on 20 Jul 2018).
  5. File the 1023EZ paperwork with the federal government (started on 20 Jul 2018, submitted 28 Aug 2018).
  6. Hire an attorney to help draft the organization bylaws.

Each of the steps must be done serially and in order.

We added Christian Severt, who is on Emerald Onion's Board of Directors, to the HardenedBSD Foundation Board of Directors as an advisor. He was foundational in getting Emerald Onion their 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, not-for-profit status and has really good insight. Additionally, he's going to help HardenedBSD coordinate hosting services, figuring out the best deals for us.

We promoted George Saylor to Vice President and changed Shawn Webb's title to President and Director. This is to help resolve potential concerns both the state and federal agencies might have with an organization having only a single President role.

We hope to be granted our 501(c)(3) status before the end of the year, though that may be subject to change. We are excited for the formation of the HardenedBSD Foundation, which will open up new opportunities not otherwise available to HardenedBSD.