Non-profit to Strengthen the ResearchHub Ecosystem

I propose non-profit X (I haven’t settled on a name yet. Suggestions appreciated in the comments), a 501(c)(3) meant to enable researcher access to funding via the ResearchHub ecosystem. The organization’s initial responsibility set will include 1) a quality check of grant applications, 2) posting them on the site and 3) transmitting the donated money to the relevant institution when the fundraising goals are met. Eventually, it may be used to accept donations from organizations outside of the RSH ecosystem.

Why?

It would simplify the current process of getting grant funding to institutions. The current process for transmitting the grant capital raised on the site consists of giving the money to the researcher who has to pay taxes and then donate the money to the school to be used for the research. This is because there are potential legal issues with RH Inc. transferring the capital. Using a 501(c)(3), we should be able to convert the RSC to cash and donate it to the university via ordinary channels.
It would be a vehicle by which the community could help curate grant applications before they are posted on the site. An increasingly heavy lift as we grow.
Current donors on the site don’t have the benefit of deducting their donations. Making their donations tax deductible and reputation enhancing could encourage a lot of capital earned onsite going towards different grants.
Using 501(c)(3)s would also allow us to get offsite tax deductible donations for a wide range of research areas. Imagine a streamlined situation where people can donate a portion of their taxes to ResearchHub while using tax software, or opt into a slightly higher transaction fee via their wallet to fund basic research. These donations could be allocated to research based on a range of factors the community finds optimal (including onsite reputation).

Ask: An expedited registration process in the United States (including IRS non-profit designation) should cost roughly $1300. This is a request for funds to help register this first organization. We will likely have to register others so that members around the world can take advantage of the benefits of a non-profit corporation.

Preprint

Preprint

Non-profit to Strengthen the ResearchHub Ecosystem

Non-profit to Strengthen the ResearchHub Ecosystem