The UC-IMC Steering Committee would like to comment on the recent controversy surrounding the following claim, made by Sascha Meinrath at a press conference announcing the purchase of the UCIMC's new building:
"There are over 150 Independent Media Centers in 50 plus countries worldwide. And this IMC here in Urbana-Champaign is the umbrella under which the entire global network operates. We are in essence the global headquarters for the Indymedia movement, here in Urbana."

Several UC-IMCistas were offended by this comment, as were others in the Indymedia network. We believe this statement was worded badly and needs clarification.

The Indymedia network operates on principles of autonomy and non-hierarchy, and the UC-IMC strongly affirms these principles. The UC-IMC, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, hosts the funds of a number of other projects, including some other Indymedia collectives. This is a service we provide only at the request of these other organizations.

There are two ways to look at the structure of the IMC network: the organizational structure and the legal/fiscal structure. So much of the workings of the IMC network on a day-to-day basis are related to the organizational structure that IMCistas sometimes are surprised to learn that there is a legal/fiscal structure too.

This legal/fiscal structure was created by consensus of the IMC network in 2001 and 2002. There is a global Finance working group operating through the imc-finance mailing list. In 2002, this working group consensed that for legal purposes -- that is, on paper -- the Global Indymedia network is "fiscally sponsored" by the UC-IMC. This means that, under US tax law, UC-IMC has legally shared its status as a non-profit organization with the Global Indymedia network. Additional details describing and documenting this relationship and the rationale behind it are available on the UC-IMC website.

There is nothing permanent about this fiscal sponsorship, nor should there be. UC-IMC actively encourages working toward other solutions -- either that other US IMC collectives gain 501(c)3 status independent of UC-IMC and allow the fiscal sponsorship of Global to rotate among them; or that Global Indymedia Network become a 501(c)3 itself.

Without this fiscal context, however -- a context many IMCistas were not likely to know about, and which Sascha didn't provide in his off-the-cuff statement -- the comment "this IMC here in Urbana-Champaign is the umbrella under which the entire global network operates" sounds like a direct attack on organizational autonomy between Indymedia collectives, rather than a statement about the legal/fiscal organization of the Indymedia network.

We at UC-IMC strongly affirm the principle of the autonomy of the IMC collectives, and regret that a statement was made by a member of our collective apparently undermining that principle. We recognize that there were IMCistas deeply offended by the implications of the statement, and we apologize for inadvertently appearing, through miscommunication, to suggest that we do not recognize and honor the principle of organizational autonomy between IMC collectives.

We also wish to affirm that the above statement by Sascha was accurately reported by our radio volunteer, Dave Berliner. The reporting of that statement and the implications contained within it was not a mistake on the part of the IMCista.

Note: This is the official statement consensed to by the UC IMC Steering Group on June 16th, 2005. Further information about this issue may be found in the first comment below. Related article include:

http://www.ucimc.org/feature/display/35878/index.php http://www.ucimc.org/feature/display/34385/index.php

The IMC Network and UC-IMC's Place Within It

What does "IMC" mean?

The Independent Media Center is a network of collectively run media outlets for the creation of radical, accurate, and passionate tellings of the truth. We work out love for, and are inspired by, people who continue to work for a better world, despite corporate media's distortions and unwillingness to cover the efforts to free humanity. For more about the IMC and its core principles, see the Indymedia Documentation Project, from which the preceding language was taken.

People use "IMC" to mean different things at different times, and this can be a potential source of confusion. Depending on context, it could mean:

• any local IMC collective, in this case UC-IMC;
• the Global Indymedia network collective; or
  
• the entire collective of local IMC collectives, taken as a whole.

How is the IMC network organized?

Why are there two simultaneous structures, organizational and fiscal/legal?

Here is the rationale, as given when UC-IMC first made the proposal to the IMC-Finance working group (link):

What is the organizational structure?

• Local Collectives -- Taken from the FAQ: "There are currently over one hundred and fifty Independent Media Centers around the world. Each IMC is an autonomous group that has its own mission statement, manages its own finances and makes its own decisions through its own processes." Each IMC may have a variety of projects. For example, projects at UC-IMC include the print newspaper The Public (i), a radio news segment broadcast on WEFT, and the low-power FM station WRFU. To learn more about each IMC, visit its web page.
• The Global Indymedia Network (aka indymedia.org) -- Taken from the FAQ: "indymedia.org" is an organization composed of independent media activists from around the world who are working to coordinate international independent media projects. The indymedia.org group manages an international Indymedia page (http://www.indymedia.org) and coordinates technical and editorial policy issues that affect all IMCs that are associated with the Indymedia network.

Click on image for a larger version

How was this organizational structure decided on?

What is the legal/fiscal structure, and how was it decided on?

What was that again?

How was the arrangement between Global Indymedia Network and UC-IMC arrived at?

• The possibility of fiscal sponsorship by UC-IMC was first suggested by Sascha Meinrath of UC-IMC in July, 2001 (link).
  
• This was part of a larger discussion of developing the sustainability of the Indymedia movement (link).
• It was also proposed that Global Indymedia Network pursue 501(c)3 status itself (link).
• Discussion continued and continued.
• The UC-IMC collective approved the offer to fiscally sponsor Global in December, 2001 (link).
• The original fiscal sponsor, Jam for Justice, withdrew its fiscal sponsorship in February, 2002 (link).
  
• The official proposal was presented to imc-finance in late February, 2002 (link) and approved in March, 2002 (link).
  

How do IMC collectives handle their finances?

There is no standard IMC model for handling finances, and such decisions are left to the local collectives.

In the US, there are advantages to the tactic of either

• registering with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as a non-profit organization, or
• fiscally allying with another organization already recognized as a non-profit.
  

If the IRS agrees that you are a non-profit organization, it grants you something called 501(c)3 status. The benefits of gaining this status include:

• Donations to that IMC collective, up to a certain limit, can be deducted from your income at tax time.
• Bequests to the IMC collective, with certain restrictions, are exempt from the estate tax.
• The collective itself is exempt from paying some taxes, such as sales taxes on media supplies and equipment.
  

If you fiscally ally with a 501(c)3, then the same benefits also apply. The process of allying with a 501(c)3 is called "fiscal sponsorship." This should not be interpreted to mean the 501(c)3 organization somehow owns the organizations fiscally allied with it in this way. Such ownership of one IMC collective by another would be against the autonomous spirit of Indymedia.

When did the UC-IMC become a 501(c)3 organization?

UC-IMC has been a 501(c)3 organization since June, 2001. The process of registering as a 501(c)3 organization involved, among other things, the writing of bylaws, the election of officers, and interacting with the IRS.

Will UC-IMC hold this fiscal/legal position permanently?

• That other US IMC collectives gain 501(c)3 status independent of UC-IMC and allow the fiscal sponsorship of Global to rotate among them; or
• That Global Indymedia Network become a 501(c)3 itself.

Does UC-IMC have a fee for hosting the funds of fiscal allies?

Yes. This is not unique to UC-IMC; it's a standard operating procedure for 501(c)3 organizations. We know of no 501(c)3 offering such a service for free. The fees are on a sliding scale negotiated up front with the organization seeking to ally financially with UC-IMC, and range from 5% upward. Money raised by this fee currently covers only part of the expense of bookkeeping, auditing, and filing costs involved and was not used as a source of funding for purchase of the UC-IMC collective's building. In effect UC-IMC is currently subsidizing the accounting out of our general operating funds.

What organizations is the UC-IMC fiscally allied with under 501(c)3?