After long discussions, we are now taking the next step with A4E and will register as a non-profit organisation in Germany.
Over the past 3.5 years, A4E has grown from a few enthusiasts to a world-wide movement. We have organised meetings, produced publications in both scientific journals and for the public; we have created shows, given numerous talks all over the world, pushed our societies to do better, and innovated new and better meeting formats – both for our own meetings and for scientific meetings in general. The core group of organisers, however, has not grown proportionally to the number of members and the number of tasks: membership management, website maintenance, meeting organisation, newsletter editing.
Why a non-profit organisation?
The main reason to register as a non-profit now is therefore to put ourselves on a more professional, and more sustainable, footing. We need a legal body in order to apply for funding which in turn will allow us to hire personnel – a secretary/manager to begin with – to help with the daily maintenance and administration.
Our long-term goal is to have an international A4E organisation and a few national “dependencies” for tax, donation and practical reasons. We are starting with the legal body in Germany since we have the critical mass there. For the time being, it will serve both as national and international organisation. It should be seen as financial and administrative support for the grass-roots organisation. While the organisation is registered in Germany, we will conduct meetings online and keep all recordings in English as far as legally possible, otherwise in translation.
What is happening next?
In order to pass the statutes, formally sign them and start organising the non-profit, we will get together on June 9th. This meeting will happen both in Würzburg and online and you are all very welcome to join us there. Please register if you can participate in person or online.
If you want to contribute in the text work to finalize the statutes, please join the slack channel #project_a4e_meetup_europe and follow the discussion and links provided there.
