[Data-modeling] Non-profits, once more with feeling

Fri Aug 8 19:39:27 UTC 2008

I was indeed thinking of putting "sector" on "organization", but  
that's clearly inappropriate for existing taxonomies with restricted  
application.  It would make sense for the NTEE-CC property to be  
associated with the "non-profit" tag, although I would suggest being  
more specific with the property name: "NTEE-CC sector" rather than  
just "non-profit sector."

Whether it makes sense to separate "endowment" properties depends a  
lot on the data at the other end of that link.  If there are  
endowments that fund a variety of types of entities, then putting  
"endowment" on an "Endowed Entity" type does simplify cross-domain  
queries.  I can't say I know enough about endowments to be sure.

Tim

On Aug 8, 2008, at 11:34 AM, Jeff Prucher wrote:

> I like Faye's suggestion, too, and I'm looking into other countries  
> to see
> what kind of patterns there are.  And thanks for catching the  
> duplicate
> "geographic scope" property on organization.
>
> In terms of sector, are you proposing that it go on "organization",  
> instead?
> It's sort of the organizational equivalent to "industry", so I could  
> imagine
> it going there.  (That said, taxonomies like the NTEE-CC are  
> explicitly for
> non-profits, so linking to them from another type might be  
> semantically
> weird, assuming of course that they have compatible licenses.) In  
> terms of
> endowments, what type would you propose putting that property on?   
> "Endowed
> entity"?  I guess I don't see how the having an "endowment" property  
> on the
> "College/University" type precludes an "endowment" property being on
> "Non-profit organization".
>
> Jeff
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: data-modeling-bounces at freebase.com
>> [mailto:data-modeling-bounces at freebase.com] On Behalf Of Tim Kientzle
>> Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2008 6:09 PM
>> To: Freebase data modeling mailing list
>> Subject: Re: [Data-modeling] Non-profits, once more with feeling
>>
>> Faye makes a good point.  It seems quite possible that the
>> only property of "non-profit" would be the tax framework
>> under which it's recognized (e.g., "US Government
>> 501(c)(3)").  Every other property of your proposed
>> "non-profit" type applies to things other than non-
>> profits:  Harvard has an endowment, the Organization type
>> already has a "Geographic scope," and there are philanthropic
>> and/or charitable organizations that are not non-profit but
>> to which your "non-profit sector" classification would still apply.
>>
>> Tim
>>
>> On Aug 7, 2008, at 5:15 PM, Faye Li wrote:
>>
>>> Technically a non-profit is just an organization that's not
>>> commercially motivated. :)
>>>
>>> Legally though, the term has very specific definitions in the US,
>>> state-defined definitions, actually, which means a CA-based
>> nonprofit
>>> may very well not qualify as a "non-proft" under say, Montana state
>>> law. To sort through the state-to-state discrepancy the IRS has the
>>> final say on nationally recognized non-profit organizations through
>>> section 501(c) codes. There are over a million
>>> (!) of them registered with the IRS today. Even 1% of that
>> data will
>>> make a nice chunk in Freebase. :)
>>>
>>> But that's besides the point, which is: a non-profit has a
>> privileged
>>> status which has to be qualified by the system that
>> recognizes it as a
>>> non-profit, much as a protected site needs to specify the
>> park system
>>> under which it is protected. Without that data, or at least
>> a property
>>> to input that data, the claim of being a non-profit becomes...well,
>>> unqualified, and legally weak.
>>>
>>> Kirrily, I'll have to check out your charities domain. :)
>>>
>>> -- Faye
>>>
>>>
>>> Kirrily Robert wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Not all non-profits take donations.  However, I have been modeling
>>>> charities in a domain of my own (/user/skud/charities) and
>> I've got
>>>> properties for religious affiliation as well as geographical focus.
>>>>
>>>> K.
>>>>
>>>> On Aug 7, 2008, at 3:27 PM, Alexander Marks wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> How about a Religious Affiliation property? Applies to any
>>>>> organization, I guess, but seems especially relevant for
>> those that
>>>>> take donations.
>>>>>
>>>>> Al
>>>>>
>>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>>> From: "Jeff Prucher" <jeff at metaweb.com>
>>>>> To: "Freebase data modeling mailing list"
>>>>> <data-modeling at freebase.com
>>>>>>
>>>>> Sent: Thursday, August 7, 2008 9:24:29 PM (GMT) Europe/London
>>>>> Subject: [Data-modeling] Non-profits, once more with feeling
>>>>>
>>>>> I sent a note about this a couple weeks ago, and received no
>>>>> responses. I'm figuring that either things are slow because it's
>>>>> summer (in the Northern Hemisphere anyway) or that nobody
>> cares much
>>>>> about this schema one way or another.  Just in case it's
>> the former,
>>>>> I'm reposting my non-profit organization schema to
>> sandbox; if it's
>>>>> for the latter reason, I'll go ahead and upload the schema at my
>>>>> leisure. :)
>>>>>
>>>>>
>> https://sandbox.freebase.com/type/view/organization/non_profit_organ
>>>>> ization
>>>>>
>>>>> It's pretty basic; it includes the types Organization (to get the
>>>>> board members and parent/child organizations, among other
>> things),
>>>>> and Employer.
>>>>>
>>>>> Jeff Prucher
>>>>> Type Librarian & Ontologist
>>>>> Metaweb Technologies, Inc.
>>>>>
>>>>>
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