The first meeting of 2020 for QuipuNet took place on January 5, 2020 in Tacoma Washington at the residence of Martha Davies, one of the founders of QuipuNet.

Those present at the meeting included Martha Davies, William McLain (Secretary), Rosa Valdivia (Treasurer), and members of the group 5 (named in memory of Luis Millones).  This group was represented at the meeting by Roxanna Medina de Anduaga, Ivonne Millones, Vilma Soto, Charo Lorayco, and Rosa Valdivia.   Also joining the meeting later via Face Time was Raul Nakasone (President).

Martha Davies opened the meeting at 2:15 PM and began to talk about how Quipunet started. It was incorporated on November 22, 1995 in the state of Washington as a virtual nonprofit educational organization. In 1996 it obtained a 501(3)C status from the IRS. This determination is important to us because it establishes a legitimacy in order to receive donations as well as a tax deduction for potential donors.

According to the established by-laws, Quipunet operated as a complete virtual organization. When Quipunet was established there were few if any virtual organizations. Neither the IRS nor the founders of Quipunet knew how to do this.

The meeting then opened to a series of questions and answers by those present. There are questions about the importance of the 501(3)C status and how it related to the ability to raise funds through donations. Quipunet as a virtual organization is a one hundred percent volunteer organization operating with no staff. It functions as an umbrella organization which allows small groups of people to form teams or groups to raise funds to provide financial support to needy schools and people in Peru.

There were questions regarding the status of the website and the importance of having a web presence. We are currently working on this. We have a domain and a server established and are currently working on a platform that not only will provide information about Quipunet but also provide functionality for creating groups, projects and managing them.

A discussion was held about different methods of handling donations. Currently Quipunet has a bank account where funds raised by the different groups are deposited. The treasurer keeps a record of what funds belong to each group. In order to take advantage of Quipunet’s 501(3)C status, it was determined that all funds raised in the name of Quipunet should pass through the organization.

The use of Go Fund Me to raise funds for each group was also discussed.

Raul Nakasone called in using Face Time and talked to the group. He was unable to come to the meeting in person. He started by explaining how to use this application as a method of appearing at virtual locations.

Raul also talked about helping rural schools in Peru by helping them to use the Internet to access educational sites such as the Khan Academy to provide additional educational resources. The Khan Academy provides a large variety of scholastic courses in a variety of educational levels. These courses are also available in Spanish.

He also discussed using Go Fund Me as a method to raise additional funds for groups for their projects. He agreed to provide a virtual workshop on using Go Fund Me later. He and William McLain will work on designing and presenting several workshops using Face time at a future date.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:45 PM.

By William McLain, Secretary