Taking donations does not require giving up an organization's independence. Folding@home is part of a 501(c)(3) organization under the US tax code, meaning any donations made specifically for folding@home would be tax deductible. At the same time, it's not unusual for people to make donations to a 501(c)(3) organization on the contingency that the funds are used a particular way.kostuek wrote:Actually, I wouldn't rush things. This "hype" may die out in a few weeks just like hypes tend to do. By that time, if you took big money from a big sponsor, this sponsor would probably like to know what is going on and where it's money is at. If you took some cloud infrastructure, the sponsor may take it away as soon as covid has gone away or even earlier, so you will need to go back to square one. I feel like staying independent is important for a long term project like this, covid will not last forever, other research will stay.
Hypothetically, if either Bill Gates himself or the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation donated $25 million to folding@home, as long as it's used for research in pandemics, that's 100% allowable. Depending upon the requirements for the donation to the 501(c)(3), i.e., if Gates would require (in writing with the donation) the money is to be only used for Azure servers, the IRS may question if Gates' donation should be tax deductible for Gates, as the donation itself may be considered self serving, but Gates attorneys would know a heck of a lot more about his current tax situation than me.
I'm not saying that the existing infrastructure should be dropped, but the best way to expand for what may or may not be a temporary increase in folding@home GPU and CPU donors is 100% through a cloud provider. Receiving a donation from a cloud provider does not change folding@home's independent 501(c)(3) status in the least bit.
501(c)(3)'s can also prominently display a list of their donors, which for the donors is often free advertising for the donors because monetary donations cost them nothing if they can use the donation as a tax deduction. With the hype around folding@home, it's a great time to ask for donations, as any donor could receive a bunch of free advertising with the current hype around the project.