Actually, not-for-profit status does not mean charitable, at least in the USA. Many political lobbying groups for example are not-for-profit but contributions are not deductible.

Vroom knows what he is doing and I trust him, but Tye's article makes it clear that if someone other than Vroom were in charge donors would have cause for concern. Apparently none of the donations go to Vroom. He is unpaid if he receives donations, and unpaid if he does not.

Apparently the web host keeps all ad revenues from the site and all donations. I trust them too. I mean that ad revenues and donations probably do not cover the marginal expense of hosting the site.

But I learned long ago that I am a fool, and I developed certain rules to protect myself. When I am downtown I will not answer to any male stranger who speaks to me, because no matter how convincing the shpiel is I am dealing with a scam 99 percent of the time.

Not giving money to nominally for-profit organizations is simply another rule that I have.

I think I have said what I needed to say. Helpfully, constructively I hope. They say that nothing is difficult for the person who does not have to do it himself. However, if there is any way that Vroom can transfer this Perl Monks to a not-for-profit status then I think it will be better able to make its already strong case for contributions from its users.