Re: ratings

[Shawn Mamros <mamros@MIT.EDU>]

>[...]   But money from WBUR doesn't go to fund other BU departments and 
>ventures.   I'm not sure it can, legally, as a non-profit 
>institution.   [...]

That all depends on the exact nature of WBUR's relationship with BU.

My understanding is that WBUR is licensed directly to the Trustees of
Boston University.  If that is the case, and WBUR has no non-profit
foundation/corporation established for it that is separate from BU,
then from a legal perspective, WBUR and BU are one and the same.  A
donation to WBUR would be the same as a donation to BU.  Money could
flow between WBUR and the rest of BU however they see fit.

Internally, BU may still have their own reasons for keeping WBUR's
accounting separate from the rest of BU.  Usually the big-ticket
donors want it that way - if they earmark funds for one department,
then those funds had better go there or else...  Ultimately, though,
it all has to be combined for BU's annual Form 990 to the IRS.

Most of the college or college-affiliated stations in town are set
up that way.  There are at least two exceptions of which I'm aware
- WMBR and WHRB (the latter, though it has a commercial license, is
still a non-profit organization).  Both of these stations have their
own non-profit corporations established that are at least legally
separate from MIT and Harvard, respectively.  They have to file their
own Form 990s, and donations to those two stations don't (and can't)
flow into their respective schools' coffers.

-Shawn Mamros
E-mail to: mamros@mit.edu