Fiscal sponsorship has been around as an alternative to nonprofit incorporation and some of its attendant bureaucracies for many decades, and for most of that time, it was seen primarily as a stepping stone for young start-up groups. However, even for well-established organizations, fiscal sponsorship is increasingly seen as a more permanent structural option. Here is a quick description:
A fiscal sponsor… is a nonprofit organization that shares with multiple independent missions a common corporate structure, tax exemption, insurance, staff, and systems for managing your finances, human resources, legal, fundraising, marketing, and other areas of back-office support.
Dana Britto, an expert in how nonprofits organize themselves to get their work done right, hosts this webinar to review the full range of options and considerations available to you through fiscal sponsorship. She is joined by guest host, Asta Petkeviciute of Social Impact Commons, who published the first field scan of the fiscal sponsorship ecosystem almost two decades ago last year.
Among the questions that will be addressed are:
- What exactly is fiscal sponsorship? What does it provide?
- What are the cost considerations?
- Are there different types of arrangements? - What is the range of types? How do you find the right match?
- Are there red flags to look out for?
- What kinds of groups should consider fiscal sponsorship either as a sponsee or sponsor?
As always, the Nonprofit Financial Commons will include “case studies” of those who have been fiscally sponsored, leaving plenty of time to answer your questions. Resources and tools will also be included.
This session will not only be pertinent to groups that are emerging, or spinning-off from an organizational parent, but also to groups that want to concentrate more on their missions than on independent management for any reason. Nonprofits acting as fiscal sponsors and foundation funders of innovative and emerging organizations are also very welcome.