Fiscal Sponsor Organizations

I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of that before, @Lucy Kennedy-Wong, she/her. You get all the fun stuff!

Just to clarify, these are model A projects, right?

And just curious, what does the termination section of your FS Agreement say about moving to another c3? — does it mention anything about mission-alignment?

Always surprises over here! They are Model A projects. Our FS Agreement does not mention mission-alignment! I see another edit in our future. It only says that we have to approve the new fiscal sponsor.

Interested to hear what your thoughts on this are @Jennifer Hoffman, @Sarah Motola, @Sarah McCann (she/hers), @Josh Sattely and @Oliver Hack…for a project transferring to a new sponsor, is the current sponsor responsible for ensuring that the new sponsor and the project are mission-aligned?

I am not sure the restrictions on ensuring mission alignment for the soon to be former FS. On a related note, I learned years ago that when a project is winding down and they have unrestricted funds left, they can recommend the balance be sent to another 501c3 but that 501c3 does not have to have a similar mission. That was surprising/concerning to me from a donor perspective because there is a possibility that the funds could end up in a cause that the original donor may not support. Circling back to this question about transferring projects to another FS that is not aligned, that seems it may pose a larger issue for that project when fundraising. Also doesn’t the new FS have an obligation to ensure the new project has an aligned mission?

Thanks, @Jennifer Hoffman. When it comes to the “winding down project” having a say in where those funds go, I think the key word you mentioned is “recommend.” As it’s been explained to me, the project can provide input but the ultimate decision is up to the sponsor.

And you bring up a great point about the outgoing sponsor’s responsibility — it does seem like the new sponsor would hold much (all?) of that responsibility since they are taking on the project.

@Andrew Schulman and @Jennifer Hoffman, I appreciate this conversation! I would also think that the new sponsor would be the most concerned about taking on a project that isn’t mission-aligned, because at that point they are changing their charitable mission. I’m going to guess it may have something to do with cough cough…

It sounds like there isn’t much of a risk on our end though!