Fiscal Sponsorship

This initiative helps social entrepreneurs do their good work in our community without needing to have their own nonprofit. Fiscal Sponsorship is a formal arrangement in which the Center for Community Stewardship sponsors projects that lack tax-exempt status. This alternative to starting a nonprofit allows projects to seek grants and solicit tax-deductible donations under C4CS’s exempt status.

Why use a fiscal sponsor? Starting a project through a fiscal sponsor is easier for two reasons: time and money. Forming a nonprofit and applying for tax exemption from the IRS often requires a lawyer and takes a minimum of six months (There is a newer, simplified IRS form that shortens the process for small organizations – learn more here), but for some initiatives, fiscal sponsorship may be a better choice.

With fiscal sponsorship, you can get started raising money within a month. But the main benefit of fiscal sponsorship is that you get to focus on the reasons you are doing this work in the first place, without having to worry about things like accounting, taxes, HR, health benefits, Board recruitment, and insurance.

Fiscal sponsorship through C4CS is flexible – some projects go on to form their own 501(c)3, some projects remain a fiscally sponsored project, and others close after achieving the short-term goal their project was created to achieve.  C4CS currently has more than 65 fiscally sponsored projects spanning all fields.

To learn more about fiscal sponsorship, this Nonprofit Quarterly article is a good place to start. Click here to download a PDF of the benefits and costs of fiscal sponsorship through C4CS.

Fiscal Sponsorship Process

We only accept fiscal sponsorship requests from Wisconsin-based organizations. After you have reviewed our fiscal sponsorship information, please contact Lisa Dugdale (lisa @ community-stewardship.org) to set up a phone call or meeting. In addition to your contact information, please also let us know if you are currently being fiscally sponsored, and if you are incorporated as a Wisconsin nonprofit.

The next steps to fiscal sponsorship are to complete the official application – we will email you the newest version of the contract to complete. The C4CS Board needs to approve each new fiscally sponsored project, and can generally do so within 3 months of application.