A Relationship-Focused Approach to Fiscal Sponsorship
One of the roles we play at the Barton Institute for Community Action is fiscal sponsor. A fiscal sponsor is “a nonprofit organization that provides fiduciary oversight, financial management, and other administrative services to help build the capacity of charitable projects.”
Most fiscal sponsors charge a fee of around 10% for their services. They typically handle accounting, payroll, insurance and other business operations of their projects. This allows the people running the projects to focus on their programs and on fundraising. Most organizations that serve as fiscal sponsors have dozens of programs under their umbrella. For example, the Colorado Nonprofit Development Center has served over 300 programs since its establishment more than a quarter century ago.
The Barton Institute has the privilege of taking a different approach to fiscal sponsorship. We work with no more than a handful of program partners at any one time. All of these programs are developing and fostering places for opportunity, connection, and belonging in Metro Denver.
Because we have only a few partners, we can give them personalized attention. Our approach is very relationship-based. As requested, we serve as advisors to our program partner leaders, helping them with planning, board development, fundraising strategies, and more.
Our work is rooted in principles of equity and inclusion. We strongly believe that those closest to the issues are best positioned to determine the solutions to those issues. Therefore, listening carefully is essential to our work.
