Fiscal Sponsor Projects

For nearly 20 years, Discover Your Northwest (DYNW) has fostered community leadership and environmental stewardship by helping emerging charitable enterprises to flourish through a program called Fiscal Sponsorship. In this program, an emerging charitable enterprise partners with DYNW to become a Fiscal Sponsor Project (FSP). The FSP receives administrative support and services and DYNW receives financial compensation from a percentage of each FSP’s revenue. Together, FSPs and DYNW create operational efficiencies that allow each to further their missions and expand program impact. DYNW has partnered with diverse organizations throughout the Pacific Northwest that have valuable focus areas, including human services, environmental science and conservation, community-led stewardship, and youth education.

Fiscal sponsorship offers an affordable alternative that allows emerging organizations to use a greater share of their resources towards impactful programs and advancing their mission. DYNW assesses a 10% administrative fee of all gross revenues to sustainably offer a scope of benefits to fiscal sponsor projects. The benefits below showcase how DYNW can support your organization.

  • Financial administration
    • Tax filing and annual audits
    • Tracking and reporting income and expenses
    • Financial activity coding, tracking, and reporting
    • Execution of procurement and payment requests
    • Check issuance and vendor relationship management
    • Donor tracking and thank you letters

  • Administrative assistance
    • Assistance and editing with grant progress reports, and closeouts
    • Grant identification and application assistance
    • Payroll management
    • Benefits management
    • Human resources training modules via Paychex, onboarding, review, compliance
    • Technical support for digital devices
    • Access to DYNW’s subscription-based software suite on a la carte basis, including Office, Adobe, G-Suite
  • Legal and compliance
    • Certificates of insurance provided
    • Customized insurance policies and riders to mitigate additional risk
    • Employer of record and IRS-determined nonprofit EIN 91-0921955

Learn more about FSP

What is a Fiscal Sponsor Project?

FSP refers to a situation where a nonprofit organization (the fiscal sponsor) agrees to provide administrative support and oversight to another organization or project that does not have its own tax-exempt status. This typically involves handling finances, managing donations, and providing other administrative services on behalf of the sponsored project.

DYNW, the sponsoring organization, assumes legal and financial responsibility for the FSP, allowing it to receive tax-deductible donations and grants under the fiscal sponsor's tax-exempt status. This arrangement is common for new or small initiatives that are not yet recognized as tax-exempt entities by the IRS or other relevant authorities.

Fiscal sponsorship can be a beneficial arrangement for both parties involved. It allows the sponsored project to focus on its mission and programs without the administrative burden of establishing and maintaining its own nonprofit status, while DYNW can extend its charitable activities and potentially receive additional funding through sponsored projects.

Why FSPs at DYNW?

DYNW empowers emerging charitable enterprises to thrive in their respective fields by offering fiscal sponsorship. Through a sustainable administrative fee structure and a comprehensive scope of benefits, DYNW provides vital support to FSPs, including financial administration, administrative assistance, and legal and compliance services. By joining the DYNW family, FSPs gain access to essential resources and expertise, enabling them to maximize their impact and contribute meaningfully to the preservation and enjoyment of Northwest public lands for present and future generations.

Why Choose DYNW?

Being a FSP of DYNW offers numerous benefits for emerging charitable enterprises:

  1. Cost-effectiveness: Administrative support and services at a lower cost through the shared resources and economies of scale provided by DYNW.
  2. Financial management: DYNW assists FSPs with financial administration, including tax filing, tracking and reporting income and expenses, execution of procurement and payment requests, donor tracking, and more.
  3. Administrative assistance: FSPs receive administrative support from DYNW, including assistance with grant progress reports, grant identification and application, payroll management, benefits enrollment and management, human resources training modules, and technical support for digital devices.
  4. Legal and compliance support: DYNW provides legal and compliance services to FSPs, including certificates of insurance, customized insurance policies for unique operations and durable goods, employer of record status, and IRS-determined nonprofit status. This support helps FSPs navigate regulatory requirements and mitigate risks, ensuring their compliance with legal obligations.
  5. Access to resources and expertise: By joining the DYNW family, FSPs gain access to DYNW's network, resources, and expertise in public lands management, community engagement, and environmental stewardship. This access enables FSPs to leverage DYNW's knowledge and connections to enhance their impact and achieve their organizational goals.

Overall, being an FSP of DYNW provides up-and-coming organizations with the support, resources, and expertise they need to grow, thrive, and make a meaningful difference in their communities and in the preservation and enjoyment of Northwest public lands.

Become a FSP with DYNW

DYNW uses a simple Google Form to collect these responses. This 16-question online survey is available here.