About Fiscal Sponsorship

Open Minds Fiscal Sponsorship

Open Minds, Inc. Fiscal Sponsorship is a fundraising tool that provides an alternative to establishing your own 501 (c)(3) nonprofit corporation in order to access funding for your organization. Various grant-making organizations that require nonprofit status from its applicants and this is what OM provides. OM is acting as the grassroots organization fiscal sponsor administers and accounts for funding on behalf of the project.

The fiscal sponsor is legally responsible for the funds received on behalf of sponsored projects. It must ensure that the funds are used for the activities/work agreed upon by the donor and the recipient, and that the donor reporting requirements are met in a timely fashion.

While fiscal sponsorship can save you from the long and arduous process of becoming a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit tax-exempt organization and broadens your funding options, it is important to note that fiscal sponsors do not provide funding themselves, and do not research and apply for grants on behalf of a project. Open Minds will however help with steps to apply for your 501c3 with the IRS and promote your fundraising campaign.

You apply for fiscal sponsorship, and Open Minds staff and board review your mission statement, budget, project narrative; if you are accepted, we will sign an agreement and Open Minds, Inc. will provide you with a letter of support and all the relevant financial documents you will need for grant applications. Once your project has been awarded a grant or receives a contribution, the funds are distributed and mailed to Open Minds, Inc. We then deposit the funds in our tax-exempt bank account. Within the next 15 days, a check is written to the organization to fund general operating costs.

Responsibilities and Requirements:

Requirements

Provide Social Security and/or Tax ID information to OM once admitted to our fiscal sponsorship program.

Handle your own accounting for the organization ( we can give you advice on this to get started)

Conform to the guidelines specified in the grant when using received funds and create a report midway through project and at completion

After making use of the full grant, or at the end of the calendar year, supply OM, with an expense report that indicates how funding re-granted by us was spent.

Maintain proper tax records, allowing NOVAC, to provide tax authorities with the necessary paperwork in the event of an audit.

Credit OM, as a fiscal sponsor on your website and on social media platforms.

Requirements

Open Minds, Inc. will report to the Internal Revenue Service all funds granted to the organization, and it is the organizations responsibility to pay any taxes due on the funds.

In order to be eligible to apply to Open Minds, Inc.s Fiscal Sponsorship Program, you must meet the following criteria:

Your organization must focus on social justice initiatives in the Western Maryland Community.
Your organization must be in the process of getting and receiving a U.S. Federal ID number.
The narrative proposal for your organization must reflect your ability to develop a high quality projects related to social justice in the community and for under-served populations

Application Review/ Fees

We will review your application using the following criteria:

Is the subject mission and narrative relevant to the mission of Open Minds, Inc., as presented in the website?
Is the narrative proposal engaging and clearly written?
Does the projects presented have a realistic budget?
Is the apparent fundraising ability of the organization adequate?
Does the organization identify appropriate potential sources of funding?
Are the key organizational personnel sufficiently experienced?

FEES:

NO FEES UNTIL FEBRUARY 2021