Blog

Projects may have noticed that we have started to refer to our Fiscally Sponsored Projects as both “clients” and “partners.” This is not a slip of tongue, but a deliberate step towards clarifying our role and relationship with the community we serve. We also are not abandoning the term project.  There are times its use […]

While nonprofit organizations are tax-exempt, that does not mean we are completely free from IRS oversight. The IRS requires that nonprofit organizations annually submit very detailed information on “IRS Form 990,” commonly simply called “990.” The 990 requires a great deal of meticulous organization and information extraction in order to remain compliant with the law. […]

For the past year and a-half, the Community Initiatives Board and staff have been engaged in an intensive strategic planning process. Many of our projects have contributed as well through surveys and interviews. We are proud to announce that the Board recently approved an exciting three-year strategic plan, which you will learn more about in the […]

Last fall, Community Initiatives commissioned a Satisfaction Survey to determine how well we are doing with our fiscally sponsored projects. This project was led by Professor Jeff Prottas of Brandeis University, and was informed by his extensive experience with nonprofits and fiscal sponsors. It was a confidential survey to projects to ensure the objectivity of […]

We’ve all heard about the rise of the sharing economy or collaborative consumption in the context of for-profits. Such high profile examples like e-Bay where anyone can become a retailer or Airbnb where owners of underused assets rent out their home are becoming the norm for how we think and access services.  So far, the […]

Employee turnover is a challenge and a reality that all nonprofit organizations face.  Community Initiatives is no exception, and all of our nonprofit projects are experiencing turnover at a rate higher than in decades past.  It is critical for projects to think of themselves as institutions that can thrive outside of the personalities and knowledge […]

Fiscally sponsored projects, like those in the Community Initiatives network, are different from nonprofits in a number of ways. A prominent example is that because the Community Initiatives board holds fiduciary responsibilities for all projects, the projects themselves don’t have formal boards, but every Community Initiatives project has an advisory committee. Committee members represent an […]

As your fiscal sponsor, our purpose is to make your jobs easier while also setting you up for fundraising success. Because of the unique business model of fiscal sponsorship, no existing online donation platforms were available that would allow all of our projects to access their accounts and data in real time.  We are pleased […]

Spring is a great time to examine the fruits of the seeds planted the previous year. If our projects are our seeds, our team is working to water and feed them every day. The fruit they bear as a result feeds the community we proudly serve. In the nonprofit community, many of us use the […]