CounterPULSE

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Located in SOMA in San Francisco, CounterPULSE is a non-profit theater, performance space, community center, and gallery with roots deep in the Bay Area’s provocative performance and dance scenes. CounterPULSE produces its own shows, helps support local artists and activists with its programs and can be rented for productions and rehearsals.

Fiscal Sponsorship

CounterPULSE Fiscal Sponsorship Program is based on a model of pre-approved grant relationship. In essence, the project and CounterPULSE (sponsor) are a grantee and grantor. The sponsored project is a separate legal entity that is liable for it’s own taxes, insurance, and debts. Our sponsored projects retain intellectual property rights for all the art they create.

Application Deadlines:

CounterPULSE accepts new fiscal sponsees twice a year.

May 29 (for approval by July 15)

 

November 30 (for approval by February 15)

 

Downloadable
Application		 Current Fiscally
Sponsored Projects		 Fiscal Sponsorship
Forms		 Budget
Template

 

OVERVIEW

What is Fiscal Sponsorship?

  • Eligibility
  • Services Provided
  • Application process
  • Costs

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

Finances

  • Grants
  • Individual donations
  • Payment processing

Renewal Process

Marketing & Acknowledgement

  • Website
  • Email announcements
  • Print materials

OVERVIEW

What is Fiscal Sponsorship?

All corporations in America – even non-profits – pay taxes: on income, on wages, on expenses. However, by applying with the IRS under Section 501(c)3 of the tax code, certain non-profit corporations may qualify for an exemption from certain taxes. Basically, this is the Government’s way of saying, “your organization does something beneficial to society that we support – but can’t do ourselves – so we’d like to cut you some slack in terms of tax burden.” The U.S. Congress, in other words, is giving up tax revenue because it believes so strongly in what these tax-exempt organizations are doing to help our society.

Fiscal Sponsorship is a financial and legal system by which a legally recognized 501(c)(3) public charity (such as CounterPULSE) provides limited financial and legal oversight for a project that does not have 501(c)(3) designation. CounterPULSE’s fiscal sponsorship program exists to provide support and guidance t0 independent artists and companies whose work furthers the CounterPULSE mission so that they may produce temporary projects and/or begin to develop on-going organization; and ensure funding agencies and contributors that funds are well-managed, spent according to their guidelines, and that the artists deliver their proposed services or products

CounterPULSE’s fiscal sponsorship program is based on a model of pre-approved grant relationship. In essence, the project and CounterPULSE (sponsor) are a grantee and grantor. The sponsored project is a separate legal entity that is liable for it’s own taxes, insurance, and debts. Our sponsored projects retain intellectual property rights for all the art they create.

CounterPULSE intentionally maintains a small Fiscal Sponsorship program. We only sponsor 40 projects at a time so that we can devote significant support and resources to our projects.

Eligibility

CounterPULSE offers fiscal sponsorship services to independent artists and companies whose work furthers the CounterPULSE mission.

Projects participating in CounterPULSE’s fiscal sponsorship program must be:

  • Art-related (we sponsor dance, music, theater, visual art media and literary projects)
  • Serving community needs
  • Serious in intent and well-planned
  • Responsible about proper reporting to funding sources and to the IRS
  • Non-legislative
  • Showing potential for future development

We prioritize projects that:

  • Blend more than one performance genre or discipline. Collaboration is strongly encouraged.
  • Are community-based and socially aware. We are interested in work that addresses current social, political or environmental issues.
  • Have a clear vision for how they would like to participate in CounterPULSE’s community and take advantage of our unique organizational resources.
  • Are lead by and based in the experiences of queer artists, artists of color, and artists with disabilities.

Services Provided

Financial

  • Ability to receive credit card donations via our website
  • Check-writing service
  • Track and issue 1099’s*
  • Issue donation acknowledgements to all individual donors

Granting

  • Sponsorship of grant applications and administration of grant funds through a pre-approved grant relationship
  • Formal acknowledgement to grantmakers and monitoring of expenditures to ensure that they are in keeping with the original proposals
  • CounterPULSE will hold the project’s grant until projects submit invoices for payment. CounterPULSE will then disburse individual payments to artists, designers, vendors, as well as reimbursements for purchases. CounterPULSE, will, and will . For this service, CounterPULSE retains a fiscal sponsorship fee of 10% of all income.
  • Staff consultation on writing of grants and on final reports to funders

Liability Insurance

  • Coverage available for specific events ($50 min per certificate)

Mailing

  • Access to CounterPULSE’s non-profit bulk mail indicia

Other Benefits

  • Discounts on CounterPULSE studio rental
  • Discounts on CounterPULSE performances
  • Discounts on CounterPULSE workshops including “Boot Camp for Artists” with Jessica Robinson
  • General guidance about possible funding source
  • Announcements of upcoming workshops and funding opportunities
  • Links on CounterPULSE website and inclusion in email announcements
  • Premier location for promotional materials in CounterPULSE’s lobby

*A word about taxes
Having a Fiscal Sponsor does not prevent you from having to pay taxes! Any individual who receives $600 or more in payments from CounterPULSE in a calendar year will receive a 1099 and is required to report that income to the IRS. CounterPULSE can recommend several workshops for artists on how to handle tax liability.

Application Process

CounterPULSE accepts new fiscal sponsees twice a year: May 29 (for approval by July 15) and November 30 (for approval by February 15).

Our application process takes about a month and involves a written application, in-person meeting, and board approval.

Steps:

  1. Read through CounterPULSE’s Fiscal Sponsorship policies.
  2. Complete the application and budget template, and submit to info@counterpulse.org, or mail to:
    ATTN: Fiscal Sponsorship
    CounterPULSE
    1310 Mission Street
    San Francisco, CA 94103
  3. Upon receipt your application will be given an  initial review. If we think you might be a good match for our organization, we will contact you to schedule an interview. (1-2 weeks)
  4. At the interview, we will ask questions about your project, and work with you to make any needed corrections to your application.
  5. You will re-submit your application with suggested edits for approval by the CounterPULSE Board of Directors. (1-2 weeks)
  6. If approved, we will schedule a contract signing, welcome, and orientation. sample contract. All sponsees must also become members of CounterPULSE and and pay the annual membership fee ($45 general or $30 low-income). After this meeting, you’ll be ready to raise money!

Costs

  • CounterPULSE will withhold as an administrative fee of 10% of all funds deposited through the Expanded Fiscal Sponsorship Program.
  • In addition to this percentage, all Fiscally Sponsored projects must become members of CounterPULSE ($45 per year, $30 for low-income individuals).

POLICIES & PROCEDURES

Finances

CounterPULSE does NOT make grants directly to you, nor do we do your fundraising for you! We WILL direct you to fundraising resources and give you lots of advice on how to go about raising money.

Here are the standard procedures for how we deal with grants and individual donations. Failure to comply with the policies below will jeopardize your organization’s fiscal sponsorship renewal.

Grants

  • At your orientation, you will receive a worksheet for developing a fundraising timeline. The secret to successful grantwriting is planning well in advance! Please plan to schedule a time to come look at our binder of successful grant applications.
  • CounterPULSE must be notified of your intent to apply for a grant NO LESS THAN TWO WEEKS before the grant is due and at that point let us know about any supporting materials you need from us to complete the grant (Ex. financial statements, statement of nonprofit status).
  • Grant proposals are required to be submitted for approval NO LESS THAN ONE WEEK before they are due. We MUST sign off on all grant proposals before they are submitted to the funder.
  • Funders typically notify CounterPULSE when you receive a grant. We will notify you of the decision and your funds will be available one week after we deposit them.
  • YOU are responsible for sending a thank-you letter to your funders, inviting them to your event, and issuing a final report in a timely manner. CounterPULSE MUST RECEIVE COPIES OF ALL FINAL REPORTS to funders.

Individual Donations

  • We recommend that you solicit individual donations at your events and through an annual letter to your supporters.
  • Fundraising letters and any other materials used for soliciting donations must be submitted for approval NO LESS THAN ONE WEEK prior to use.
  • Checks for individual donations should be made out to CounterPULSE with the name of your project in the memo line and sent directly to YOU.
  • You are responsible for collecting and submiting these checks to CounterPULSE along with a Fiscal Sponsorship Deposit Form. Be sure to keep copies of ALL forms and checks submitted to CounterPULSE.
  • CounterPULSE will send an acknowledgement letter to the donor

Payment Processing

  • Projects must comply with all restrictions or requirements imposed on funds by their donors.
  • To receive funds, projects must submit the appropriate work invoice form (pdf). All invoices must include addresses and Social Security Numbers.
  • Funds are generally available one week after they are received by CounterPULSE.
  • Checks are issued once per week– requests received on or before Wednesday will be available the following Wednesday.

Forms for download:

Marketing & Acknowledgment

CounterPULSE is proud and honored to work with all our fiscally sponsored projects. Please follow the following guidelines for how to list CounterPULSE on your website and print materials and how to submit information to CounterPULSE so we can help promote you and  ensure your event is listed correctly.

Email Announcements

CounterPULSE is happy to include fiscal sponsee events in our monthly email to the CounterPULSE list.

In order to be included:

  • Event listings must be received by the 15th of the month prior to the month of the event (i.e.– July 15 for an August event).
  • Please send email announcements to Outreach Coordinator, Ryan Crowder at ryan @ counterpulse.org
  • Please send listings in the following format:
    1. Event Title
    2. Company
    3. Dates
    4. Times
    5. Ticket Price
    6. Brief description of the event (50 word max)
    7. Additional Information contact email/phone (optional)
    8. 1 photo (color photos are preferable. web resolution images are prefered)
    9. For each photo include photo credits (photographer name and those pictured)

Website (both yours and ours)

All fiscal sponsees are listed on the CounterPULSE website and in turn we ask that all fiscal sponsees list CounterPULSE as their fiscal sponsee on your own site.

We ask that on your web site you:

  • Acknowledge CounterPULSE as your fiscal sponsor
  • Include the CounterPULSE logo (available here)
  • Link to counterpulse.org

Once your contract is signed please email the following information to info @ counterpulse.org to be listed on counterpulse.org

Please include:

  • A 50-word descripton of your company
  • Logo or image (web resolution images are prefered)
  • Link to your website, myspace, Facebook, Twitter, etc…

Print Materials

If you have been fiscally sponsored by CounterPULSE FOR ANY GRANTS or DONATIONS which are being spent on your project, you must include the following information on your flyer and/or poster:

  • “(Name of project)” is a fiscally sponsored project of CounterPULSE.
  • Include the following information in your program:
    “This evening’s performance is supported by the CounterPULSE Fiscal Sponsorship program. CounterPULSE provides support and low cost resources for emerging artists, serving as an incubator space to create socially relevant, diverse, community-based art in San Francisco. CounterPULSE works towards a world that celebrates a diversity of race, class, ability, gender identity & sexual orientation. CounterPULSE funders include San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco Grants for the Arts, San Francisco Foundation, Fleishhacker Foundation, Zellerbach Family Foundation, and National Endowment for the Arts.”
  • Include the CounterPULSE logo with this information (available here)
  • Please submit copies of all promotional materials for our files. We want to see what you are doing!

We offer priority placement for your postcards and flyers in our lobby. Stacks of flyers may be dropped off or mailed, and should be marked “fiscal sponsee event.”