Fiscal Sponsorship

Why Fiscal Sponsorship?

Silicon Valley’s arts ecosystem is small and undercapitalized. Our artists and arts professionals worry about how to carry on their work in this very expensive region. Increased financial resilience and capacity and access to affordable, quality and relevant business resources are very much needed. Through a 2017 research study completed by Nonprofit Centers Network, SVCREATES was able to identify some priority areas of interest to local artists and arts organizations, and the barriers to access. One of these priorities is access to qualified fiscal sponsors.

What is Fiscal Sponsorship?

Comprehensive fiscal sponsors do much more than provide the 501c3 tax status to allow artists and groups to accept grants and tax-deductible donations. A fiscal sponsor can significantly strengthen an artist or volunteer led organization by providing consistent, reliable, expert administrative support – strengthening financial management, increasing regulatory compliance, assisting with grant reporting, and mitigating risks.

Local Fiscal Sponsors

SVCREATES has identified a number of local Fiscal Sponsors for specific types of mission aligned projects.

San Jose Downtown Association Foundation
Projects, artwork, events or other activities must occur within the business improvement district in downtown San Jose.
Rick Jensen | rjensen@sjdowntown.com; (408) 279-1775

San Jose Parks Foundation
For projects in San Jose parks and mission aligned with the Parks Foundation.
James P. Reber, Executive Director | james@sanjoseparks.org; (Office) 408-893-7275 / (Cell) 408-505-0438

School of Arts & Culture at Mexican Heritage Plaza
Projects must be mission aligned with School of Arts & Culture.
Vanessa Shieh, Co-Executive Director | vanessa@schoolofartsandculture.org (email inquiries are preferred); (408) 794-6250

Intersection for the Arts
Fiscal Sponsorship for Bay Area artists and arts groups, including a special program for those located in the South Bay.
More information can be found here.

Local Commons, by Local Color
Local Color aims to support the many logistics surrounding funding for creative projects centered in the South Bay Area. By building collective capacity through “commoning,” the program bridges people to resources, enhances accountable practices and assists by being a reliable structure elevating inspiring individuals and collectives.
More information can be found here.