Letter from the Board...

Community Initiative Funds believes in the power of community groups to develop fresh, exciting ideas in timely ways, and that our services can support these efforts in crucial ways. We are the fiscal sponsor for more than 60 active projects with a total of $12 million in annual revenue. Our sponsorship allows:

• New efforts to explore viability without having to invest early in infrastructure
• Funders to pool resources for collaborative grant-making
• Time-limited efforts to succeed without establishing and then dismantling administrative capacity

We are proud that in nine of our ten years we have been able to make administrative fee rebates to all our projects. We are pleased that some of our projects have gone on to independent status, such as Legal Communities Against Violence. Others have decided to shut down, or to change into something different, such as the Committee to Restore the Opera House and the Foundation Consortium. Most importantly, CIF is glad that by providing high quality, exceptionally professional fiscal sponsorship, we have supported the important causes and efforts of our projects.

Groups interested in applying for CIF sponsorship should submit:

1. Letter requesting fiscal sponsorship
2. Brief outline of proposed project (usually three to four pages)
3. Draft first year budget ($20,000 minimum), including a line item expense for “fiscal sponsorship fee”
4. List of advisory committee members
   • minimum of three
   • majority must be uncompensated

Once you send in the above materials, your proposal is submitted to our Board of Directors for approval. The information you supply will be reviewed by CIF’s Board of Directors, which meets every six to eight weeks. In urgent situations, we can make a decision within just a few days.