Fiscal Sponsorship Program Announcement

DFSC is proud to announce the launch of our new Community Partners Fiscal Sponsorship Program. 

To receive grants from foundations – and sometimes government funders – and to offer individual donors tax-deductibility for their financial support, an organization needs to have formal nonprofit status. The IRS provides this status under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code. Nonprofits with this status can then fundraise and accomplish all the goals listed above.

But what if you want to fundraise and don’t have that status? Maybe your group or organization does not have the funds to go through the legal process of obtaining that status. This is where fiscal sponsorship comes in.

DFSC now offers fiscal sponsorship to Firewise groups, grassroots organizations, governmental entities, and others who do not have or cannot obtain 501(c)3 nonprofit status. 

Entities that apply for fiscal sponsorship and are approved can fundraise under the umbrella of DSFC and our nonprofit tax status. Approved groups sign an agreement with us. We then can receive grants and gifts on your behalf, send tax acknowledgements to donors and funders, manage your books, and provide other fundamental support, in exchange for a reasonable fee.

DFSC is proud to announce that the City of Berkeley's Fire Department has joined our Community Partners Fiscal Sponsorship Program as our inaugural organization. DFSC has already received a program contribution, which will help support the Department's continued wildfire mitigation efforts with their defensible space, home hardening, and Zone 0 initiatives.

For more information about fiscal sponsorship, please email holly@diablofiresafe.org.