As of June 3, 2025 Dancers’ Group HAS has Paused Applications to the Program
Based on staff capacity and the high demand for fiscal sponsorship Dancers’ Group is pausing accepting any new applications to the program – we hope to re-open the program by the end of 2025.
Learn About the Program:
Dancers’ Group’s Fiscal Sponsorship Program provides administrative support and guidance to choreographers, dance organizations and artists working in a variety of traditions, aesthetic styles and disciplines. We support projects so that they may produce community and performance projects or begin to develop their organization. As a fiscal sponsor, Dancers’ Group ensures to funding agencies and contributors that donations and grants received on behalf of the artists/projects are well-managed and funds are disbursed according to the agreement and or guidelines.
Dancers’ Group fiscally sponsors over 100 artists and companies. View current projects
Criteria
- Dancers’ Group’s fiscal sponsorship program supports dance artists and organizations and our program embraces the many definitions of dance regardless of style, training/background, audience, performance context, or experience. This definition includes those with multi-disciplinary practices.
- Dancers’ Group’s geographic focus is the San Francisco Bay Area. We consider the Bay Area to be Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, and Sonoma Counties.
- Your project/work serves your community.
- You are able to describe and document your activities to Dancers’ Group.
- Your work is non-legislative.
Services
As a fiscally sponsored project, Dancers’ Group will provide:
- Sponsorship of grant applications and administration of grant funds through a pre-approved grant relationship
- Shared Management Costs (also referred to as fiscal sponsor fees) on Grants, Donations and Earned Income are 10% to 5% – ensuring the project receives 90% to 95% of funds from Grants, Donations and Earned income
- General guidance about possible funding sources
- Staff consultation on fundraising, including submission of grant materials and on final reports
- Acknowledgment to funding sources (including individual donations) and monitoring of expenditures to ensure they are in keeping with the original proposals or contracts
- Payment of invoices submitted by the sponsored project
- An online donation platform (customizable for each project)
- Accepting earned income
- Accepting in-kind donations
- Finance Statements
- Generating and sending 1099 tax forms
No fee to apply to the program. Currently, an annual participation fee is waived.
Still have questions?
See the Frequently Asked Questions or email [email protected]
Join Dancers’ Group as a free community member to stay connected to an abundance of Bay Area dance events, opportunities, and more.
Resources for Information About Fiscal Sponsorship
For a directory of fiscal sponsors, see: fiscalsponsordirectory.org
For the book on fiscal sponsorship: Greg Colvin, Fiscal Sponsorship: Six Ways to Do It Right, Study Center Press (1993, rev. 3rd Edition) Includes a table comparing Models of Fiscal Sponsorship
For a synopsis of Greg Colvin’s book, go to his website: fiscalsponsor.com
For another guide to Fiscal Sponsorship go to the Grantspace by Candid website: grantspace.org
For Guidelines to Practices in Fiscal Sponsorship, visit the National Network of Fiscal Sponsors
For information on non-profit legal practices, visit Gene Takagi’s Blog: nonprofitlawblog.com
For article in Grantmakers in the Arts Reader: “Fiscal Sponsorship is a Growing Field,” by Melanie Beene: Article
