Fiscal Sponsorships

Helping Local STEAM Programs

Robot Garden is investigating options for providing fiscal sponsorship to STEM/STEAM groups in the TriValley, California area. The IRS allows a type of sponsorship called "Group Exemptions" that makes it easy to oversee a "Managed Project". Robot Garden is seeking advice from local accounting & legal firms before fully moving forward with this capability.

Robot Garden currently sponsors three different coed Boy Scout Explorer Posts. By their very nature as Boy Scout programs, Robot Garden is both a sponsor and a fiscal sponsor. These three groups all coordinate activities under the Tax ID and the 501(c)(3) designation of Robot Garden. This has caused some issues because these Explorer Posts seek funding from the same funding sources, but many only allow a single Tax ID to submit a grant request. This means that only one group can apply.

With a Group Exemption, Robot Garden is able to continue its fiscal sponsorship of each Explorer Post. BUT, these Explorer Posts are each given their own Tax ID. So, they can apply for funding independent of Robot Garden's Tax ID. This allows much more flexibility, but it also increases complexities of managing and reporting finances throughout the year.

Robot Garden is currently a fiscal sponsor for the following groups:

Aviation Explorer Post #997
Robotics Explorer Post #987 (aka FRC Team # 6059 / System Overload)
Robotics Explorer Post #977 (aka FRC Team # 9125 / Mechanical Magicians)

Useful Resources

Below are some useful resources to help better understand Fiscal Sponsorships and Group Exemptions.

https://www.socialgoodfund.org - a fiscal sponsor based out of Richmond, CA
https://fiscalsponsorship.com

Articles