I first want to thank all of the 405 fiscally sponsored projects who took our annual survey.  About 27% of our projects took the survey, which gave us a really great sample to work from.  This is the first year that we’re going to directly respond to certain things that you expressed in your survey comments.  If you took the survey (or even if you didn’t!), I encourage you to read below:

Project Satisfaction
Overall, projects had a ton of great things to say about our staff and the program.  99.3% of respondents find our staff to be helpful and accessible when they have questions or problems.  Projects commented on fiscal sponsorship providing them with courage and credibility to approach their donors.  They love our online tools and find the program easy, user-friendly, and reasonable.  There was an amazing amount of praise for our staff (specifically Emily Watts and Juliana Steele) who they describe as quick, personable, knowledgeable, helpful, and supportive.  Thank you for all of the positive feedback!

Some of you expressed that the program is complicated and that you wish there was more information up front.  We do our best to make sure that the information about the program is easily accessible and provided from the first day your project is approved by our Board of Directors.  It can be a ton of information to go over and digest, so please don’t hesitate to contact us if you need help to decipher it.  That’s what we’re here for!  Some projects commented on the amount of “red tape” they must go through to have text approved, request funds, and apply for grants.  This level of oversight is necessary in order for Fractured Atlas to remain compliant with the IRS tax code and to operate the program - thank you for your patience in navigating the program!  A number of projects expressed that they would like to be alerted to grant deadlines - keep reading the blog - deadlines are posted here!

Website Interface
For fiscally sponsored projects, there is a ton of content on the manage sponsored fund section of the website.  Projects praised the website for being super-user friendly, well-organized, very functional, and easily accessible.  One frequent comment was that donor information and history should be more easily search-able instead of available to export into an excel spreadsheet.  Other suggestions, that we are in the process of creating, are tips on grant writing and how to take advantage of the program.  We’re currently working on these features and you will see changes in the coming months.  We are also working on creating a Facebook widget and customizable email alerts you can sign up for regarding donation and fund release history.

Additional resources for the fiscal sponsorship program
Projects love the idea of a Do’s and Don’t tip sheet for grants - this will be on the site shortly!  There was interest in more information being available on what to do once you receive a grant (reporting requirements, what is expected, automatic email alerts) - we’re also working on putting this together.  References for legal and accounting help will be also be added to the website.  Sorry we are not able to provide advice directly!

About 25% of projects were very interested in learning more about why they should or should not incorporate and apply for  501(c)(3) status.  This is a much debated topic and is something that should be considered on a case by case basis.  We are considering adding some links to resources that can help you decide what is right for your project.  I’ve also written an article about this topic for Chamber Music America’s quarterly newsletter CMA Matters - please check it out.

The feedback regarding screencasts and webinars on how to use the fiscal sponsorship and navigate the website was extremely mixed.  Some projects don’t think these are necessary and prefer reading instructions rather than seeing an example of a video online.  Others thought it would be helpful and useful, especially when first starting out in the program.  We are going to create a couple of rudimentary screencasts and see how well they are received.

Feedback - love us/hate us/sort of like us
Thank you for all your positive and constructive feedback - the staff members involved in the fiscal sponsorship program work hard to help and we love knowing that it’s working!  The constructive feedback also helps us to improve the program and design services that will help our projects.  Some of you responded with direct questions about a specific issue pertaining to your project- please contact us directly at support@fracturedatlas.org to receive a response to these questions.

For those of you who are interested in who won the $100 donation to their project, it was Jessica Danser and her fiscally sponsored project, Jessica Danser/dansfolk, in Bronx, New York (Fractured Atlas member since 2006). Thanks again to everyone that participated… And for everyone that missed the survey please let us know what you love about our fiscal sponsorship program, what we can improve, what questions you have, and how we can help you.