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Eligibility
OCF is not accepting new applications to our fiscal sponsorship program at this time. For more information, read our Update.
Open Collective Foundation can fiscally sponsor Collectives that meet the following requirements:
- Activities must be charitable, to benefit, and open to the public (per IRS requirements for 501(c)(3)s)
- Collective cannot have multiple fiscal sponsors, legal entities, or outside bank accounts. All funds must be held in your Open Collective account in order to accurately represent your budget/activities.
- Collective must have a minimum of two admins/team members - these must be 2 separate community members.
The IRS has a specific definition of "charitable" purposes that it uses when granting 501(c)(3) status.
From the IRS website:
The term charitable is used in its generally accepted legal sense and includes relief of the poor, the distressed, or the underprivileged; advancement of religion; advancement of education or science; erection or maintenance of public buildings, monuments, or works; lessening the burdens of government; lessening neighborhood tensions; eliminating prejudice and discrimination; defending human and civil rights secured by law; and combating community deterioration and juvenile delinquency.
Contributions to your Collective must be devoted to your charitable purpose. You can’t use your Collective’s funds for anything other than furthering your charitable purpose, and if you do you have to pay it back. You may not use your Collective’s funds to influence legislation, to support breaking the law, or for private profit.
- Terms of Fiscal Sponsorship agreement (“Plain English” hints are provided with our Terms to help you decipher the legalese.),
- Overview of fiscal sponsorship and fiscal hosting to ensure that your Collective fits with our service.
During your time with Open Collective Foundation and on the Open Collective platform, you and anyone involved in the Collective are expected to follow our Community Guidelines and adhere to the platform’s Terms of Service.
Here are things that are not required by Open Collective Foundation that are sometimes requested by other fiscal sponsors:
- No application fees.
- No minimum budget balance.
- No minimum amount you have to raise per year.
- No intense reporting requirements (the platform automates that!) other than posting a straightforward annual Update to your Collective page.
Open Collective is a home for your community or collaborative charitable project - no matter how much money comes in.
If accepted to be hosted by Open Collective Foundation, any raised funds are now part of the 501(c)(3) space and must remain in it. This mean if you ever want to transition away from OCF or close your account, the funds will either need to be disbursed to the community or transferred to other 501(c)(3)s.
If you meet the above requirements, check out How To Apply for your next steps or Submit an Application.
Or to learn more about How it Works, keep reading these Docs: