Infrastructure & Leader Support (ILS)

[OLD SUBHEAD: Values-aligned fiscal sponsorship (without the baggage).]

Who is a Fit For the ILS Program?

If one or more of these things describes your organization…keep reading!

  • I need a fiscal sponsor

  • I don’t need a fiscal sponsor, but I want…

    • …to save money while having someone else manage the complexity of our operational systems.

    • …to protect our identity as an independent organization, but still have someone manage all of our operational systems.

    • …to be part of a community of high-impact nonprofits and funders.

What We Do

  • We take care of these things for you, so you don’t have to worry about them:

    • Accounting

    • Payroll & benefits

    • IRS/state/local registrations, withholdings, & ongoing compliance

    • Tax filings

    • Liability & other professional insurance

    • Fiscal sponsorship (if you need it)

  • Connect you to funders
    We have a large (and ever-growing) network of funders that we partner with through our Ecosystem Partners program. Many of them are looking for organizations just like yours…they just don’t know where to look. We make thoughtful, relationship-focused introductions to these funders to help you build a funding partnership, not just a transactional relationship.

  • Build beautiful Impact Reports once or twice per year to share your organization’s impact with your board, team, community, and funders.

    • Check out some examples here.

  • Provide customized training & coaching specific to your organization’s actual goals or needs (no boring cookie cutter training sessions here!)

    • Fundraising
      This is one of our superpowers. We’ll teach you how to use an extremely effective approach to raising larger dollars that doesn’t require putting on big expensive events or spending countless hours applying for tons of grants.

    • Strategic planning (the kind that’s actually practically useful…not the kind that gets dusty on a shelf)
      Our version of this is focused on:

      • Help you get extremely clear about what can/will drive the growth of your organization’s impact and income.

      • Set up a system/tool to track progress towards your goals and course-correct as needed.

      • Understand how to iterate and revise on your system/tool without needing to pay external consultants exorbitant fees to do it for you as you grow.

    • Org structure & coordinating work across a team
      As organizations grow, it becomes painfully clear: the ways of working that got us here won’t get us there. Roles become less clear, it becomes hard or impossible to keep everyone on the same page, things start falling through the cracks, and everything start to feel chaotic. Every organization needs a structure to fit its own unique shape and circumstances—we’ll help you develop and implement a system that works for you.

    • Impact measurement & continuous improvement
      Whether you don’t know how to start measuring your impact, or if your measurement systems are complicated and unwieldy, we can help you simplify to focus in on what really matters. Our approach, which we call “researching without researching” can help you narrow your focus on measuring the things that matter and communicating those things clearly to your team, community, and funders.

    • Staff & culture
      HNC is known among our peers and funders as maintaining an exceptionally strong organizational culture, and for helping many other nonprofits do the same. But we don’t just train others to mimic our culture. We’ll help you understand who you are as an organization, and build the practices, tools, and structures to build a culture that fits your unique organization.

NOTES

Incorporate both infrastructure/ops + institute support + funder network

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HNC's Infrastructure & Leader Support (ILS) program is a values-aligned approach to Fiscal Sponsorship that enables nonprofits to receive philanthropic funding. Our unique approach to fiscal sponsorship also frees up organizations to run things the way they want to because the ILS program was designed by nonprofit leaders, for nonprofit leaders (particularly leaders of color). We mention this because often, nonprofit leaders tell us that it sometimes feels like other fiscal sponsors set things up more for their own benefit than for the nonprofit’s.

Wait, what is fiscal sponsorship?
In general, unless an organization has 501(c)3 status with the IRS, they cannot accept tax-deductible funding from foundations or individuals. It’s important to understand that not all nonprofits have a 501(c)3 status, some are ‘nonprofit corporations’ which are still legal entities formed for a charitable purpose but aren’t exempt from tax.

The term “fiscal sponsor” refers to an organization (like HNC) that does have this status with the IRS and “shares” that status with other organizations to help them gain access to philanthropic funding - of which there is about $500 billion dollars in the United States each year. Many fiscal sponsors also provide operational infrastructure like payroll, benefits, accounting, taxes, etc. As you might guess, this summary is way oversimplified, but the basic idea is there.

 

How ILS Works

1

Set Up Infrastructure

First, we set up all of the things you'd rather not spend hours figuring out: payroll, accounts, benefits, taxes, bank transfer systems, and some other stuff.

2

Automate Systems

We get you up to speed so you have the control over yours systems that you want, but without the hours of maintenance you don’t.

3

Sleep at Night

Finally, you can rest easy knowing that everything is taken care of. Leaders often tell us that they feel like a weight was lifted off their shoulders!

For more information on ILS, check out this 2-page info sheet!

FAQs

How Much Does ILS Cost?

Most fiscal sponsors charge 10-20% of an organization’s income each year. Not HNC.

ILS costs between $8k - $10k/year flat, depending on a few factors, and it actually gets cheaper after the first year. If you’d like to know a specific price for your organization, click the 'Learn More' button below. But don’t let cost stand in the way. The whole reason that HNC created the ILS program was to solve issues of equity and access for community-focused organizations (especially those led by people of color), so we never want price to be a barrier.


What exactly is ‘infrastructure?’

For a nonprofit, its the things that keep you running as an organization: your ability accept funding, your accounting system and your HR platform come under this category. A solid infrastructure is important because it allows your organization to run efficiently, allowing you to focus on the most important things: your programming and serving your community.

Why is ILS so much cheaper than other Fiscal Sponsors?

Many fiscal sponsors employ large teams of full-time accountants, legal, benefits, and other ops specialists specialists. Instead, we set up largely automated operational systems and put our accountants, attorneys, and other ops professionals to work on only the things we really need them for…which means you only pay for what you use.

How long does it take to get Fiscally Sponsored?

Roughly 4-6 weeks, after we know we’re a good fit. It depends on where your organization is at but the process typically involves getting your organization incorporated as a nonprofit organization and setting up your insurance, accounting, and HR systems.

What happens if I already have a Fiscal Sponsor?

It depends on the current agreement that you have but, if you choose to, we’d work alongside you to get your Fiscal Sponsorship arrangements transferred over. This would include transferring your accounting systems and setting up benefits if necessary.