Fiscal Sponsors Can Shift from Temporary Incubators to Ecosystem Builders

“In order to generate a future in which we all know we can belong, be human, and be held, we must build life-affirming institutions, including our movements.”
— adrienne maree brown, We Will Not Cancel Us

Fiscal sponsors have long been thought of as incubators – temporary structures that help grassroots groups get started and then “spin out” into independent 501(c)(3)s.

This is a byproduct of the culture we live in. The fiscal sponsor field perpetuates the logic of organizationalism - individualism in an organizational form.

Under this worldview, success and failure for grassroots leaders is defined by whether an organization looks strong on paper: fast growth, impressive metrics, and the appearance of constant progress – with the end goal of launching as an independent organization.

That can mean pouring energy into deliverables instead of relationships, prioritizing visibility over impact, and focusing on the organization's longevity rather than the movement’s health. 

But that may be changing.

Our organization, Movement Sustainability Commons, or, MSC, offers a different approach to fiscal sponsorship. Instead of an “up and out” framework where success is measured by how quickly a group becomes independent, we encourage an “up and in” approach. 

To be eligible for fiscal sponsorship at MSC, grassroots groups must want a long-term relationship in which they are both benefiting from, and contributing to, the collective. MSC is designed not as a place to pass through – but a place to stay.

Five years in, we’re seeing this model work: although groups can spin out any time, five years into existence not one of the 25 groups we sponsor has chosen to do so.

How does this work in practice?

MSC sponsors grassroots groups in the Boston area providing affordable, high quality services, practices, spaces and pathways that support both interdependence and self-reliance for community self-determination. This approach is grounded in reciprocal relationship-building and is reflected in several ways. 

First, in how we allocate resources. We practice redistribution with a sliding scale that isn’t charity but solidarity. Our sponsored projects contribute 7 percent of their first $150,000 of income, 9 percent from $150,000 to $1 million, and 5 percent above that.

We intentionally maintain a portfolio of groups at different budget sizes, so that smaller groups can access high-quality systems they wouldn’t otherwise sustain. Larger groups invest in supporting the entire ecosystem.The outcome is shared strength, not individual growth.

Second, it is reflected in how we are governed. MSC is governed by the groups it serves, through what’s called the General Circle. This body sets the priorities for each new year, as well as the budget – paying staff, responding to group-identified needs (like conflict resolution or fundraising support), and collectively owning land (a retreat center and a birth and community center).

Earlier this year, in response to growing threats to nonprofits and grassroots organizations, this body decided to offer a full refund of fiscal sponsor fees to the small and mid-sized groups in our community. This was a deliberate practice of mutual care and solidarity, rooted in shared governance versus a one-time act of generosity. 

A new approach to work

This different approach to fiscal sponsorship is rooted in a different kind of origin story.  MSC was founded as a joint project of Resist, Inc. and the Center for Economic Democracy, Inc, two organizations committed to liberation and economic justice. 

We set out to model a new kind of economy and workplace rooted in interdependence and cooperation. 

That vision felt even more urgent when The Great Resignation of 2021 illustrated what we already knew: people want to feel respected at work; they want better pay, opportunities to advance, flexibility in where and how they work. People want workplaces that care for them. 

At MSC, we are co-creating an ecosystem where people are no longer living to work but rather being held, supported and nourished while they work to provide meaningful lives for themselves, their families and their communities.

As adrienne maree brown reminds us, the future we want requires life-affirming institutions. MSC’s “up and in” approach points to how fiscal sponsorship can be part of that future: not just an administrative arrangement, but a deeper radical shift in how we resource, govern, and sustain the work of liberation.

It’s not about standing alone, but standing together—building an ecosystem where sustainability is shared, and movements and their people can thrive.

En la unión esta el poder. In unity there is strength. Let’s work together to create the foundations needed to sustain and nourish movements