We want yoga teachers and therapists to spend time teaching yoga, not filling out paperwork.
Our Fiscal Sponsorship Program enables yoga organizations to seek grants and solicit donations without setting up their own nonprofit.
Accounting
We handle your bookkeeping, so you can focus on teaching yoga to those in need.
Grant Management
We receive, manage, and disburse your grants in alignment with tax and charitable law.
Mentorship
We provide administrative and operational guidance to help you pursue your mission.
Tax-Exempt Status
As a fiscal sponsee, you can seek grants and receive donations under our exempt status.
Marketing
Your project will benefit from Give Back Yoga’s reputation, credibility, and extensive network.
“Thanks to GBYF’s support, we spend our time training teachers and serving people with eating disorders — not doing taxes and admin work. Especially in the early years, being part of GBYF brought increased trust and respect to our work — we were able to secure large grants early on that we never otherwise would have been eligible for. We’ve grown within a community of other small nonprofits that have so much wisdom and information to share! We’re grateful to be part of Give Back.”
Chelsea Roff, Founder of Eat Breathe Thrive
“Being fiscally sponsored by GBYF has allowed us to keep our energy and focus on our primary work—bringing Yoga of 12 Step Recovery into communities around the world. Being under an umbrella with other service oriented programs allows us to share ideas and resources. The relationships we have built as a result of this fiscal sponsorship have been invaluable. It has also allowed us to open doors we never knew were there.”
Nikki Myers and Mysh Kelly Caldwell, Yoga of 12-Step Recovery
Our Impact
Who Can Apply
BEFORE YOU APPLY FOR FISCAL SPONSORSHIP, MAKE SURE THAT YOU MEET THESE CRITERIA:
Your project must be based in the United States
Your work must further our mission to support yoga teachers and yoga therapists to bring the benefits of yoga to all people, especially those facing mental and physical hardship
You must have a sufficient and sustainable source of charitable income to cover the costs associated with being a fiscal sponsee (Generally, this means an annual grant or donation income of $10,000.)
What We Support
Our Fiscal Sponsorship program supports a range of projects, from wholly-focused charitable organizations seeking to scale their programming to for-profit yoga businesses aiming to add a charitable component (e.g. offering scholarships to those in need) to their work.
We look for fiscal sponsees who can:
FAQs
Using a fiscal sponsor saves you time and money. It can be expensive, confusing, and time-consuming to establish and maintain an independent 501(c)3. The application process generally requires a lawyer, and if/when you are approved as a 501(c)3 there are significant reporting and compliance measures you must follow to maintain your status. Fiscal sponsorship also enables for-profit entities to receive grants and donations for charitable purposes. Many fiscally-sponsored projects go on to form their own 501(c)3 later, and others opt to remain under our umbrella for the long term because of the benefits they receive.
Our fiscal sponsorship program eliminates the worry and hassle of establishing and maintaining your own 501(c)3, so you can focus on leading yoga service programs and projects.
Yes, we do charge our fiscal sponsees a fee to cover the shared administrative costs associated with our services.
The start-up fee for new fiscal sponsees is $300. This covers the costs of setting your organization to receive grants and donations within our system. Once you are set up, we offer a tiered fee structure based on how much money your organization receives. The fee structure is as follows:
- $0 – $50,000: 9%
- $50,000 and up: 8%
- $150,000 and up: 5%
These fees cover the costs associated with accounting, grant management, and administrative and operational guidance as needed to pursue your mission.
No, we do not provide funding directly to our fiscal sponsees. As with most fiscal sponsorship programs, you are required to raise your own funds. Most of our fiscal sponsees receive funding from private foundations, government grants, corporations, and individual donors. Many of our sponsees report that they are eligible for and entrusted with larger grants because of their association with our foundation.
Yes. We only provide fiscal sponsorship to projects/organizations headquartered within the United States.
Yes. The Give Back Yoga Foundation is chartered as a yoga service organization and is legally required to only sponsor projects that align with our mission.
When you agree to become a fiscal sponsee, you accept the terms of our fiscal sponsorship agreement. As part of that agreement, you agree to undertake activities only in accordance with the express purposes stated in your project proposal. If you make any substantive changes in your project’s activity, it will need to be approved by our Board of Directors.
In a fiscal sponsorship relationship, The Give Back Yoga Foundation bears full financial and legal liability for the charitable activities of your project. Your project must use any funds you receive solely for the intended grant purposes. All other authority and responsibility related to your project rests with you, the grantee — including the preparation of grant reports to your funders.
All funds you raise are legally the property of The Give Back Yoga Foundation since it is the tax-exempt 501(c)3 entity to whom the funds are given. However, under the fiscal sponsorship agreement, we are obligated to restrict those funds to your project with the exception of administrative fees.
No. In fact, having a fiscal sponsor can help you progress more quickly toward becoming a viable non-profit organization. GBYF offers help in working through the process of becoming an independent organization if that is your ultimate goal.
