OVERVIEW
Movement Alliance Project provides fiscal sponsorship to individuals, collectives and organizations working towards social justice. We provide fiscal sponsorship because we want leaders to spend less time doing admin tasks at their computers and more time out in the world, doing the work they are most passionate about.
MAP sponsored projects are collectivizing their resources to access high quality, values-aligned administrative services.
While we are based in Philadelphia, MAP has the capacity to fiscally sponsor work that is happening in all 50 states. Our fiscal sponsorship program is big enough to have systems that allow us to serve sponsored projects at scale and small enough that we can customize some of our services to meet a sponsored project’s individual needs. MAP provides Model A and Model C fiscal sponsorship.
MODEL A FISCAL SPONSORSHIP
This is the most comprehensive set of services we offer and the most intertwined a sponsored project and fiscal sponsor can be.
Through Model A fiscal sponsorship, the project becomes a program of MAP and is integrated into our organization with MAP maintaining all legal and fiduciary responsibility for the project. MAP serves as the legal entity, employer of all project staff and the liability holder for all of the project’s activities. We receive all of a project’s income and process all of its expenses.
The project retains control over its mission, programming, communications, fundraising and daily operations so long as they comply with applicable laws and MAP’s policies.
For MAP to consider your project for Model A fiscal sponsorship, the project should:
Model A Fees
Movement Alliance Project allocates 10% of all incoming project revenues to cover the staff labor and other costs of administering the fiscal sponsorship program and maintaining our tax-exempt status. The 10% fee also covers insurance policies that cover Model A sponsored projects’ work. These are General Liability insurance, Directors and Officers insurance and Worker’s Compensation insurance.
MODEL C FISCAL SPONSORSHIP
Model C sponsored projects maintain more autonomy and receive a paired down set of services.
With Model C fiscal sponsorship, the project remains independent from MAP and is responsible for managing its own tax reporting, bookkeeping, employment, legal and liability issues. The fiscal sponsorship relationship is funding-specific. MAP receives the contributed funds such as grants and tax-exempt donations on behalf of the project and distributes those funds to the project to realize the project’s purpose. The project is then responsible for reporting back to MAP how the funds were spent. MAP’s administrative support services are limited to those necessary for receiving and overseeing the funds:
- Receiving funds and distribution of donor tax letters.
- Serving as the named entity on grant agreements and award letters.
- Accounting and compliance related to receipt of contributed funds.
- Oversight and review of how Model C funds are spent.
The project retains control over its mission, programming, communications, fundraising and daily operations so long as they comply with applicable laws and MAP’s policies.
Model C Fees
Movement Alliance Project allocates 7% of all contributed project revenues to cover the staff labor and other costs of administering the fiscal sponsorship program and maintaining our tax-exempt status.
SERVICES WE OFFER
APPLICATION PROCESS
MAP strives to have an application process that is respectful of your time and allows for your group to evaluate us as a fiscal sponsor and us as a fiscal sponsor to evaluate whether your group is a good fit for us.
The entire process can take 4-10 weeks depending on MAP’s availability, time to set up meetings, getting follow up materials from you, etc. In some instances MAP can expedite this process. Please let us know if you have time restraints.
1. Quick Intake Form (10-30 minutes)
Fill out the quick intake form so MAP can learn more about your organization and let you know quickly if we’re not a good fit.
2. Virtual meeting (30-60 minutes)
If MAP thinks there is potential for us to work together we’ll set up an initial meeting so that we can learn more about each other. Often after this meeting MAP will send you more information about our fiscal sponsorship program based on questions that came up during our call.
3. Application (30-60 minutes)
If there is mutual interest in pursuing a fiscal sponsorship relationship MAP will invite your organization to fill out a comprehensive application so we can better understand your work and evaluate if we have the capacity to serve it. To fill out the application you will need information about your project’s programming, people and finances.
4. Virtual meeting (60-90 minutes)
During this meeting we will have follow up questions to better understand your work and your administrative, programmatic and fundraising capacity to sustain it. You will be able to ask questions and together we will have time to get into the weeds of specific MAP policies and procedures and whether they are a good fit for your project.
5. Decision
MAP staff will either recommend your application to a committee made up of MAP board members and our co-executive directors for a final decision or inform you that we’re not a good fit to be your fiscal sponsor. If your application is recommended to the full committee it usually takes them 1-2 weeks to inform you of a decision.
FAQs
Below are some of the questions people have asked us about our fiscal sponsorship program over the years. Should your application progress to a conversation with a MAP staff member we’re available to talk through any of the questions below and answer any questions that aren’t addressed here.
We are a leftist organization with a large tent. Generally we look to work with organizations that are committed to promoting human rights and bringing about a world that is racially, economically and socially just. This can take a number of forms and spans a range of activities. Here are some of the groups we fiscally sponsor:
Our fiscal sponsorship program is built to serve all 50 states. We currently fiscally sponsor projects with a national scope and have sponsored
projects with employees across the country. Our staff handbook building template is designed to be compliant with the entire country, and be customized to be compliant with local laws and regulations when necessary. If you choose to be fiscally sponsored, your organization will pay a fiscal sponsorship fee. With a local fiscal sponsor, your fee has a greater impact. With MAP your fee will go towards building a social movement ecosystem that will transform the Philadelphia region to be a just and vibrant place.
Besides our charm and world-renowned tenacity? If you choose to be fiscally sponsored, your organization will pay a fiscal sponsorship fee. With a local fiscal sponsor, your fee has a greater impact. With MAP your fee will go towards building a social movement ecosystem that will transform the Philadelphia region to be a just and vibrant place.
Philadelphia is often ranked as the poorest big city in America, situated in a politically important state. Everyday we live with and fight against legacies of divestment, segregation, deindustrialization, displacement, corruption and the criminalization of our communities.
As the 6th largest city in America, we’re small enough that the changes that happen here can be scaled down to smaller cities, counties and towns. And we’re big enough that changes here can be scaled up to major metropolitan areas across the globe. Movement Alliance Project, and the organizations that are a part of the networks we support, are fighting to make sure that the changes that come out of Philadelphia are worth spreading.
We were founded in Philadelphia, in the year 2005 under our original name Media Mobilizing Project. In those early years, our work was defined by organizing campaigns to stop gentrification, win improved working conditions for service workers, gain citizenship for undocumented immigrants and obtain quality public schools for all. With a video camera in hand and a vision in heart, Media Mobilizing Project organized as both an intervention into the incomplete stories told about our communities and an invitation to build a network of community organizations working toward a shared vision of a more just world for us all.
As media and technology changed we began to focus more on our role as a builder, convenor and supporter of networks. In 2020 we changed our name to Movement Alliance Project to better reflect our work. We play key roles in three, Philadelphia based focus networks: the Alliance For A Just Philadelphia, People’s Headquarters and our network of local sponsored projects. Our offices are in Philadelphia and our staff live in Philadelphia and its surrounding counties.
From 2017 to 2025 MAP grew from fiscally sponsoring one organization to nearly 30 organizations a year, the vast majority of them Model A sponsored projects. From 2020-2025 we’ve processed an average of 7.6 million dollars a year in expenses. At the start of 2026 we began implementing a plan to sustainably grow our fiscal sponsorship program.
In the field of fiscal sponsorship we’re on the smaller end of the medium sized fiscal sponsors. We’re big enough to have the staff, systems, policies, resources and experiences necessary to support the work of our sponsored projects at scale. We’re also small enough to be responsive to our sponsored projects’ unique needs and customize our services as appropriate.
Yes! We are one of the only fiscal sponsors in the entire country that will allow your sponsored project to earn interest on some of the funds you hold with MAP.
MAP takes our role as a fiscal sponsor very seriously. Here are some of the practices MAP follows to keep your organization’s funds and information safe.
Under MAP, sponsored projects have a lot of autonomy over how they design and implement their programming so long as they follow our administrative policies and their work is compliant with the laws that govern us as a tax-exempt organization and employer. Sponsored projects are responsible for their mission, vision, programming, communications, fundraising and promotion.
MAP’s finance staff reviews all financial transactions from our sponsored projects to ensure they are legally compliant and in line with the sponsored project’s and MAP’s missions. We provide systems, templates and guides to make this process smooth.
We are bold in the issues that we support and don’t shy away from work just because it is being scrutinized, criticized or attacked. We believe that fiscal sponsors need to stand shoulder to shoulder with the people and organizations who are organizing and agitating to transform society. We don’t interfere with our sponsored projects exercising their constitutionally protected rights to organize, educate and protest, even if their adversaries are powerful.
We are also clear about our limitations as a fiscal sponsor that is tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. We cannot fiscally sponsor work that is illegal, in support or opposition to a political party or candidate for office or designed for an individual’s benefit. We support projects in ensuring their work is bold and compliant with applicable laws and regulations.
There is a lot of work that needs to happen to transform our world, and not all of it should or needs to happen at a 501(c)(3). But for those who want to use a 501(c)(3) for their work, we are prudent when it comes to protecting our tax-exempt status on behalf of all our sponsored projects.
So much! First we equip your sponsored project with tools to understand the total cost of an employee beyond just their salary. Once you’re ready to hire, we provide support at every step of the employee lifecycle:
Your sponsored project is largely responsible for building and maintaing your workplace culture. How you work and when you work is largely determined by your sponsored project. MAP provides some supervision and culture building resources, coaching and support. As the legal employer of your sponsored project’s employees MAP is required to set some standards that all sponsored projects need to follow. Our staff handbook building tool has sections that are required and some sections that you can customize to fit the unique needs of your organization.
Benefits offered to all employees
Benefits offered to employees who work 25 hours/week or more
Paid time off
Each Sponsored Project develops their own time off package, based on minimums set by MAP. All staff, whether they are hourly or salaried, have access to vacation time, sick time, paid holidays, parental leave, and more. Temporary staff are eligible for paid sick time only.