Fiscal Sponsorship
How Our Structure Supports Alaska
Fiscal sponsorship helps us stay lean, locally led and focused on work that benefits Alaska’s communities.
A simple, efficient structure
Alaska Venture Fund is rooted in Alaska. Many of us are lifelong or multigenerational Alaskans who have dedicated our careers to strengthening the state and the communities we call home. To stay focused on that work, we use a common nonprofit structure called fiscal sponsorship.
Fiscal sponsorship is a practical arrangement for small teams like ours to access essential back-office services — accounting, human resources, grants and contract management, and legal and compliance support — through an existing nonprofit rather than building those functions ourselves, which would be costly and inefficient.
Alaska Venture Fund is fiscally sponsored by New Venture Fund (NVF), a 501(c)(3) public charity. NVF provides financial and administrative support that helps us stay lean, compliant and able to direct more of our resources into work here in Alaska. A small percentage of our annual budget is allocated as an administrative fee to cover the cost of these services.
This structure allows our staff and leadership to focus on mission-critical work while receiving the back-office support needed to run a responsible nonprofit. AVF’s leadership reviews and approves this arrangement annually and retains the option to move to a different fiscal sponsor or become an independent nonprofit if needed.
Fiscal sponsorship has been widely adopted across the nonprofit sector over the last two decades, with hundreds of fiscal sponsors now supporting thousands of charitable projects across a wide range of missions. Groups choose this model because it reduces overhead and allows more resources to reach communities.
Fiscal sponsorship does not mean the sponsor sets our agenda or influences our programs, fundraising or objectives. Those decisions are made here in Alaska. We set our own strategy, secure our own funding and determine our own priorities. NVF ensures our work remains charitable and complies with the law. We only work with funders and partners who respect the independence and importance of Alaskan voices.
What fiscal sponsorship is (and isn’t)
What it is
- A widely used way for charitable initiatives to access back-office support and critical administrative services
- A cost-effective alternative to building full in-house operations
- A structure that ensures strong legal, financial and human resources compliance
- A model used by diverse organizations with many different missions and perspectives
- An efficient approach that allows more resources to stay focused on programs and communities
What it is not
- A mechanism for a sponsor to set an initiative’s agenda
- A way for outside funders or groups to direct our work
- An endorsement of positions held by other sponsored projects
- A replacement for Alaska-based leadership or decision-making
Our Commitment to Alaska
Alaska Venture Fund exists because we believe deeply in Alaska’s potential – to build sustainable economies, strong communities and a future where all Alaskans can thrive. Our fiscal sponsorship helps us operate efficiently, but our vision, decisions and priorities come from our team, here in Alaska.
Learn More About Fiscal Sponsorship
For more information about the fiscal sponsorship model and why so many organizations use it, we recommend this balanced overview from the Council of Nonprofits:
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