UFE Fiscal Sponsorship Meeting 4 March 2013
3/4/2013 UFE Fiscal Sponsorship Meeting
5-6pm, at UFE's 1 Milk Street office.
Attending: Kendra Moyer, Joe Cugini, David Knuten, Steve Revilak (notes), Brian Miller (UFE), Kevin Jones (UFE Treasurer and Board Member, via telephone).
Notes
At the last meeting between UFE and OB, the main question involved which model of fiscal sponsorship. There is a comprehensive model (which is more full-featured) and a grant model. At a prior GA, we had chosen the comprehensive model; we indicated this to Brian.
The comprehensive model is also called "fully supported" (i.e., "fully supported model" and "comprehensive model" refer to the same thing).
In the fully-supported model, UFE handles all of the money, writes checks, maintains bank accounts, and produces monthly financial reports. Essentially, they'd do all of the day-to-day money handling. By contrast, in a grant-based model, they'd issue block grants to FOB, and FOB would write checks and do accounting. The fully-supported model is more expensive, because UFE would be doing more work.
There was prior agreement for UFE to work with "Friends of Occupy Boston" (FOB). FOB would provide a layer of legal separation between UFE and Occupy Boston. FAWG would function as an advisory board to FOB.
In the fully-supported model, expenses would need to be compatible with UFE's 501(c)3 status. We could do some lobbying, but the total amount could not exceed a specified portion of UFE's total budget. We could not support candidates for political office.
We briefly looked at the contract that Joe and Linda had editied. Unfortunately, that contract was based on the grant model, rather than the fully-supported model (i.e., we used the wrong contract as a starting point).
Brian suggested starting with Fiscal Sponsorship Model A agreement 2011.pdf, which is based on the fully-supported model. We'll probably want to change some of the language, and Brian was open to the prospect of discussing changes. We should look over this document, and decide which changes we'd like to make.
When proposing changes, Brian requested we use .doc format, with change tracking on. This will make it easier for he (and UFE's lawyers) to spot the changes.
We discussed how Occupy Boston Radio (OBR) would fit into this picture. OBR has been largely independent from OB, aside from receiving funds. OBR wishes to explore some fundraising and merchandising options, but these require OBR to have a bank account. We discuss whether OBR could have a separate bank account, or share accounts with OB. Our main concern is keeping income streams separate. For example, if OB has a WePay account and OBR has a different WePay account, then we need the ability to distinguish between the two income streams. Brian said he'd check with UFE's finance person about this.
The contract for the fully-supported model has language about employees. That's moot if we have no employees. If OB requires paid services, it would be easier to pay people as contract workers. That's okay for individuals doing less thatn $500 of work per year. OB could not hire employees without UFE agreement.
The contract for the fully-supported model has language about UFE retaining intellectual property rights. We could change that language.
Fees (according to the Draft Exhibit 1): 8% of money taken in, or $100/month, whichever is greater. This is an administrative fee that would be invoiced (or deducted) each month. The initial transfer of funds would be discounted (6%).
We have several administrative options for handling payments. For example, amounts up to x (for some dollar amount x) would only require UFE to sign checks; amount over x would require UFE and a FAWG representative to sign.
Brian gave us some sample financial forms: Expense Voucher, Reimbursement Request, and Purchase Order. (We'd probably use the Purchase order less often than the other two)
In terms of financial reporting, UFE could produce a profit and loss, balance sheet, and a actual/budget comparison (if we have a budget). We asked if UFE could prepare transaction-level reports; Brian said that shouldn't be a problem.
The fully-supported model doesn't require a cover letter; only the grant model does. The grant model cover letter broadly describes what the grants will be for. This isn't necessary for the fully-supported model, since UFE is writing checks directly.
Both the grant and fully-supported model allow us to take donations as a 501(c)3. Donations would be to "Friends of Occupy Boston/UFE", or something to that effect.
Documents
Next Steps
Review the documents listed above. In particular, Fiscal Sponsorship Model A, and the Draft Exhibit 1. Figure out what we'd like to change. Send Brian a list of suggested edits in .doc form, where all edits have been made with change tracking.