How does fiscal hosting work at The Social Change Nest?

So, you’ve heard about fiscal sponsorship and think it might be right for you, but how does it actually work at The Social Change Nest?

Firstly, who are we?

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, hundreds of local groups sprung up to help their communities. We set up The Social Change Nest CIC to offer fiscal sponsorship for these groups, so we could take care of the admin and they could crack on with caring for their communities.

As the sister of The Social Change Agency, our team already had a decade of experience of supporting social movements, working in social impact and organising across communities and institutions. Our work had given us a deep understanding of civil society and the many, frustrating barriers to creating change.

With the help of some forward thinking donors (Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Lankelly Chase, Changing Ideas and Innovate UK), and Open Collective’s innovative technology, we launched The Social Change Nest CIC to provide impact-led fiscal sponsorship to unincorporated groups around the world.

What do we mean by impact-led fiscal sponsorship?

What do we mean when we say we’re impact-led? It means we’re in it for the community groups and changemakers. We’re in it for the long-term vision of a thriving civil society, where social change happens from the ground up and the power to make change is open to all. In practice, that means we invest all our profits back into the community, to develop more services to respond to the needs of our groups.

How to get set up with fiscal sponsorship through us:

• Apply to create your page on Open Collective.
  
  

• You’ll then get an email from us inviting you to fill in a form. This is where you can tell us a bit more about your group. At the end of the form, you’ll have the chance to book an onboarding call.
  
  

• During your onboarding call, a member of our team will run you through the features of the Open Collective platform. They’ll also ask you some questions about your group.
  
  

• After the onboarding call, you’ll need to upload an expenses policy and add a second admin to your page. If you’re working with vulnerable individuals, we may also need you to send us a safeguarding policy or relevant DBS checks.
  
  

• Let us know when you’ve completed step 4 and we’ll make your account live.
  
  

• Your page is now ready to use.
  
  

To find out more about how The Social Change Nest can become your fiscal sponsor, click here.

How much does it cost to use The Social Change Nest as your fiscal sponsor?

We do need to charge a fee to cover costs and drive our impact, but we make sure our fees are reasonable. We charge a one-off onboarding fee of £42, and then 5% on every contribution that comes through the page.

How we’ll support you

As well as being your fiscal host, we also offer a range of other support:

• Sharing funding opportunities: We share relevant opportunities across our networks. And we highlight partners that can help with grant applications and other funding options.
  
  

• Resources: We gather and share relevant resources and services through our website and other communications channels.
  
  

• Community building: Through events and our Discord community, we bring like-minded groups together to collaborate, connect and learn.
  
  
• Capacity building: We offer additional support where needed, in strategy, communications and marketing, and building out governance structures.

Well what are you waiting for? Book an intro call with our team to get started.