What's fiscal sponsorship and when should a splash pad project use it?

Fiscal sponsorship is a legal-and-financial arrangement where an established 501(c)(3) public charity ('the sponsor') accepts tax-deductible contributions on behalf of a project that doesn't have its own tax-exempt status. The sponsor takes legal responsibility for charitable use of funds, receives donations, issues tax-deduction acknowledgments, files annual IRS reporting, and re-grants funds to the project minus an administrative fee (typically 5-12%). For splash pad campaigns, fiscal sponsorship makes sense when: (1) you want to start fundraising immediately while the IRS Form 1023 application processes (3-12 months); (2) the project is a one-off and doesn't justify maintaining a permanent 501(c)(3); (3) the sponsor brings credibility, donor-base access, and operational infrastructure (accounting, payroll, legal). Common splash pad fiscal sponsors: community foundations, state parks foundations, statewide trust-for-public-land affiliates. Establish the relationship with a written fiscal sponsorship agreement specifying fees, fund-restrictions, reporting cadence, and termination terms. National Network of Fiscal Sponsors (fiscalsponsors.org) maintains a directory.