Planning Library · Fiscal sponsor intake
What a sponsor needs to say yes.
A Model A fiscal-sponsorship intake packet in one place: mission, programs, 12-month budget, staffing, board pipeline, bank and insurance basics, and the sponsor services requested.
Legal name: Groundworks (501(c)(3) in formation, Form 1023 planned; nonprofit attorney engaged in the formation phase).
Founder / proposed ED: Drew Keske.
Service area: Banks–McMinnville corridor, Oregon, with the physical site targeted in McMinnville.
Contact: hello@rootstockcorridor.com · Rootstock system concept
Groundworks connects Banks–McMinnville corridor farms and eaters through a café, farm stand, and education center — an everyday gathering point where local food is affordable, culturally serious, and accessible to SNAP customers once retailer authorization is confirmed.
- Purchase surplus and seconds from farms across the Banks–McMinnville corridor at a fair, published farmer return.
- Operate a counter-service café and a curated farm stand / marketplace; accept SNAP / EBT.
- Run weekly programming — workshops, film nights, cooking demos, youth work, guest talks.
- Publish sourcing, pricing, and impact numbers as a matter of practice.
Startup capital target: $150K – $250K to open (buildout, deposits, initial inventory, working capital, legal, launch).
Year-1 revenue estimate: ~$295K – $360K across café, farm stand, grants, events, and donations.
Grants + donations flowing through sponsor: $30K – $75K in Year 1 (USDA LAMP, Oregon agriculture funding programs to be verified, local community foundation to be identified, Regional foundation — partner to be identified, individual gifts).
See /financials and /fundraising for the full model.
- Founding ED (Drew Keske): operations, curation, partnerships, fundraising.
- First hire — cook at open. Second hire — programming coordinator or food-ops assistant in Year 1.
- Advisors: 1 – 2 founding advisors seated by end of 2026 (Phase A); full 3 – 5 board by Phase B go/no-go.
Three Priority-1 seats are the recruitment focus:
- Legal / Land Use — enables formation, lease review, zoning navigation.
- Nonprofit Finance — treasurer, budget oversight, compliance.
- Philanthropic Connector — opens donor doors and warm-intro networks.
See the full board seat spec at /governance.
- Banking: nonprofit checking to be opened once EIN issued (or held under sponsor per Model A).
- Insurance (planned at open): general liability, product liability, workers' comp, cyber, D&O for the board.
- Food-service compliance: responsible county permits and inspections, food-handler certification for staff, SNAP / EBT retailer authorization registration with the state.
- Governance policies: bylaws, conflict-of-interest, whistleblower, document-retention — ratified before Phase B go/no-go.
- Hold restricted and unrestricted charitable funds during the IRS determination window.
- Issue tax-deductible acknowledgment letters to donors.
- Serve as legal grantee on federal, state, and foundation applications (USDA LAMP, Oregon agriculture funding programs to be verified, corridor and Oregon funders still to be identified).
- Provide back-office bookkeeping and 990 reporting during the sponsored period.
- Support a clean spin-out to standalone 501(c)(3) status on determination.