Founded in 1972, the San Francisco Study Center (Study Center) is a left-of-center 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that specializes in fiscal sponsorship. It provides fiscal sponsorship—which includes funding and financial oversight — to organizations that have not obtained, or are ineligible for, tax-exempt status under federal guidelines. 12 Study Center fiscally sponsors progressive housing policy groups, health and education projects, and political advocacy campaigns with a focus on the San Francisco area. 34
During San Francisco’s “neighborhood power” movement in 1972, a team of recent college graduates established Study Center to monitor the San Francisco City Hall. 212 Through an 8-page monthly newsletter, Study Center discussed the latest developments from City Hall; covering “committee meetings, PUC, Planning,[and] Building Inspection,” the newsletter was intended to serve as “an early-warning system for neighborhood organizers.” 2 The publication was abandoned in 1978, and the Study Center is now a fiscal sponsor of liberal nonprofits. 12
Activities
As the fiscal sponsor of a nonprofit or project, the Study Center essentially takes on the role of banker and accountant, funding and overseeing all financial activity of the group, usually until it can achieve self-sufficiency. 2 Charging clients a 10 percent service fee, the Study Center will provide fiscal sponsorship to organizations small and large, ranging from $2,000 up to $1 million per year. 2
Fiscally-Sponsored Nonprofits and Projects
As of March 2019, Study Center fiscally sponsors of these 29 nonprofit organizations and projects. 33
Funding
For 2017, the Study Center reported more than $6.1 million in total revenue. Program service fees made up approximately 80 percent of its total revenue, while grants and contributions accounted for the remaining 20 percent. 5
Leadership
Study Center is governed by a nine-member board of directors, headed by Acting President Richard Livingston. 1 Geoffrey Link, the executive director of Study Center, oversees a staff of more than 140 individuals. 4
Associated Organizations
In 2008, Study Center founded the Fiscal Sponsor Directory, a web-based directory of fiscal sponsors in the United States. The directory is managed and funded by the Study Center. 6
To support a collective impact strategy to advance pay equity within San Francisco’s youth nonprofit sector, though an entity such as the Service Providers Working Group.
In Support of the Charitable Activities of San Francisco Study Center's Sponsored Project, Ethnic Media Services, for the Continuation of a Project to Enhance the Capacity of Ethnic Media in Houston
In Support of the Charitable Activities of San Francisco Study Center's Sponsored Project, Ethnic Media Services, for the Continuation of a Project to Enhance the Capacity of Ethnic Media in Houston
Core support for Ethnic Media Services, a national media initiative to enhance local reporting and empower news organizations that serve minority communities
$210,000
2023
Friends of the Jewish Community Library
Supporting the operations of the Jewish Community Library
To pilot sustainability models with and for ethnic media in California to strengthen the sector and its ability to provide vital information to working Californians, through an entity such as Ethnic Media Services.
To strengthen the capacity of ethnic media to educate ethnic and immigrant communities about California's housing affordability crisis and the need to expand tenant protections, through an entity such as Ethnic Media Services.
FOR CORE OPERATING SUPPORT FOR ETHNIC MEDIA SERVICES TO STRENGTHEN THE INFRASTRUCTURE OF CALIFORNIAS ETHNIC MEDIA AND INCREASE THE CAPACITY OF ETHNIC MEDIA OUTLETS TO COVER ISSUES AND STORIES THAT ADVANCE HEALTH EQUITY FOR THEIR COMMUNITIES.
In Support of the Charitable Activities of San Francisco Study Center's Sponsored Project, Ethnic Media Services, for a Pilot Project to Enhance the Capacity of Ethnic Media in Houston to Report on Issues Relevant to Communities
