Being Fiscally Sponsored: Your Projections

As a part of our fiscal sponsorship series, we’d like to spend a little more time talking about your projections and best practices in making sure you have a handle on your expenses + carryovers for future work. Most fiscal sponsors require your partnership & your project knowledge to understand the full financial picture of your work.

Why Accurate Nonprofit Financial Projections Matter

Even when you’re fiscally sponsored, you’re accountable not only to your donors and community, but also to your sponsor’s financial systems & reporting standards. Clear, realistic financial projections help:

• Build trust with your sponsor and align with their cash requirements for projects
• Demonstrate readiness & reporting to funders
• Prevent budget shortfalls
• Guide internal decision-making
• Track actuals vs. forecasts for future planning

Tips for Managing Your Projections Under Fiscal Sponsorship

Start with Your Program Goals

Before building a spreadsheet, define what success looks like for your non-profit org. Are you launching a pilot program? Hiring part-time staff? Running monthly community events? Your financial plan should reflect these priorities clearly.

Expenses & Alignment to Fiscal Sponsor Systems

Account for both direct costs (e.g., staff, benefits/taxes, consultants, stipends, supplies, event space) and operational costs (e.g., fiscal sponsor fees, insurance, technology, bookkeeping services). Check with your sponsor for any specific expense categories or formats they may require. Since you’ll use their reports to review against your projections, it’s helpful to have some alignment with their reporting. It will make your monthly reconciliation a lot easier!

Be Cautious with Revenue Estimates

Especially in early stages, avoid overestimating grants or donations that aren’t firmly committed. If you’re including pending funds, flag them clearly in your projections. Be careful in matching expenses to these prospective grants.

Understand Your Sponsor’s Reporting Cycle

Fiscal sponsors typically report on a monthly basis. Align your projection review to their calendar, and build in time to reconcile your actual monthly spending with your forecast. Also keep that in mind as you’re doing things like reconciling credit card expenses. If you’re a month behind on your receipts, those expenses will not be in your reports and you should hold projections for the next month as those items hit your books.

Stay in Communication

Fiscal sponsors are your partners, not just administrators. Don’t hesitate to ask for guidance if you’re unclear on allowable expenses, special fees, budget modifications, or how to categorize a line item. Clear communication can prevent misunderstandings down the line.

Review & Revise Monthly

Projections are living documents. As your project evolves, revisit your budget regularly to stay aligned with your goals—and reality. Share major changes with your sponsor so they can update their internal systems & understanding of your project too. Be sure to review your monthly reports from your fiscal sponsor for accuracy as a part of updating your projections.

Check out the Bottom Line

As time passes and more projections become actuals, be sure to keep an eye on that bottom line number to see what you’re carrying into future budget years. For those that on a calendar year-end, you’ll want to keep an eye on December’s ending balance to ensure that you’ll have enough funds to continue your work in the next fiscal year. Sometimes it helps to create another projections worksheet for next budget cycle to ensure the timing of your revenue aligns with your expenses and any expected growth.

If you need a good document to help get the planning party started, download our monthly cash flow here!