Versatile Arts is a for-profit circus aerial school in Seattle. Circus in this part of the world (and in general) is a predominantly white, privileged activity - and COVID has made it worse given our need to raise prices. As part of our diversity and equity efforts, we have started a financial aid program for BIPOC aerialists, currently supported by a small group of in-house donors. We would like to expand our donor base and have gotten feedback that making donations tax-deductible and eligible for corporate matching would allow us to support more students.
Currently, donations are made on a recurring monthly basis using our in-house membership platform. With fiscal sponsorship, many of those donors would likely switch to a yearly donation model. As such, we would likely shift our fundraising to a more event-centric model instead of the patronage membership model we currently use.
Please note that we would not be re-granting the funds to these students; instead, each student receives a credit stipend in their studio account, for use in paying tuition or other training costs. The only exception would be if a student needs transportation assistance, in which case we would reimburse them directly for those costs. If that scenario is outside the parameters of fiscal sponsorship, we can absorb the cost internally instead.
The other use for the funds is to pay the scholarship administrator. Most of her pay occurred with the development of the program itself but there are small monthly duties she performs and is paid for.
