Commission votes to accept Evergreen Social Impact as fiscal sponsor

The Washington Women’s Commission voted to accept Evergreen Social Impact as its fiscal sponsor after a special meeting that included a presentation from Evergreen and an extended discussion of fees, oversight and ethics.

Chris (commissioner) moved "to accept Evergreen Social Impact as our fiscal sponsor," and Malia (commissioner) seconded the motion. Staff confirmed the motion passed; the transcript records no opposition or abstentions but does not provide a roll-call tally. "The official motion is to accept Evergreen Social Impact as our fiscal sponsor," Chris said when calling for the vote.

Evergreen’s director of operations and partner engagement, Sarah Hiller, had earlier outlined Evergreen’s proposed fee structure: 10% for individual donations, 7.5% for nongovernment grants/donations and an added 5% (12.5% total) for government grants to cover extra reporting and compliance. Hiller also said Evergreen would provide a contract template for the fiscal sponsorship agreement and monthly financial reporting to the commission.

Commissioners requested clarifications about the commission’s fundraising and solicitation authority, possible conflicts of interest, and how staff and commissioners would be excused from deliberations when necessary. Britney (staff) said she would seek additional review and asked that the incoming executive committee weigh in on the final contract before signature. "I will reach out to Evergreen. My goal is to have something in place by the end of October," Britney said.

Next steps: staff will share the proposed fiscal sponsorship agreement with commissioners and the incoming executive committee for review before finalizing the contract. The commission also asked staff to clarify policy language around conflicts and to return with refined ethics/fundraising guidance at a later meeting.