Nurturing of PIF Projects with the PIFF
As a project matures, it sometimes grows into requiring official leadership, a place to be hosted symbolically, financial support, and other non-technical support. An accepted practice among non-profits is for an established non-profit to act as shelter or umbrella nurturing organization for nascent projects until they grew large to benefit from independence. Fiscal sponsorship ( https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/tools-resources/fiscal-sponsorship-nonprofits) is one aspect of this nurturing.
For example, it may be easier for a project to acquire a grant by asking the granting funds be given to an organization that already has 501c3 status with the IRS, a bank account, a legal corporation, and a formally organized board. The nurturing organization then receives the funds and disburses them to the project. This saves the project the delay and trouble of establishing a corporation, applying for IRS tax-deductibility status, etc.
The PIFF board has voted to act as an umbrella for projects of fellows, when there is no owner or other clear home, but it has been identified that there is value in the continual support in the project.
Why would anyone want to shelter their project with the PIFF?
In the free-for-all world of open-source, the minor prestige of the PIFF may help to make a project a clear favorite out of many alternatives, or to establish a Fellow as a symbolic leader among many contributors. The PIFF has almost no official connection to the U.S. government. It may be convenient to have an open-source project which is mostly used by the government supported by an established non-governmental organization. If a project is seeking grants or personal donations, those funds can be tax-deductible if given to the PIFF and earmarked for the project. A granting foundation may have regulations that forbid them giving grants to a single individual. A donor may feel their grant is less likely to be questioned as inappropriate if it is given to an established corporation than to an individual. A project may simply want to have a place to post content without getting their own domain and establishing their own website.
What the PIFF Will Probably Not Do
The PIFF will probably not financially support a PIF technical project except with funds earmarked specifically for that purpose, because general funds given to the PIFF are intended to support its mission directly. The PIFF will probably not provide technical support beyond perhaps helping to communicate a request.
The PIFF will also not take control, or ownership, or credit for, any project. We are not interested in running projects except in so far as we can provide a valuable service to our membership.
How to get a project sheltered?
Just ask.
The Board will evaluate eligibility to be sheltered by PIFF with these criteria:
- The project itself should be aligned with the mission of the Presidential Innovation Fellows program of bringing the benefits of the innovation economy into government.
- It should not economically favor a particular firm or group of firms.
- It should be actively led by a Fellow (i.e., a member of PIFF.) Of course, the leader can recruit helpers/co-leader who are not alums.
We recognize that there is a spectrum of projects in terms of how much inside or outside government they happen to be. We’re happy to consider any proposal, and deal with any potential problems on a case-by-case basis. Projects require status update and review after each year.