The See You Collective (SYC) announced on Instagram on March 10 that their fiscal sponsor, the Open Collective Foundation (OCF), is dissolving.
The See You Collective is a student-led mutual aid fund composed of students at Clark University with the purpose of minimizing financial insecurity on campus. As described on the SYC Instagram, the collective “aims to be a space where low-income students can tell us what they need and be respected while seeking support.”
According to a SYC transparency report posted to Instagram, between December 2023 and January 2024 there was also a total of $12,799 requested by students. SYC raised $7,920 and distributed $6,600 in these two months.
In their announcement, SYC said that they will need to pause collection and redistribution of funds until they have found a new organization, as they rely on OCF for accounting and tax payments. SYC will also be closing their funding request form until they have found a new fiscal sponsor.
Described in OCF’s dissolution announcement that was sent to all of Open Collective Foundations Collective admins, all collectives under the OCF, including the SYC, have until Friday, March 15 to collect funds. The last day for collectives to work with the OCF to develop and implement a plan to spend or transfer funds is September 30. The last date until collectives have to lay off all employees is June 30.
SYC was emailed about the dissolution of OCF on February 28, giving them just 16 days before their final day to collect donations.
“It’s upsetting that OCF, as an entity committed to transparency, would give the 600+ organizations who rely on its services only two weeks to form a plan to compensate for this cut off,” representatives of SYC told The Scarlet. “Many of us have communities who rely on our organizations to meet their basic needs and are now having to mobilize in this tight timeline,” they said.
In their dissolution announcement, OCF said that they were “dedicated to finding new ways to open up the nonprofit space, making it easier for people to raise and access funding so they can do good in their communities.” OCF said their decision to close was due to an unsustainable business model.
OCF is providing a web page with information for collectives to navigate the closing. This includes steps for spending down or transferring funds, closing, and transitioning to a new fiscal sponsor.
According to SYC representatives, new fiscal sponsors have significant requirements for budgets to sponsor new collectives. One fiscal sponsor that the collective had considered in the past had a requirement of 2-3 months operating expenses or about $3,000 to $4,000. They noted that this number is highly variable.
“Our goal is to locate an entity that is able to help us maintain our 501(c)(3) status… and allows us to be as transparent as possible about the movement of our funds,” SYC representatives said.
