Fiscal sponsorship plus skill building, encouragement, and an expansive network!
About the Program
We know that bringing your project, company, or film to life is hard no matter what. This program helps dance artists and organizations raise money, seek grant funding, build skills, and expand their network without the burden and complexities of becoming a nonprofit organization.
Eligibility
- Is a dance related project/entity
- Is artistic or educational in nature
- Relies on grants or donations
- Is based in Oregon or SW Washington
Current Projects
ProLab Dance
Founded by Laura Cannon in 2019, ProLab Dance assembles dancers and performing artists from a variety of backgrounds to experiment with movement theories in and around Portland, OR. ProLab approaches dance-making with curiosity and openness in studios, rivers, city parks, ship yards, or any place that sparks interest. Cannon guides these explorations to become live performances and/or dancefilms. With Cannon at the heart of ProLab, dancers participate on a project basis.
Learn MoreEla Fala is an all female dance company led by Brazilian born Artistic Director Bárbara Lima.
ELa FaLa – which means ‘She Speaks’ in Portuguese – seeks to create bridges between art, technology, spirituality, culture, education and science, through a holistic vision of the world. The collective highlights and bolsters communication between these different communities of thought and discovers the many forms of medicine of their interaction.
Learn More
Trip the Dark
Andrea Parson
TriptheDark is a local Portland indie dance company. If you don’t usually watch dance performances, we want you. We ambitiously create large and small scale productions based on themes or made up stories. The recipe is something like:
- 4 parts passion
- 2 parts creativity
- 3 parts collaboration
- 5 parts amazing cast
- 3 parts organization
- 6 parts other (might include luck, weather, inspiration, that one song that I heard one day that led to the development of a new character, et cetera)
A final bow in Germany, a cancer diagnosis, a death, a cookie, a conversation with God.
This evening of solo dance and storytelling by Andrea Parson explores various memories and scenes surrounding the loss of her younger sister to breast cancer in 2020. You Can’t Be Serious is a tragic story about witnessing, and grappling with death. Andrea sinks to the bottom, attempts a stand up routine and shines a light in the deep waters of the ocean. The audience is pulled toward Andrea as she directly asks them questions about death and love.
This show lives between light and dark, between down and up, between the weight of tears and the levity laughter.
FAQ’s
What is Fiscal Sponsorship?
Dance Wire’s fiscal sponsorship program extends our 501(c)3 tax-exempt status to nonprofits, for-profit business entities, and individuals for charitable projects so that they can receive grants and tax-deductible donations that they would otherwise be unable to receive. Check out this article for all the nitty gritty of Fiscal Sponsorship.
How do I know if my project has charitable purpose?
The charitable purpose of Dance Wire’s Arts Incubator Program is to support the advancement of dance arts. Charitable purpose is something that is required by the IRS for this program to work. It can be a little tricky since “art” and “dance” are not listed explicitly in the IRS charitable purposes. Here are some samples of what would fit with our program:
- you are an incorporated nonprofit who’s mission is dance-related, but you have not formally received tax exempt status.
- you are an emerging and/or project-based artist who wants to produce a live performance or dance film for public benefit.
- you are a for-profit company that wants to put on a public festival the specifically serves a marginalized population and charitable contributions are critical to the success of the festival because it will be free or low-cost.
What is the cost of the program?
There is no cost to apply. If you are accepted into the program, you will be required to complete at least six 1:1 Sessions. We have adopted the Green Bottle Sliding Scale pricing model for these Sessions to assure that all dancers have access. See Details on our Website The 1:1 Sessions requirement sets our program apart from other fiscal sponsorships and will make potential funders more comfortable giving you money. We also collect a percentage of your donations and grants to cover the costs associated with keeping you active in our program. Those percentages are 7% for individual donations and 9% for grants.
Can Dance Wire help me get grants for my project?
Grant funding is competitive and there is no guarantee, even for seasoned artists and established organizations. That said, there are two primary ways we can increase your chances of getting funding for your project.
- In your 1:1 Sessions we will make sure your vision, budget, fundraising plan, timeline, marketing, and logistics are all in order and achievable.
- The relationship to Dance Wire will give funders confidence that your project will succeed. Legally, we are taking the risk that you wont’ take the money and run off to Mexico. Plus we have relationships with many of the foundations in the area, so if we work on a proposal with you, it’s like a personal recommendation from us for them to consider your project.
How do I receive grant funds?
Congratulations you got the grant! Dance Wire will need to sign the grant agreement and the funds will be deposited in Dance Wire’s Fiscally Sponsored Projects bank account and distributed out to you as outlined in your contract. Dance Wire retains 9% of all grant funds received to cover the costs associated with overseeing the terms of the grant agreement.
Do you help me with fundraising?
We help you set up your plan for fundraising and guide you every step of the way through your 1:1 Sessions, but at the end of the day, you will need to do the work yourself. After all, YOU are the heart of the project and your prospective donors are most interested in hearing from you!
How do I receive donations from individual donors?
Donations from individuals will be filtered through Dance Wire. This is how we extend our tax-exempt status to you. We use a platform called Give Lively for individual donations, and each sponsored project or organization has its own dedicated campaign. This campaign can be embedded right in your website or has a shareable link to your campaign. If someone wants to write you a check, the check should be written to Dance Wire. All funds that come in will be disburse to you as outlined in your signed contract. Dance Wire retains 7% of individual donations to cover the costs associated with managing your account and distributing your funds.
What if I have never raised money before?
Not to worry! This is part of what we will work on in your 1:1 Sessions. We will formulate a plan and even coach you through how to talk to people about money. We seek to take the mystery out of fundraising! Even if you have fundraised successfully in the past, we will fine tune skills and be sure you feel great about raising money for this project.