Before we started doing fiscal sponsorship, we never fully understood the endless variation of how people live and work. But now, our eyes are open: people are very creative, and there are millions of ways to do things.
Unfortunately, we cannot pay every possible expense in the world. In general, we try to say “yes” - to make it work - but charities are highly regulated. Sometimes, to maintain our charitable status, which is core to our functioning, we have to say “no.” Here are some expenses that we cannot pay or reimburse:
- Reimbursements of paid-for contractor work for a Model A project - for Model A projects, independent contractors must be paid directly by Raft
- Reimbursements for donations to another organization or charity. (contact us! We may be able to make the donation directly.)
- Reimbursements of food or other goods paid for using a food voucher or other government benefit (e.g., “EBT”/”SNAP”/”WIC”/”EWIC”)
- Gasoline for personal vehicles (see our driving page for more information)
- Vehicle parts or repairs, or other personal vehicle costs
- Automobiles
- Real estate
- Any other entity’s taxes (e.g., a project lead’s tax bill)
- Lottery tickets
- Money orders
- Non-charitable-purpose-related entertainment or leisure expenses
- Fines (e.g., parking or traffic tickets, unless relief from unjust fines is the project charitable purpose)
- Cashback (withdrawing cash from a card account while paying with the same card)
- Home mortgage payments
- Personal expenses, i.e., those not related to project purposes
- Expenses for family members or friends of project leads
This list is not exhaustive. As we encounter other examples of expenses we cannot pay, we will add them here.
Contact us with any questions!