RVC Seattle

RVC Seattle works both within community-based organizations and across the nonprofit sector to increase skills and capacity that support BIPOC-led organizations, and their communities, to thrive. Our local work supporting community groups in South Seattle and South King County is practical, and the types of services we provide are critical to every organization’s sustainability: We serve as fiscal sponsor to our partner organizations, using a robust model that offers comprehensive supports. (Our approach is an enhanced version of a Model A fiscal sponsorship.) Our services include financial management, guidance on financial strategies, budget analysis, grantwriting, support building philanthropic relationships, human resources, payroll support, participation in pooled benefits, shared learning across our cohort of partner organizations, thought partnership, and more that support each group to build and maintain sustainable infrastructure. Our approach centers our partner organizations’ self-determination and acknowledges that they know best how to strengthen their communities. We help them build skills and confidence to successfully navigate the sector and fulfill their missions. As an equitable intermediary, we also lead thought leadership work across the nonprofit sector focused on engaging funders, policymakers and other nonprofit stakeholders to re-frame and re-balance our collective efforts and create a world that leaves behind a scarcity mindset where community groups are needy and funders’ resources step in to save them. Instead, we invite our philanthropy peers to embrace a mindset of collective growth and well-being, where community groups are recognized for the expertise they possess as a result of their lived experiences, and funders work collaboratively alongside them to build a sustainable, healthy community. We consider ourselves a living experiment in this effort – trying out-of-the-box strategies and sharing our learnings – and believe that innovation lies not in how we operate internally, but in how the nonprofit ecosystem effectively accepts and adapts to diverse approaches to supporting diverse communities. We prioritize cultivating a network of relationships and resources that can contribute to helping our partner organizations become more powerful, effective and sustainable when carrying out their missions.