AGJA’s fiscal sponsor, Jewish Creativity International, also known as the Center for Jewish Culture and Creativity receives the money granted to your project, and “re-grants” the money to AGJA by paying your invoices.

It allows you to qualify for and to seek grants available only to tax-exempt organizations under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

JCI’s fees amount to 5% of the funds received for the benefit of your project. You don’t owe JCI anything until JCI receives money in support of your project. The American Guild of Judaic Art will take no overhead or fees. The ability to submit grant proposals utilizing JCI’s fiscal sponsorship of AGJA is a benefit of membership.

No. You receive the benefits of JCI’s tax-exempt status only for grant awards made through JCI for your project.

FISCAL SPONSORSHIP FOR YOUR PROJECT DOES NOT MAKE YOU A TAX-EXEMPT ORGANIZATION FOR THE PURPOSE OF SOLICITING OR ACCEPTING GENERAL DONATIONS.

By using the money for your project’s expenses. You will submit invoices to AGJA that you receive for goods and services. AGJA will review and forward them to JCI, who will pay those invoices on your behalf. Types of invoices can include bills for personal services from you and your contractors, to compensate you and them for the time you spend working on the project.

No. JCI’s main purpose as our fiscal sponsor for this initiative is to process grants. Payments to you for services you provide – i.e., earned income – should go directly to you.

No. Because the grants are made payable to Jewish Creativity International as the 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor, JCI needs to be able to demonstrate that the grant money was used for appropriate tax-exempt purposes, and that the terms of the grants are being fulfilled. That’s why payments are made directly to vendors according to their invoices.

That’s permitted. Submit your invoice to AGJA for payment ahead of time, with documentation of the expense(s) such as a purchase order, a contract, or a third-party invoice and AGJA will forward it to JCI for payment.

Email to: [email protected]. Invoices are accepted via email ONLY, DO NOT USE U.S. MAIL. If your invoice involves reimbursement for expenses you’ve paid for, you need to attach a receipt for each of those expenses. Please do not contact JCI directly. Your point of contact will always be [email protected].

No. If there’s a deadline or other special reason to expedite and confirm a particular payment, AGJA will make commercially reasonable efforts to meet your needs.

JCI processes payments twice a month, so payees almost always receive their funds within 30 days after the invoice reaches JCI. JCI makes all payments electronically, via Automated Clearing House, so all invoices must include the vendor’s appropriate bank details for accepting ACH payments. JCI will not pay by check.

No. They need to invoice you, and you need to approve the invoice before AGJA forwards it to JCI for payment. JCI may not spend your money without your explicit approval; submission of an invoice to AGJA for payment shall conclusively be deemed your approval and directive to AGJA and JCI to pay the invoice from available funds in your account.

No; nothing in the Grant Sponsorship Agreement or the relationship it governs makes any employee, agent or contractor of yours an employee, agent or contractor of JCI or AGJA. You can use the grant funds to pay your employee’s wages if the expense is part of your Project budget, but the employment relationship is solely between you and your employee(s).

Yes, if the payee is an individual (a “natural person”), as opposed to a company. JCI needs a signed IRS Form W-9 from the payee. (For persons who don’t reside in the United States, it would be Form W-8.) The forms are available for download at irs.gov. JCI is unable to pay any individual based on an invoice unless they have the individual’s W-9 or W-8 on file.

AGJA will send you a report shortly after the end of each month in which you have financial activity.

You can’t. JCI’s accounts are updated monthly, not daily, so AGJA does not have that information to give you. Your balance is NOT available on demand. You can request that a copy of the most recent financial report from AGJA/JCI be sent you, but if you do, you may be assessed a $25 service fee.

JCI will alert AGJA as soon as any funds are received. AGJA will use its best efforts to notify you promptly when the money is available for your use.

No, you may not, and you are cautioned not to take this prohibition lightly. If a check has been received, you will already have been notified. If you have not been notified, the check has not come in.

Since the funds will be paid to JCI, the legal applicant is JCI – on behalf of AGJA and your project, of course. If you apply in your own name, the donation would not be tax-deductible, and the application might not meet a grantor’s eligibility requirements.

No, they cannot. That’s not JCI’s role. Their services are limited to processing the funds that come in and go out from a specific Grant.

The sponsorship effectively ends when all the money in your account has been spent. If you were to terminate the fiscal sponsorship before that happens, JCI would be obligated to return any unspent funds to the Grantor.

JCI does business as Jewish Creativity International, which is its brand identity. Its legal corporate name is the Center for Jewish Culture and Creativity, and many directories still list it by that name. That’s also the name it uses for government filings and some legal documents. They are two different names for the same entity.

None. You should never contact JCI directly for any reason. Any communication with JCI by an AGJA member must go through AGJA. There are no exceptions to this rule.