Equitable intermediary organizations are building roads and bridges

Just like roads and bridges help us get to our destinations, intermediary organizations provide the infrastructure nonprofit organizations—and, increasingly, leaders of unincorporated projects or initiatives—need to reach their own destinations. Based on our work with the Equitable Intermediary Funder Cohort, we’ll explain the essential work that intermediaries do, and how foundations can support them—and, in turn, those on the front lines of the fight for justice and equity.   

What are intermediary organizations? 

Intermediaries are organizations that offer back office support to nonprofits and leaders (e.g., fiscal sponsorship, support with reporting, administrative services) or to funders (e.g., pooled funds, regranting). We highlight services to nonprofits and leaders because not all projects or initiatives call for creating an organization. Intermediaries provide the means to an end: facilitating the disbursement of funding for coordinating efforts to meet social needs, organizing communities to address injustice, and in some cases redistributing wealth to advance equity. With this infrastructure, leaders with programmatic vision can focus on critical mission work—without administrative responsibilities siphoning off their energy, time, and passion. Further, an equitable intermediary can connect leaders, missions, and programs and create something greater than the sum of the parts.  

What challenges do intermediary organizations face? 

Much of what intermediary organizationss are called upon to do—working across differences between funders and activists, or between projects—takes a tremendous amount of skill. For example, intermediaries may have to “translate” between foundation staff, activists, and other partners by demystifying reporting requirements for a large foundation to a small community-based organization that doesn’t have dedicated development staff. Intermediaries also have to balance their own needs and the support they offer partners, such as the need to pay thriving wages to their own staff while also keeping costs low for sponsored projects. These challenges are often invisible to funders who are spared the details to avoid any concerns with the intermediary’s capacity to be effective, and invisible to sponsored projects and leaders because intermediaries want to offer good “customer service.”  

Finally, intermediary organizations often subsidize the “cost of doing business” when the funding they receive is programmatic, with no general operating support. This arrangement leaves the intermediaries squeezed from both ends—absorbing risk for both funders and the projects they support, while not fully subsidized by either. To put it bluntly, intermediaries get stuck doing the work that benefits funders without the needed resources or recognition. 

What are equitable intermediaries? 

Not all intermediary organizations approach their work with the same mission. We’re committed to supporting equitable intermediary organizations—those who work with equity-focused initiatives and craft their offerings with equity as the lens for all their work. 

There are at least two broad categories: donor-centered intermediaries, which develop programs for donors with needs they can’t meet on their own, and movement building-centered intermediaries, which support advocacy, movement building, or service groups that have a specific mission and need back office support. All equitable intermediaries operate using principles that recognize the systemic and structural challenges that oppressed communities have faced.  

In 2022, the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation and the Ford Foundation convened the Equitable Intermediary Funder Cohort to learn how to build a stronger ecosystem of equitable intermediaries. We came together because, while funders had been doing individual scans of intermediaries’ work, it seemed most effective to learn together. Our learning has benefited from the convening of a parallel cohort of practitioners—equitable fiscal sponsors and donor intermediaries from various communities with the skills, resources, and sustainable business models to support growth in the number and size of constituent-led groups, many lacking 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. The majority of leaders supported by these intermediaries are led by and support members of historically oppressed communities.  

How do equitable intermediaries advance the sector, and how can funders support them? 

Here are some takeaways from a year of convening equitable intermediaries and the funders who support their work: 

• Equitable intermediaries add value not only to funders but also to the work of community-based and movement builders. In a survey conducted by RVC Seattle, equitable intermediary-supported projects stated that sponsorship adds value to their project (82%), they have more access to funding and other helpful resources (70%), and they’re building more sustainability and long-term capacity (65%).  

• Equitable intermediaries prioritize relationship building, empathetic communication, and adaptability. Survey respondents reported their sponsors to be communicative (79%), understanding of the barriers they face (67%), and aligned on values (83%).  

• Equitable intermediaries don’t just talk equity; they practice equity. The majority of projects agreed their sponsor is transparent about what they can and cannot do (62%) and has a cost and fee structure that feels reasonable given the services provided (70%). 

Equitable practices means that all have access to the opportunities, resources, and support that sponsorship offers through engaged intermediaries who communicate consistently and transparently, deeply understand their projects, and lower barriers whenever possible. Paradoxically, when it goes well, intermediaries’ role as infrastructure often goes unnoticed. Just as we do not often think about the bridges, roads, and other types of infrastructure until they fail, we don’t recognize the importance of intermediaries until they’re gone. It is incumbent on funders to understand the value of equitable intermediaries—and pay for it.  

Photo credit: Equitable Intermediary Funder Cohort/Lourdes J. Rodriguez