Your application is not only to the Film Society as a potential fiscal sponsor, it is a blueprint that you will use to secure funding by applying to grants or to present to individual contributors. Direct your application towards potential funders as well as the Film Society. Our goal is to help you build the best proposal possible so you can go forward and be successful raising funds to make your project.

This will most likely be the first of many revisions you will prepare for your project as it evolves. Think of it as an ongoing business plan that you will update as changes are made and you develop your knowledge and vision.

Upcoming deadlines:
October 30, 2009
January 29, 2010
April 30, 2010
July 30, 2010

You will need to

• complete the online Application form.
• be enrolled as a Film Society Filmmaker Pro member. Join online.
• pay the $40 application fee. Pay online.

Note: You can pay for both the membership and application at the same time: Join online by adding the desired membership to your shopping basket, then click Store Front and select Fiscal Sponsorship from the left-navigation area and click on the Buy One Now button; you can then enter your customer data in the checkout page.  Applications received after the above deadline will be automatically submitted for the next application period. This is not a postmark deadline.

Eligibility Requirements

1. You must be a Film Society Filmmaker Pro member. Join online if you are not a member, or if you are already a member and want to upgrade to Filmmaker Pro. If more than one person is applying with a project you must both be members. Identify one person as the primary contact.
2. The project must be consistent with Film Society charitable purposes, must be noncommercial or educational and represent an imaginative contribution to the film or video art form.
3. The project cannot be a work for hire.
4. You must be seeking donations in the form of grants from public agencies, foundations, corporations or individual donors, including fundraising benefits.
5. You do not need to be a U.S. citizen to apply for fiscal sponsorship with San Francisco Film Society. However, at least one of your project’s named project directors will need to have a Social Security number, EIN (employer identification number), ITIN (independent taxpayer identification number) or other type of IRS registration.

Application Dos

• Format using single spacing.
• Use the same font throughout.
• Use page numbers beginning on page 2, bottom right.
• Comply with suggested lengths in the guidelines.
• Put name and project name in footer
• Label sample materials clearly with your name, the title of the project with which you are applying and the title of the material you are submitting.

Application Don'ts

• Do not double space your proposal.
• Avoid writing in the first person.
• Do not make your application too long or repetitive.