Emily,
Utica Bike Rescue incorporated with the State of New York in July and we are in the process of obtaining our Letter of Determination from the IRS. In the meantime we are working with our statewide bicycle advocacy organization as our fiscal sponsor. There are many obvious reasons to do this as I'm quite sure you're already aware. Our arrangement is relatively simple and straightforward. I started with the MOU that Georgia Bikes! has posted on their website (thanks!) and we modified it to fit our arrangement and to satisfy the board of the sponsoring organization.
http://georgiabikes.org/index.php/orginfo/aboutus/82-fiscal-sponsorship
In case you haven't seen what The Alliance has, check out
http://www.peoplepoweredmovement.org/site/index.php/site/memberservices/C217/
Fortunately I have a history with the sponsoring organization and know the staff and board personally. That sure helped move the deal along. When I talk to potential funders and inform them that we are working with a fiscal sponsor they have always asked who it is and how our missions mesh. It sounds as if you have a similar synergy, and that should help too.
This arrangement has worked really well as we get our community bike project off the ground. It allows us to pretty much operate as if we are our own 501(c)(3). That is because of two things: (1) the fiscal sponsorship, but also (2) the fact that we have incorporated with our state. According to the IRS, we are able to accept tax-deductible donations while we are awaiting our Letter of Determination. You'll obviously need to check your state's law but in our case these two things have been instrumental in allowing us to make really good progress.
I hope this isn't confusing. I'm happy to talk with you more if you'd like.
Matt
--
Matt VanSlyke
Utica Bike Rescue
714 Washington Street, Utica, NY 13502
Learn. Earn. Ride.