Fiscal Agency

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Overview

From 2017 through December 31st, 2022, Jeffco CTC’s fiscal agent was Jefferson County Public Health. Beginning January 1st, 2023, Jeffco CTC is be a project of the Colorado Nonprofit Development Center (CNDC).

Why did we make this move? At CNDC, Jeffco CTC will benefit from:

Increased community control

Streamlined processes

Increased collaborative capacity

Reduced “indirect” costs, so we can spend more of our grant dollars directly on our initiatives

As always, the real goal, as always, is to be able to DO MORE TO SUPPORT OUR YOUTH.

Please see past Jeffco CTC Newsletters for the most up to date information on our shift to a new fiscal agency.

90-Second Overview

This video is a quick-moving “cliff notes” version of why Jeffco CTC made this change.

30-minute Overview

Recorded during Jeffco CTC Board Q & A Session July 7, 2022

This video includes perspectives from our primary funder, several JCPH staff members, a youth intern, and one of our coalition’s contractors.

Increasing community control

Enable power-sharing and community ownership.
Make coalition-driven decisions about communications, grant applications, and more. Currently, these decisions are subject to review by directors at JCPH and the board of health.
Advocate for community change based on coalition priorities.
Share coalition-specific messaging via Facebook, press releases and advertising.
Staff working directly for the coalition, rather than for JCPH.

Animated image showing two location pins.

Streamlined processes

Much shorter time lines and simpler processes for many core processes, including:
- Hiring youth interns
- Paying youth interns
- Hiring new staff members
- Contracting
- Paying contractors after invoices
- Travel
Budget tracking at CNDC is available in real time and technical assistance is available for budgeting for programming.
Staff will be allowed to make smaller, budgeted purchases, including food for meetings, office supplies, food when traveling using a p-card.

Increase collaborative capacity

Expand our ability to reach groups who may hesitate to work with a government agency.
Lower government- and process-related burdens will increase time available for community change.
More agility and faster turn around in hiring youth, contracting, purchasing, bringing in community advisors, and creating MOUs with partners.
In the future, our coalition could raise funds in a variety of ways as we look toward options for sustainability and flexibility to meet community needs based on community input.

More money to spend on our initiatives

Lowering indirect from 29% charged by JCPH to 14% charged by CNDC could allow the coalition an additional approximate $90,000 per year to spend on the community.
As a project under the nonprofit CNDC, grant dollars would not contribute to triggering TABOR limits.
The coalition will no longer be obligating JCPH to guarantee our matching funds for the Drug Free Community grant.
Streamlined processes and shorter turn around will prevent underspending of grant funds.

Funding

We paid $179,000 per year in indirect costs to Jefferson County Public Health. By lowering the rate to 14%, which is what CNDC charges, we will save $91,000 per year. The Community First Foundation pledged an addition $100,000 of funding to use for the transition and to create an escrow account allowing the coalition to continue to accept reimbursable grants.

Savings will be uses to fund additional staff positions (community and youth engagement).

Continued Commitment to Partnering with Jefferson County Public Health

Before, during and after this transition, we remain totally committed to continuing our on-going collaboration with our great health department programs and partners. In fact, we plan to consider including this commitment in our bylaws next time they are updated. See the MOU between Jeffco CTC and Jeffco Public Health.

Frequently Asked Questions

Please see below for frequently asked questions about this transition. If you have additional questions, please either email us or watch our Q & A meeting above. The questions below will be updated as new questions are submitted by board members.

Process (including Coalition Voting)

When did the vote occur?

What were the results of the vote?
The coalition voted yes, to the question: Should Jeffco CTC become a project of CNDC?
- 34 members voted
- 4 members abstained
- Yes – 28 votes (93.3%)
- No – 2 votes (6.7%)

How was the Colorado Nonprofit Development Center selected? Why don't we have more choices?
After hearing the coalition’s priorities for selecting a fiscal agent, then working with the executive committee and doing research, Pamela created a spreadsheet with 55 key criteria. Additionally, Pamela reached out to multiple people and researched options for fiscal agency online. Then she conducted research online and interviewed each potential agency. The only two agencies meeting minimum criteria for fiscal agency, and who are willing to host the coalition, were:
- Jefferson County Public Health
- The Colorado Nonprofit Development Center
Coalition staff would like to be supported by an agency that can assist us with grant requirements, taxes, human resources, legal requirements, insurance and billing systems, while allowing the coalition to remain independent. Other agencies researched (Jefferson County Human Services, Jefferson County Human Services Foundation, Jefferson County Public Libraries, Jefferson Center) do not have direct experience supporting coalition-driven decision making or supporting groups like ours. However, Jefferson Center may be open to this in the future.

For other Fiscal Sponsorship Nonprofits that are specifically set up to support independently operated projects, only 2 others were identified:
- Trailhead Institute: not interested in working with us until 2023, would not support hiring youth staff
- HN Collective did not respond to repeated inquiries
Based on criteria from our February board retreat, executive committee meetings, and staff research, staff compiled a spreadsheet with 55 key criteria for fiscal agent, then did extensive research and interviewed 6 potential agencies that were identified by asking the board for recommendations (Colorado Nonprofit Development Center (CNDC), Jefferson County Public Health, Trailhead Institute, Jefferson Center, Jefferson County Libraries, and Human Services). Some factors considered included:
- Indirect costs, which are 14% at CNDC (10% for nongovernmental grants)
- Allowability of paying participants/youth interns for their time, which CNDC allows
- Experience with similar coalition-driven projects, see the CNDC project list here
- Experience managing state & federal grants, CNDC has experience in this area
- Willingness to allow current Jeffco CTC staff to become employees of the new agency, CNDC can move forward hiring CTC staff members through their HR system
Based on an analysis of the results of this research, and the key criteria above, CNDC emerged as a supportive, full-service fiscal agent that will meet Jeffco CTC’s needs extremely well.

What is the timeline for this?
The current timeline is as follows, subject to change:
- Feb.- June: New fiscal agent researched
- June – July: New fiscal agent identified
- June:
  - CNDC agrees to accept Jeffco CTC as a project
  - Jeffco CTC Executive Committee agrees to support the process
  - Senior leadership team agrees to support process
- July:
  - July 5, 2022: Coalition members sent newsletter with information, links and request to provide input
  - July 7, 2022: Q & A session with coalition members/ JCPH staff about the move
  - July 4- July 19, 2022: Jeffco CTC Coalition provides input about the change (electronically)–> 90% of poll respondents voted “YES” to the move to CNDC
  - July 19, 2022: Board of health agrees to letters to grant monitors from CNDC & JCPH BOH, & agreements signed between CNDC & JCPH (note: this might take place in August due to extensive JCPH review processes)
  - July 28, 2022: Jeffco CTC Board discusses change at board meeting; voted yes, to the question: Should Jeffco CTC become a project of CNDC?
- September 20th: Jeffco Board of Health discusses CTC’s transfer to a new fiscal agent.
- See timeline above for a current tentative timeline post September 20th.

This feels like a sudden decision!!! When has the coalition discussed this since it first came up at our February retreat?
This page has been on our website, and continuously updated, since February 2022.

The coalition has been discussing this at board meetings starting February 2022, including
- February retreat slide deck and meeting minutes
- March Board meeting: meeting minutes, this webpage created & shared with coalition
- March newsletter https://conta.cc/3tFAML6
- May Board meeting: meeting minutes
- June Board meeting: slide deck
- July 5th, coalition newsletter, special edition
- July 8, Jeffco CTC fiscal agent Q & A session (see recording above)
Additionally, the Executive Committee has discussed this at each meeting since January:
- January 18, 9:30-10:30 AM
- February 15, 9:30-10:30 AM
- March 15, 9:30-10:30 AM
- April 19, 9:30-10:30 AM
- May 17, 9:30-10:30 AM
- June & July Exec meetings & CTC board meetings

How can I read more about what it will look like to be a "project" under CNDC?

Fiscal Agency & Money

What is a "fiscal agent" or a "fiscal sponsor" and what does it mean for our collaborative work?

Fiscal Sponsorship is a formal arrangement that allows charitable organizations to operate under the umbrella of CNDC’s legal and tax status without having to form their own 501(c)(3). The fiscal sponsor takes care of the many of the management functions of finance, human resources, legal compliance, and risk management. Find out more at the Colorado Nonprofit Association website.

Why not continue having the health department serve as our fiscal agent?

We love the health department! There is absolutely NO intention to reduce current partnerships with the health department– in fact, we hope this might even increase our collaboration with the health department.

Please see the information below, but basically moving to an agency that allows the board to make their own decisions falls in line with our coalition’s goals to achieve power sharing and to encourage authentic participation by diverse people. Additionally, the coalition will have substantially more funding to work with if we move to an agency with a lower indirect rate.

What is indirect and what does it cover?

Indirect is a cost that a fiscal agency “takes off the top” of grant funds to pay for expenses the fiscal agency incurs (such as financial services, legal, or buildings, for example). NOT covered in indirect to JCPH are all the expenses we have to do coalition work, including: all purchases, travel, staff salary, staff PTO & other fringe benefits, gift cards, youth interns, food for meetings, contractors, etc.

What will indirect NOT cover at CNDC, that IS currently covered by JCPH?
- Space for offices, meetings & storage (could be replaced for about $8000 per year if in-kind contributions are not available)
- Limited IT support & access to software (to be replaced by as needed purchased supports & Google Workspace for estimated $3000 per year)
- Printing (projected to cost about $500 per year)
- Background checks ($150 or less per person; $4500 per year estimated maximum)
- Additional liability insurance (unlikely to be needed unless we engage in extreme sports or overnight camps for youth)
High end estimated total $16,000

Note that grant funds already pay for the following items: all staff time, computers, phones & phone service with hot spot, all employee salary & benefits, mileage reimbursement and travel expenses, website and technology costs (such as Zoom, mentimeter), office supplies, and coalition costs (such as food). Internet to work at home is not covered by JCPH currently and must be supplied by staff members.

Additionally, CNDC does not provide working capital to cover costs between billing and reimbursement by state or federal grants. The coalition is currently seeking funds from the Community First Foundation to cover this.

What does indirect NOT currently cover at JCPH that WOULD be covered by CNDC?
- Technical assistance with management processes, including budget management
- Management of participant stipends (payment for youth) and contracts
- Reimbursement for purchases made by staff using credit card
Note that grant funds already pay for the following items: all staff time, computers, phones & phone service with hot spot, all employee salary & benefits, mileage reimbursement and travel expenses, website and technology costs (such as Zoom, mentimeter), office supplies, and coalition costs (such as food).

How will paying community advisors and contractors work?

CNDC has a system for creating contracts and agreements that much simpler and more streamlined than JCPH and can be proceeded in about 2 weeks, which is much faster than the 3 months needed to have these approved through the Board of Health. Additionally, contracts will not have to be notarized, which has been a barrier to participation for many youth. Invoices are paid by CNDC in 1 to 2 weeks (which is much faster than JPCH is able to pay) and reoccurring payments can be scheduled, if needed.

There must be downsides to making this move-- what are those?

What are the downsides from the perspective of Jefferson County Public Health?

JCPH is very supportive and proud of the work Jeffco CTC does on behalf of our community. Both Jeffco CTC and JCPH are committed to continue our close partnership before, during and after this evolution process. In general, leadership at JCPH sees this move as an evolution: JCPH incubated the coalition for 6 years, and now that capacity has been raised and the coalition is organized, the community is ready to take over all leadership and decision-making functions. Some downsides of this move from the perspective of the health department include: more effort will need to be made to collaborate (fewer “water cooler” moments), need for MOUs or agreements to share data or formerly participate in each other’s projects, less direct oversight of Jeffco CTC by the Board of Health and directors of JCPH; and JODY what would you add/change here? A misperception is that JCPH would ‘lose’ money because of this transition. However, JCPH doesn’t experience financial gain from the grants that Jeffco CTC has; instead, all indirect costs charged by JCPH reflect actual costs incurred by having this program within the department. Therefore, this move will neither benefit nor harm JCPH financially. Again, both JCPH and the Jeffco CTC board agree that continued collaboration, regardless of fiscal agent, will benefit both organizations– and the community.

What are the downsides from the perspective of the Jeffco CTC Executive Committee?
Some of the downsides discussed by the executive committee include:
- Wanting more answers from CNDC and/or legal advice prior to making this decision.
- Needing to make sure that we’ve gotten real input from all our coalition members and that everyone had their voice heard.
- Concerns that being part of the health department is important to the legitimacy of the coalition.
- Concerns regarding additional time & responsibilities for the Executive Committee &/or board.
- Additional responsibilities for financial oversight (including a possible need for a Treasurer to join the Exec Committee)
Executive committee members, want to add to this list? Email Pamela.

What are the downsides from the perspective of the Jeffco CTC staff members?

From Pamela: There are two different types of downsides from my personal perspective, short-term and long-term. From a short-term perspective, I am experiencing extra stress, longer hours, and needing to work during scheduled time off to navigate the complexity of this change ranging from new emails for staff to helping research answers to questions to discussions about this move with stakeholders to negotiating agreements with the agencies involved. Longer term, we will not have the same benefits, access to resources, and support from a lot of wonderful colleagues at JCPH. Short term, all CTC staff will have to resign from Jefferson County and then be rehired at CNDC, with all the additional tasks that come with starting a new job and a gap in insurance coverage (CNDC starts insurance on the first day of the month following a full month of employment). Additionally, it seems that they do not have the same retirement program, insurance plan, or cost of living salary adjustments available. My job is likely more vulnerable in a position as a project at CNDC than at the health department, with my long history there. However, I still feel like this is the right thing to do for the long term health and power-sharing of the coalition.

From Emily: There has been and will be significant staff time dedicated to researching options, making this move, and adjusting after the move. As a small staff team, this is difficult to balance while maintaining support of many different coalition initiatives.

What are some of the risks?
There are several risks in making this move. Some of them include:
- Some funders could decide not to allow funding to be moved to the new agency, or that it will take a long time to make the transition.
- Staff has the right to resign or to not join the new agency.
- If the transition process takes a long time, we stand to loose valuable time to do our work in the community and to expend grant funds.

What might change?

How will coalition staffing work (hiring, firing, reviews, etc.)? Will Jeffco CTC staff change?

All Jeffco CTC staff members would have the opportunity to be rehired by CNDC to work as Jeffco CTC staff members, as long as they desire to do so. Human Resources, including payroll, benefits, job listings, onboarding, etc. will be handled by CNDC. Some training is required by CNDC for all staff, but Jeffco CTC can (and will!) require additional trainings for staff members. Hiring decisions, staff reviews, disciplinary actions, and promotions will be led by the Jeffco CTC Executive Director (ED) role. The Jeffco CTC ED will report to the Jeffco CTC Executive Committee, and the board will be asked to participate in an evaluation of that role. These details will be specified in updated bylaws and in accordance with CNDC human resources policies.

How will this change our board and workgroup meetings?

What will be changed in the coalition bylaws?
The coalition will make the decision about changing fiscal agents by board vote in accordance with our current bylaws, including voting processes.

If the coalition opts to move, we will need to update the bylaws, also by coalition vote, after the moving process is complete. CNDC provides technical assistance for bylaws. Potential updates related to this change will include:
- Specifying partnership with Jefferson County Public Health (similar to the Jeffco Connections partnership language);
- Processes for the Executive Committee supervising Jeffco CTC staff, specifically the Executive Director;
- Updating fiscal agency language to reflect changes; also specifying that Jeffco CTC staff will be employed by CNDC.
- Describing the legal nature of Jeffco CTC as a “project” of CNDC, with full legal and fiscal responsibility lying with their board.
- Clarifying that Jeffco CTC bylaws are a document to guide how the coalition operates and makes decisions, but that they are not a legally binding document.
- Specifying additional duties related to fiscal oversight and budgeting (for board, or executive committee, and/or new treasurer position on the Exec Committee)
- Other changes as recommended by coalition members, CNDC, staff or partners.
Any changes would need to be voted on by the coalition board.

Are Jeffco CTC's funders going to be okay with this?
Yes, all three of our grants were applied for by our coalition and are designed to be implemented by a coalition. Grant monitors for the grants from CDPHE & CDC have said they will go with the coalition’s decision on this– as long as the new fiscal agency has the correct financial systems in place and qualifies to receive funding. (CNDC does.)

Addition June 26, 2022: The office of health equity at CDPHE would like the coalition to know that they reserve the right to say no to shifting to a new fiscal agency, even if the board and JPCH approve the move. Note: this grant funding just started in April 2022 and is our newest grant.

Addition August 24, 2022: Please see the August email from the Jeffco CTC Executive Committee for an update on all our grants.

Addition September 20, 2022: The Jeffco Board of Health is reviewing recommendations from JCPH regarding these grants.

Addition November 1, 2022: The Jeffco Board of Health gave their support to Jeffco CTC & JCPH to continue the process of transitioning the Jeffco CTC coalition over to CNDC. This includes the following grant dollars:
- $125,000 per year from the Federal Drug Free Communities (DFC) grant program from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention which requires a 100% to 150% match, which comes from the grant listed below.
- $300,000 per year from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Communities Organizing for Prevention (COFP) program, funding period ends June 30, 2026.
The following grant dollars will remain at JCPH and the Out for Safe Spaces project work will be completed collaboratively between JCPH and Jeffco CTC.
- $250,000 for 15 months between April 1, 2022 and June 20, 2023 from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment from the Health Disparities and Community Grant Program.

What about legal issues, background checks, insurance and liability?

Will we still be able to have youth interns that are paid?

What effect(s) will this move have on current staffing, future staff and staff retention?

An informal survey of current staff indicates that they would move with the coalition to a new agency and a general consensus that the move is likely to increase retention of staff, in general, by being able to access more coalition-related TA/training, reducing staff hours spent on non-CTC related tasks, allowing more agility and creative thinking, and reducing staff time spent on current JCPH processes.