Become a Partner

Seattle Parks Foundation serves community organizations, volunteers, and donors leading park and public space projects across the city.

Seattle Parks Foundation comes with a suite of services that includes communications, best practices, and fundraising opportunities that would have been extremely difficult to pull together for our low-profile grassroots project.

Maia Segura (left) pictured here with Detective Denise “Cookie” Bouldin (right)

Detective Cookie Chess Park

An adult carrying a baby embraces a child in a park setting.

We have worked hard to make sure the community has had a voice in creating the plan for Duwamish Waterway Park. We’ve meaningfully engaged people who speak different languages and are from different cultures. Our community is a vibrant and diverse place with a lot of character, and this improved park will be a point of pride.

Paulina Lopez

Friends of Duwamish Waterway Park

A young person speaks into a microphone at a park while an adult stands to the side and listens.

The Little Brook Youth Corps program empowers marginalized teens in the underserved Seattle neighborhood of Lake City by teaching them to restore natural areas in their neighborhood. It will have positive effects on the teens, their families, and their neighborhood that will last a lifetime.

Mark Mendez

Little Brook Youth Corps

Apply For Fiscal Sponsorship

We believe that creating and stewarding parks and public spaces is a shared responsibility and is best guided by community organizations, volunteers, and donors who are most acutely attuned to the needs of their neighborhoods. As a fiscal sponsor, we serve as a nonprofit umbrella that enables groups to raise money to support their work. We also provide an array of administrative, financial, fundraising, communications, and advocacy services so our partners can focus on the real work of making parks happen in their neighborhood.

Apply Now

Why work with Seattle Parks Foundation?

Seattle Parks Foundation has supported more than 200 community-led park projects spanning almost every neighborhood in the city. We are guided by a commitment to service and collaboration, dedicated to earning trust in the neighborhoods where we work, and fueled by a culture of gratitude.

501(c)(3) tax-exempt status for grant eligibility under Seattle Parks Foundation
Online donation page on Seattle Parks Foundation’s website and toolkits for special fundraising initiatives (such as GiveBIG and Giving Tuesday)
Donor tax receipts
Donor and database management
Corporate giving and volunteer matching portals
Revenue, expense tracking and financial statements (at least quarterly)
Grant application review, administration and record-keeping
Special-event compliance review
Review of fundraising materials and online campaigns
Communication and promotion of events through social media
Coordination of insurance coverage and (by request) liability insurance certificate for up to $1 million per occurrence and $2 million in aggregate
Membership to our partner network, with regular email updates and relevant opportunities and information, and Invitations to annual partner gratitude and networking events
Annual distribution of 1099-MISC for vendors/contractors as required
Non-legal review of contracts and agreements (to provide feedback and to support contract negotiations)

Payroll services
Web hosting
Access to office space and facilities
Assistance with 501(c)(3) application
Case-specific legal advice
Case-specific tax and/or accounting advice

Seattle Parks Foundation is not a grant-funding body.

What kinds of partners does Seattle Parks Foundation support?

Seattle Parks Foundation supports partners who:

Increase park access and create connections among well-designed, welcoming, and activated parks and public spaces that serve all Seattle residents
Have shared, inclusive, and accountable community leadership with a diverse steering committee
Are supported by the broader community (including landowners) and relevant public agencies
Are supported by partners who will ensure ongoing and high-level stewardship
Can attract funding from community donors, public agencies, and other funders
Have specific goals, regular financial activity, and the capacity to deliver on commitments