For the many, by the many.
Raft Foundation is a US-based 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor that brings communities together to support neighbors in need through:
* collective care (mutual aid; basic needs; food justice; migrant and unhoused support; community education; public health; agroecology; community gardening; labor and housing rights; crisis response)* community technology (decentralized tech; open, copyfair, and alternative licensing; security, privacy, anti-surveillance, and encryption; alternative legal and financing structures)* movement infrastructure (regranting; funder organizing; participatory governance; bail funds; popular education; international fiscal hosts; cooperative development; network weaving; conflict transformation)* societal transformation (activist support; community building; peacebuilding/peacemaking; sortition and new democratic systems; transformative justice; facilitation and sense-making; systems thinking; values work; money stories; alternative economies; structural change)
New project review: taking a breather
We are taking a break from reviewing new projects in August and September. Feel free to apply, but be aware that - unless we have already discussed otherwise with you - we will not review new project applications until October 1.
If you think your project could be a fit, please apply! Or reach out if you have any questions. The above is not comprehensive! All values-aligned projects that are not ineligible are encouraged to apply.
Meet the team
Nathan Hewitt, President & Executive DirectorNathan Hewitt (he/him) is the founder and president of Raft. Some relevant past experience:* Board member, Social Impact Commons
* Advisory board member and consultant, Fiscal Sponsor Conversations
* Presenter, National Network of Fiscal Sponsors Annual Gathering
* Pro-bono consultant, Pact Collective
* Consultant, Aspiration
* Staff: Metagov, Open Collective Foundation, Open Source Collective, and Fractured AtlasNathan's writing has been featured in Nonprofit Quarterly and WIRED, and he presents and panels on topics such as the future of fiscal sponsorship, the solidarity economy, financial transparency, community engagement, nonprofit management, digital security basics, and DIY zine-making. On his blog, he has written about prison abolition, settler colonialism, and security culture, and he enjoys producing ambient and noise music.
Ember Buck, Program DirectorEmber Buck (they/them) is the Program Director for Raft. They’ve done loads, but most relevantly:* Director of Community at Radiant Commons
* National Program Coordinator at Health NZ
* Operations at Open Collective, Open Collective Foundation, Open Source Collective
* Consultant for Metagov, Enspiral, Gift Collective, DWeb Camp Cascadia, Greater Than Academy
* Collaborator with No More Deaths Desert Aid, Shakesqueer Theatre, Cahoots WorkshopEmber works at the intersection of technology, community, and alternative future-building, and have done so at local and international levels. They bring their intuitive sense of operations to community building, event making, facilitation (with an M.A. in Conflict Transformation), writing and support. Themes of their previous deep dives include sustainable agriculture, artisanal cheese, gender in conflict settings, border abolition, trans/queerness, birth equity, and mutual aid. They love reading and live in New Zealand with their wife and two kids.
~Board members:
* Nathan Hewitt
* Brian Abelson
* Maria Herron
Contact us
Send us an email at [email protected].
Interested in our fiscal sponsorship program?
We would love to speak with you about how we can support your project. Reach out at [email protected], or jump ahead and submit your info via the interest form!
Values
The waters are rising, and we must rise to meet them.
A raft is about survival and adventure, collaboration and flow. Amidst today's torrent of crises, it's easy to feel helpless. But we believe that if we work together, we can stay afloat, and even shape our collective destiny.We are guided by our founding principles:
* Resilience: 'we will endure together and emerge stronger'
* Autonomy: 'each by our own choice'
* Fullness: 'toward dreams of abundance'
* Transparency: 'with nothing to hide'
(Regarding transparency: internal transparency is essential; complete public transparency is powerful, and thus should be handled with care.)
Secondary principles
As Raft and its community grow, these principles will evolve. The below are the beginnings of an extended organizational philosophy, subject to continuous, collectively-driven iteration:
* Joy, rest, and rigorous care
* Tech is a tool, our data is ours
* Sovereignty and respect
* Only by invitation, and in good relationship
* Interoperable technologies, intersectional lives
* Life-giving, not rent-seeking
* Growth by proliferation, not scale
* Transparency in service of accountability
* Privacy in service of safety
* Iteration in service of revolution
* Autonomy in service of collaboration
* Beyond governments, beyond borders
* From theory to action
* People over profits, planet above all
* A diversity of tactics and approaches
* We can shape the future, but only together
* ‘We’ not ‘they’ – there are no Others
* “The only lasting truth is Change”
~Clarifying notes:- Tech is a tool, our data is ours: We understand that "open source" is no panacea, and is in fact the bedrock of post-dotcom technocapitalism. We are thus quite interested in experiments and more radical licenses. Fundamentally, however, we take a practical approach to technology, prioritizing usability/accessibility, then data sovereignty, then business/ownership/stewardship/governance structure, then protocols and interoperability, then licensing and self-hostability.
- Beyond governments, beyond borders: while we do not completely swear off (local, state, federal, international) government funding (e.g., NSF) or collaboration (e.g., human services departments), we only engage in projects that center governments when we believe we can deeply, fundamentally change them (e.g., to make them meaningfully more democratic). Our thinking on this is always evolving and we welcome further dialogue.
Thank you for signing! Once all signers have signed, you will receive a copy by email.Please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns.
Hiring
Thank you for your interest. Please see below for job openings with Raft's core team or any of its fiscally sponsored projects.
Raft core team
No openings.
Raft projects
No openings.
Raft's pause on accepting small projects is now complete. The below is being kept online for archival purposes.January 27, 2026From January 28 to May 31, 2026, Raft Foundation will (temporarily!) only review applications for new projects with an annual budget of $150,000 or more.This is not a decision we take lightly! And thus we would like to take a moment to explain why.Our approach to fiscal sponsorship, from a management and strategy perspective, is all about balance: between smaller projects and mid-size to larger ones. To ensure that the shared infrastructure is financially sustainable, we must stay attentive to the mix of projects under our umbrella.To oversimplify, the balance is this: we technically "lose" money by serving smaller projects, and "make" money - that is, have surplus administrative cost allocations - by serving larger ones. The larger ones still save money, compared to running their own organizational entity, but whatever "surplus" we gain by serving them efficiently contributes to serving smaller projects and the greater whole - the shared legal and financial commons that is Raft Foundation.Over the last few months, as 2025 came to a close, we began to recognize that we were starting to over-index on projects with annual budgets on the lower end of the spectrum. We are and will always be strong believers in the value of mutual aid, and community projects in general, but at the same time, to maintain the proper balance, we need to recruit larger projects apace with smaller ones, and in this - again, to oversimplify - we have fallen slightly "behind."Additionally, a few other factors led to this decision: 1) we will be going through our first legally-mandated independent audit from February to May; 2) there are some significant improvements we would like to make to our donation tracking, documentation, and employment systems, to prepare for future growth; and 3) we experienced significant growth in 2025 and feel that a blind orientation toward growth - even in support of something as beautiful as the mutual aid movement in the United States - does not benefit our community in the long term.This decision is informed by our values. In particular:
* Joy, rest, and rigorous care
* Growth by proliferation, not scale
* Transparency in service of accountability
* Autonomy in service of collaboration
* People over profits, planet above allLarger projects will continue to come to Raft - as they have done since our inception - and so we have no doubt that we will be able to open things up to smaller projects again in June.In the meantime, if you would like to work with Raft Foundation, but your budget is below $150,000, you are still welcome to submit an application. Be advised, however, that we may not respond until a few months from now, when we, and our systems, are ready for you.Warmly, and in solidarity,
The Raft Foundation team
Information for donors
About Raft
Raft Foundation Inc.'s EIN (i.e., Tax ID) is 99-1103921. Our address is 418 Broadway #4137, Albany, NY 12207. We are happy to provide IRS documentation showing our charitable status at your request.
Non-credit-card donations
Go to donate.raft.foundation and follow the instructions for all non-credit-card donation methods.If you have any trouble, or simply prefer not to use the form, you may also email the admin team and we will be happy to help facilitate your gift.
Donating by credit card
Donations by credit card must be made on Open Collective, Raft Foundation's online crowdfunding partner. Each project has its own profile page where you can make an online donation.If you do not have a link to their Open Collective page, we recommend reaching out to ask for it! Alternatively, you may also:1) Search Open Collective using the project's name,
2) Look at the list of projects on Raft Foundation's profile, or
3) Reach out to our admin team - we will be happy to help.Creating an account on Open Collective is not required to donate - choose to donate as a "guest." Donation receipts are sent automatically via email.