Special Projects
Rethink Priorities' Special Projects Program accelerates impactful initiatives by providing comprehensive support services, enabling organizations to focus on their core mission and scale efficiently.
The Special Projects Program offers fiscal sponsorship, finance administration, recruitment, and operational support to new and growing initiatives. Our aim is to help high-impact projects get off the ground quickly, providing the infrastructure needed to scale efficiently.
Let’s work together.
Meet the team
Special Projects contact
Submit an expression of interest
Join Special Projects Program
We’ve helped several initiatives already and are currently accepting expressions of interest for new projects.
From handling tax compliance to event planning, we help ensure your project is set up for success.
Fees start at 14% of your project’s budget to provide fiscal sponsorship, finance and benefits administration, and basic operational support. We will be happy to share more details with you as we come to understand your project’s specific needs.
Special projects by the numbers
Figures are updated through the end of 2024.
143 fiscal sponsorship expressions of interest received
12 projects supported
$11.5M total direct costs expended
4 staff on the SP Team
14 sponsee hiring rounds complete (and three ongoing)
94 sponsee staff onboarded in total (42 of whom were recruited directly by SP)
26 successful visa sponsorship applications (UK and US)
17 in-person events (with a total of 435 attendees)
Our services
The SP Team provides each initiative that it supports with operational assistance to ensure day-to-day functioning. This support enables the initiative’s staff to focus on their core mission and activities and get the project off the ground faster than they likely would have otherwise.
Receiving tax-exempt grant funds on your behalf
Handling tax and legal compliance issues
Accounting
Hiring employees via our US or UK legal entities or internationally via our Employer of Record in compliance with local laws, which allows us to hire people in many countries
Managing employee benefits and payroll
Invoicing and contracting, as well as handling purchasing and reimbursements
Helping to manage project budgets
Facilitating staff applying for work visas in the US or UK
Researching relevant legal and operational issues
Developing hiring and interview materials
Running your hiring rounds
Coordinating and reviewing grant applications written by project leaders
Managing donations made by individuals
Planning the logistics for online or in-person events
Assisting projects in developing agendas and other materials for events
Sourcing a venue, accommodations, catering, AV, and other suppliers
Developing event policies (e.g. COVID policy)
Guest RSVPs and registration
Training and upskilling managers and supporting goal-setting, performance management, and performance review processes
Writing newsletters, website copy, and other communications materials
Creating business plans for projects
Helping to run competitions or requests for proposals
Providing ad hoc operational support
Meet the team
Testimonials
“The Special Projects team has taken a lot of work off of our staff, especially the leadership team. They’ve helped us build out our processes and add more systemization, which helps us worry less about things getting missed.”
— Wrena Sproat
Director, Global Challenges Project
“Working with Rethink Priorities’ Special Projects team enabled us to launch our new project far more quickly than we could have on our own. The comprehensive setup saved us significant time and effort, allowing us to focus on our core work.”
— Chris Akin
COO, Apollo Research
Work with us
If you have an impactful idea or project and would like to explore how our support could help you grow, we’d love to hear from you. Submit your expression of interest below.