Players Philanthropy Fund

What Players Philanthropy Fund does

Players Philanthropy Fund (PPF) is a Towson, Maryland-based 501(c)(3) public charity (Federal Tax ID 27-6601178) that provides fiscal sponsorship services to charitable projects. Founded in 2010, the organization enables individuals — described as changemakers, athletes, and entertainers — along with corporations and nonprofit organizations, to accept tax-deductible contributions without having to establish and maintain their own 501(c)(3) entity. PPF currently fiscal sponsors over 600 active charitable projects spanning all 50 US states and 35 countries, and self-describes as the nation's fastest-growing provider in this category.

PPF delivers its core fiscal sponsorship service through the Cobalt platform, a proprietary technology backbone that includes the Project Portal (my.ppf.org) for client-side project management, case management, and compliance tools. An optional W-2 Staffing add-on module allows sponsored projects to employ personnel under PPF's employer identification number with payroll and tax compliance handled centrally. The organization maintains transparency through its Candid/Guidestar seal, Charity Navigator listing, and published audited financial statements and Form 990 filings.

PPF's business model is sales-led: prospective clients complete a structured 6-step process — online application, intro call, agreement signing via DocuSign, a $5,000 opening deposit, and onboarding — and then pay ongoing administrative fees for back-office services including gift processing, donor management, financial administration, and compliance oversight. Customer segments are split across individual changemakers (primary), corporations seeking philanthropy infrastructure, and nonprofit organizations. Geographic reach is domestic and international, with no disclosed pricing for ongoing fees.

Name

Players Philanthropy Fund

Legal name

Players Philanthropy Fund

Website

https://playersphilanthropyfund.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Players Philanthropy Fund is a 501(c)(3) public charity that provides fiscal sponsorship and back-office administration to over 600 charitable projects across all 50 US states and 35 countries. It serves changemakers, athletes, entertainers, corporations, and nonprofits seeking tax-deductible giving infrastructure.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Fiscal Sponsorship Services

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Grantmaking and Giving Services (8132)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) Sponsors (BPAGAKAF)

Keywords

• Fiscal sponsorship services
• Nonprofit administration
• Charitable project management
• 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status
• Back-office compliance services

Headquarters

HQ city

Towson

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Fiscal Sponsorship Services: PPF provides back-office administration services to charitable projects through fiscal sponsorship, charging a $5,000 opening deposit and likely ongoing fees for administrative services including gift processing, compliance management, and financial administration.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Players Philanthropy Fund (PPF) is a 501(c)(3) public charity that provides fiscal sponsorship services, delivering back-office administration including gift processing, compliance management, donor management, and financial administration to charitable projects. PPF enables changemakers, corporations, athletes, entertainers, and nonprofit organizations to launch and operate tax-deductible charitable projects under PPF's 501(c)(3) status without establishing their own nonprofit entity. The organization also offers an optional W-2 staffing module that allows projects to hire staff with proper payroll and tax compliance under PPF's employer identification number.

Product overview

Players Philanthropy Fund operates as a single-service nonprofit organization offering fiscal sponsorship as its core product. The organization provides back-office administration and 501(c)(3) public charity status to charitable projects through fiscal sponsorship, with an optional W-2 staffing add-on module. The fiscal sponsorship service is delivered as a unified platform with case management, compliance tools, and a project portal, while the W-2 staffing module enables projects to employ personnel under PPF's employer identification number. PPF reports managing over 600 charitable projects across all 50 US states and 35 countries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Fiscal Sponsorship Services

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 600 charitable projects fiscal sponsored
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Fractured Atlas: Fractured Atlas is one of the largest US 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsors, providing back-office administration, compliance, and financial services to thousands of artists and changemakers — directly comparable to PPF's core offering and target customer base.
• Tides Foundation: Tides Foundation is a major 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor and grantmaking organization with a global portfolio of sponsored projects, overlapping directly with PPF on fiscal sponsorship services and nonprofit infrastructure support.
• United Charitable: United Charitable is a 501(c)(3) public charity that provides fiscal sponsorship and donor-advised fund services to charitable projects, operating in the same regulatory framework and serving similar changemaker and nonprofit clients as PPF.

Broad incumbents

• National Philanthropic Trust: National Philanthropic Trust is one of the largest US independent donor-advised fund sponsors and a major philanthropic infrastructure provider, overlapping with PPF on tax-advantaged giving services but operating at much greater scale and with a broader DAF-centric model.
• Schwab Charitable: Schwab Charitable is one of the largest US donor-advised fund sponsors, providing philanthropic giving infrastructure that competes for the same donor dollars that flow through PPF's sponsored projects.
• Fidelity Charitable: Fidelity Charitable is the largest US donor-advised fund sponsor, operating at massive scale and competing for charitable giving dollars that could otherwise flow through PPF-fiscal-sponsored projects.

Regional players

• CAF America: CAF America is a US-registered 501(c)(3) that facilitates cross-border charitable giving, offering fiscal sponsorship-like services primarily for international donors — comparable to PPF's international serving capabilities across its 35 countries footprint.

Emerging players

• Givebutter: Givebutter is an emerging fundraising and donor management platform serving nonprofits and changemakers, overlapping with PPF on the donor and contribution processing layer of fiscal sponsorship, though without 501(c)(3) status itself.
• Benevity: Benevity is a corporate social responsibility and employee giving platform, directly aligned with PPF's corporate philanthropy segment by providing infrastructure for charitable giving programs that often interface with fiscal sponsors.
• The Giving Block: The Giving Block provides crypto and digital-asset focused fundraising infrastructure for nonprofits, an adjacent service that complements the fiscal sponsorship model PPF offers to changemakers and nonprofit clients.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/PlayersPhilFund
• Facebookfacebook.com/PlayersPhilFund

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Players Philanthropy Fund