Distribution Manager

Fund Distributions

The Distribution Manager is built for fiscal sponsors who need to disburse funds to their sponsored organizations. It handles the entire workflow from request to payment to accounting—keeping both the sponsor's and the sponsored entity's books accurate and in sync.

Distribution Workflow

1. Request: The sponsored organization submits a distribution request specifying the amount and purpose
2. Balance Check: The fiscal sponsor reviews the entity's available fund balance to confirm sufficient funds
3. Approval: The sponsor approves or denies the request, with an optional note explaining the decision
4. Payment: Process the disbursement via check, ACH transfer, or wire
5. Accounting: Alignmint automatically records the distribution in both organizations' books—a debit to the entity's fund on the sponsor side and a credit to cash on the entity side

Distribution Types

• Operating Distributions: Regular monthly or quarterly disbursements for the entity's ongoing operations (rent, payroll, program costs)
• Grant Pass-Through: When the sponsor receives a grant on behalf of a sponsored org, this distributes those restricted funds to the entity
• Special Requests: One-time distributions for specific needs like equipment purchases or emergency expenses
• Scheduled Distributions: Set up recurring distributions on a fixed schedule (e.g., $5,000 on the 1st of each month)

Balance Protection

The system prevents distributions that would overdraw a sponsored entity's fund balance. If a request exceeds available funds, the sponsor sees a warning and can either partially approve or deny the request.

Tracking & Reporting

• Distribution History: Complete log of all distributions by organization with dates, amounts, and approval details
• Pending Requests: Dashboard view of all requests awaiting approval
• Board Reports: Generate distribution summaries for fiscal sponsor board meetings
• Audit Trail: Every request, approval, and payment is logged with timestamps and user attribution

Who Uses This

Distribution Manager is available on the Enterprise plan and is designed specifically for fiscal sponsor organizations managing funds on behalf of sponsored nonprofits.