Marceline Day encourages Buster Keaton to keep trying in "The Cameraman" (1928). Click to watch the clip.

Introduction

We know that it is not easy to finance nonprofit projects.  Even the most noble charitable intentions can come to naught without adequate funding. This is why we want to help other public and charitable ventures succeed.

Silent Hall of Fame supports individuals and organizations creating values in the public interest by providing fiscal sponsorship to non-commercial projects, which align with our public and charitable mission. Such projects may be in, but are not limited to, all disciplines of Arts and Culture, education, science and the environment.

What is fiscal sponsorship?

Fiscal sponsorship is a formal arrangement in which Silent Hall of Fame - a 501(c)(3) public charity - sponsors a project that lacks exempt status. This alternative to pursuing your own tax exemption allows you to seek grants and solicit tax-deductible donations under our exempt status. Since most grant-makers give to organizations with tax-exempt status, fiscal sponsorship may help you qualify for more funding opportunities.

A Fiscal Sponsorship model: the Pre-approved Grant Relationship

Silent Hall of Fame pre-approves an individual or entity as a grantee, agrees to establish a restricted fund to receive tax-deductible financial contributions from donors for the purpose of supporting the grantee’s charitable project, and makes grants to the grantee from the restricted fund. Silent Hall of Fame maintains a Grantor-Grantee relationship with the project leaders through a formal Project Grant Agreement.

Overview of the Pre-approved Grant Relationship process

Step 1. The person or organization leading the project submits a written application, including specific description of the proposed project, to Silent Hall of Fame asking for prospective project sponsorship.
Step 2. Silent Hall of Fame evaluates the proposal to determine whether the project promotes our tax-exempt purposes.
Step 3. The Board of directors of Silent Hall of Fame reviews and approves sponsoring the project.  Thus, before funds are solicited and received from donors, foundations, or government agencies, Silent Hall of Fame as sponsor has pre-approved the project as its grantee.
Step 4. Silent Hall of Fame as sponsor and the project leaders sign a written grant agreement setting forth all terms and conditions that apply to the project’s use of the grant and the relations with the funding sources.  The grant agreement includes a condition that Silent Hall of Fame as sponsor retains complete control and discretion over the use of all contributions it receives.  That element of sponsor discretion and control will be made known, in writing, to the funding sources.
Step 5. Silent Hall of Fame receives donations and grants for the specific project, and then distributes the funds as grant payments to the person or organization conducting the project.
Step 6. The project leaders make periodic written reports to Silent Hall of Fame, in accordance with the grant agreement, showing its actual expenditures of grant funds and its progress toward accomplishing the purposes of the grant. The project is expected to have its own legal, tax and accounting identity with a project-related bank account.  The project – NOT the sponsor – is responsible for the project’s own employment taxes, insurance, debts, liabilities, tax returns and other relevant legal obligations.

Below you can find additional insights in the Pre-approved Grant Relationship process.

What should you know before applying?

Your project must have public benefit and must be non-commercial in nature.
When approaching your prospects, be ready to submit a written proposal that makes clear why your project is needed, its objectives, timeline, staffing and budget. Explain how it advances the public and charitable mission of Silent Hall of Fame.


Fiscal sponsorship fee

Silent Hall of Fame retains for its administrative costs a small percentage of all grants and contributions received in support of an approved project.

For check donations:

7% for amounts from $10,000 to $20,000
6% for amounts up to $50,0000
5% for amounts up to $100,000
4% for amounts over $100,000

For credit card donations add an additional 3%.

For small-scale projects we negotiate fixed fees. We charge a 2-4% premium for government grants.

To start the application process or to inquire please send us a message from the "Contact us" page.

Additional reading

Detailed Guidelines

In its fiscal sponsorship functions Silent Hall of Fame follows current guidelines about Pre-Approved Grant Relationship formulated by the National Network of Fiscal Sponsors.

Fiscal sponsorship means Silent Hall of Fame, a nonprofit organization (the “fiscal sponsor”), agrees to provide services and oversight to the activities of groups or individuals engaged in work that furthers our public and charitable mission.

Fiscal sponsorship confers significant potential benefits on the leaders of sponsored projects.  They allow new community ventures to more quickly and efficiently get off the ground, without the delay or bureaucratic red-tape associated with incorporating and filing federal and state applications for tax exemptions. 

Silent Hall of Fame, as tax-exempt and charitable venture, permits project leaders – from the moment we agree to accept  the project – to legally solicit and benefit from charitable contributions from individuals and grants from private foundations and other funding institutions.  Silent Hall of Fame places program implementation responsibility in the hands of project  leaders; we are not involved in the programmatic decision-making process of the sponsored groups.

In a Pre-approved grant relationship the fiscally sponsored project does not become a program belonging to Silent Hall of Fame, but is a separate entity responsible for managing its own tax reporting and liability issues.  Silent Hall of Fame simply assures itself that the project will use the grant funds received to accomplish the ends described in the grant proposal.

We follow Recommended Best Practices

1. Public Interest Mission and Program Focus
Silent Hall of Fame expresses a clear mission intended to advance the public interest, and all programs and related activities support that mission.
2. Legal, Tax and Regulatory Compliance
Silent Hall of Fame fulfills all legal, tax and regulatory requirements of philanthropic and charitable nonprofit organizations and complies with the letter and the spirit of all laws.
3. Fiscal Integrity
Silent Hall of Fame manages all funds, assets and other resources under its direct control with a high degree of responsibility, integrity, transparency and accountability.
4. Administrative and Operational Integrity
Silent Hall of Fame manages all administrative duties and responsibilities professionally and with a high degree of integrity and accountability.
Silent Hall of Fame acts as a grantor supporting projects by making a series of grants to the grantee entity conducting the fiscally sponsored  project. 
Features of a well managed grant relationship include: the grantee’s proposal to conduct a specific charitable project; periodic reports from the project back to Silent Hall of Fame; an arm’s length grant agreement that protects Silent Hall of Fame from the liabilities of the fiscally sponsored project; clear communications, as needed, to the project’s vendors stating that the sponsor is not responsible for the project’s liabilities.
5. Board Accountability, Ethical Conduct and Governance
The Board of directors of Silent Hall of Fame governs ethically, avoiding conflicts of interest in conducting the affairs of the organization and in carrying out its legal,  fiduciary and policy making responsibilities.
6. Assessing and Selecting Projects
Silent Hall of Fame engages in a clear, systematic process when assessing and selecting projects for sponsorship.
A. Mission Fit.
Silent Hall of Fame assures that the public interest purposes of all projects support our mission and charitable purpose.
B. Project Assessment Criteria and Guidance.
Silent Hall of Fame uses a clear set of evaluation criteria in considering all prospective projects for sponsorship.
C. Project Leadership Fit.
Silent Hall of Fame evaluates the capability, potential, experience, and integrity of project leaders to assure a constructive, mutually respectful working relationship between our staff and project leaders.
D. Project Sponsorship Application. 
Silent Hall of Fame requires sponsorship applicants to submit a detailed written project plan that articulates the civic, social and community benefits the project intends to pursue.
E. Written Mutual Understanding.
Silent Hall of Fame and designated project leaders(s) execute a written grantor-grantee understanding detailing the terms and expectations of the relationship, including the financial terms and charges for providing fiscal sponsorship services.  The understanding provides that Silent Hall of Fame retains full legal discretion and control over funds raised by the project.
7. Fiscal Sponsor Service Commitment to Projects
Silent Hall of Fame pursues its public interest mission through the projects it sponsors; recognizes and respects project leaders for their knowledge, skill and expertise; and places a high priority on encouraging and facilitating efficacy in its projects to achieve beneficial societal ends.
8. Expectations of Projects
Silent Hall of Fame expects project leaders to adhere to clearly stated standards of ethical conduct, organizational policies and operational procedures.
A. Ethical  Conduct. 
Silent Hall of Fame expects that all project personnel will act with high standards of ethical conduct.
B. Active  Project  Fundraising.
Silent Hall of Fame expects project leaders to conduct the primary work of resource development.
C. Project  Reports.
Silent Hall of Fame expects project leaders to assume responsibility for reporting orally and in writing to us and to the project donors.
D.Public Policy Engagement.
Silent Hall of Fame provides and expects project leaders to understand and comply with the required legal and ethical guidelines when engaging in lobbying and public policy advocacy activities.
E. Disclosure and Communication of Project Status. 
Silent Hall of Fame requires projects to clearly disclose and state in writing their affiliation with us (the fiscal sponsor) in all grant proposals, solicitations and published or online materials.
F. Injurious Activities.
Silent Hall of Fame expects that no project will knowingly engage in any activity that jeopardizes our corporate, nonprofit or tax-exempt status or otherwise create injurious liability.
G. Dispute Resolution. 
Silent Hall of Fame, while retaining full legal and fiscal control of restricted funds, works to fairly resolve disputes that may arise between us and project leaders.
H. Project Termination and Separation.
Silent Hall of Fame has a process through which our staff and project leaders discuss the timing, steps and procedures for separating or terminating the project.
 

Alice Day and Joe Young in "Gooseland" (1926).  The only copy of the film in the whole world is being kept in the UCLA archive.

PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION TO THE UCLA TO RELEASE COPIES OF RARE FILMS TO SILENT HALL OF FAME OR MAKE THESE FILMS AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC.

The UCLA preserves in their archives many quality silent films featuring our stars Billy Bitzer, Alice Day, Marceline Day, Snitz Edwards, Helen Gibson, Robert Harron, Helen Holmes, Jack Hoxie, Arthur V. Johnson, Florence La Badie, Florence Lawrence, Shirley Mason, John S. Robertson, Patsy Ruth Miller and Florence Turner.

These films have not been seen by the classic movie lovers in almost a century.  Silent Hall of Fame wishes to work together with the UCLA in order to make these films available to the public. 

Read more: Please Sign Your Petition

   Marceline Day in "That Model From Paris" (1926).

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

In order to improve the user experience we have signed up for secure hosting. Now all pages on our website use the secure connection https://. All users can be confident that the information they submit cannot be viewed by others, and that their sensitive data - passwords, messages, credit cards, etc. - is completely safe. Welcome to the new safe and secure Silent Hall of Fame website!  Happy browsing!

GEMS FOR DONATION

This page contains rare and hard to find films, which are available for viewing after registering and making a tax-deductible donation.  Your support will help Silent Hall of Fame to keep looking for more rare silent treasures and to show them on our website for the classic film lovers of the world. This will ultimately help your favorite silent movie star to receive better public recognition.

Registration and donation are required to watch the films on this list. Here is how to earn this privilege:

   Alice Day stars in "The Way of the Strong" (1928), directed by Frank Capra.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

In order to improve the user experience we have signed up for secure hosting. Now all pages on our website use the secure connection https://. All users can be confident that the information they submit cannot be viewed by others, and that their sensitive data - passwords, messages, credit cards, etc. - is completely safe. Welcome to the new safe and secure Silent Hall of Fame website!  Happy browsing!

Help needed to translate Dutch, German and Russian titles into English

We request the help of bilingual users. We have in our possession rare films made in the USA that have been preserved in foreign archives and do not have English titles. If you are fluent in any of the above languages and in English and would like to make a contribution to Silent Hall of Fame, please contact us.

These are all films that we haven't been able to track down, but they have user ratings in IMDB and/or are known to have been in distribution, so the assumption is that they exist somewhere in private collections.  If you have a video file or a DVD, or a VHS, or 8/16/28/35 mm with any of these films, please share it with us so that we can show the film to the silent movie lovers of the world.  You will make a valuable contribution to Silent Hall of Fame and will help one of our silent movie stars receive belated recognition and glory.  We will give you a credit for your contribution by stating your name for all to see, with special thanks.  In addition, if you send us an original copy of the film as a donation, you may be able to reduce your taxes on your next year's tax return.

It is worth noting here that only because a particular film has user ratings in IMDB that doesn't mean that it exists, or that it has been seen in the last few decades.  Such is the case with The Big City (1928) and  London After Midnight (1927), both starring Lon Chaney and Marceline Day.  The last known copies of both films were lost in a MGM fire in 1967.  However, it is possible that these two and many other films may still be found in private collections.

It is also possible to find rare films locally. Please visit your neighborhood video store that offers classic and silent films, take the List of Rare Films with you and check if they have any of them available.  If you are able to locate any of these rare movies you will make a valuable contribution to Silent Hall of Fame and help your favorite silent movie star receive better recognition.  We will give you a special thanks and post your name for all to see and admire.

 

Here are a two examples of why we believe that many of these films can be located:

1/ a 16 mm or 8 mm film of The Way of the Strong (1928) was available in the 1970ies and 1980ies from a company called Kit Parker Films. So for a period of time it was in circulation and people did buy it.  This is why we believe that with the help of our users we can find this film.

2/ 16 mm or 8 mm films of The Wife's Relations (1928) and The New Teacher (1922) were available in the 1970ies and 1980ies from a company called Mogull's Films. We hope that someone will share these films with us.

Of course, you can also contribute any other silent films featuring our stars, which we currently don't stream and are not listed on this page. We would also welcome films featuring other silent personalities, especially those movies that have survived only in private collections and have been unavailable to the public.  As far as the films that we stream are concerned, if you have  film copies with better quality than the ones that we have on the site, please share them with us.

We will be adding many more currently unavailable and rare films, so please check back often.  You can download a printable file with these movies by clicking on this List of Rare Films. 

We a re looking for these films with Larry Semon:

The Fiddler    1915       
A Jealous Guy    1916       
A Villainous Villain    1916       
Hash and Havoc    1916       
Help! Help! Help!    1916       
His Conscious Conscience    1916       
Jumps and Jaelousy    1916       
Losing Weight    1916       
Love and Loot / An Amateur at Heart    1916       
More Money Than Manners    1916       
Out Ag'in in Ag'in    1916       
Rah! Rah! Rah!    1916       
Romance and Rough House    1916       
Sand Scamps and Strategy    1916       
Shanks and Chivalry    1916       
She Who Last Laughs    1916       
Terry's Tea Party    1916       
The Battler    1916       
The Man from Egypt    1916       
There and Back    1916       
Tubby turns the Tables    1916       
Walls and Wallops    1916       
Bears and Bullets / Bullies and Bullets    1917       
Big Bluffs and Bowling Balls    1917       
Boasts and Boldness    1917       
Bombs and Blunders    1917       
Chumps and Chances    1917       
Cops and Cussedness    1917       
Dubs and Drygoods    1917       
Flatheads and Flivvers    1917       
Footlights and Fakers    1917       
Gall and Golf     1917       
Guffs and Gunplay    1917       
Hazards and Homeruns    1917       
He Never Touched Me    1917       
Jolts  and Jewelry    1917       
Masks and Mishaps    1917       
Noisy Naggers and Nosey Neighbors    1917       
Pests and Promises    1917       
Plans and Pajamas    1917       
Rips and Rushes                  1917       
Risks and Roughnecks    1917       
Roughtoughs and Rooftops    1917       
Shells and Shivers    1917       
Slips and Slackers    1917       
Somewhere In Any Place    1917       
Speed and Spunk    1917       
Spooks and Spasms    1917       
Sports and Splashes    1917       
Turks and Troubles    1917       
Worries and Wobbles    1917       
Babes and Boobs / Babes and Bombs    1918       
Boodle and Bandits    1918       
Guns and Greasers    1918       
Hindoos and Hazards    1918       
Huns and Hyphens    1918       
Meddlers and Moonshiners    1918       
Mutts and Motors    1918       
Romans and Rascals    1918       
Rooms and Rumors    1918       
Rummies and Razors    1918       
Skids and Scalawags    1918       
Spies and Spills    1918       
Stripes and Stumbles    1918       
Whistles and Windows    1918       
Passing The Buck    1919       
The Head Waiter    1919       
The Simple Life    1919       
Traps and Tangles    1919       
Well, I'll be    1919       
Solid Concrete    1920       
The Stage Hand    1920       
The Fall Guy    1921       
The Hick    1921       
The Midnight Cabaret    1923       
Trouble Brewing    1924       
Oh What A Man    1927       
Pass The Dumplings    1927       
The Plumber's Daughter    1927       
The Stunt Man    1927    

More films with Florence Lawrence, all of which have a viewer rating in IMDB:

The Boy, the Bust and the Bath (1907)
Daniel Boone (1907)
The Clubman and the Tramp (1908)
The Christmas Burglars (1908)
The Girl and the Outlaw (1908)
After Many Years (1908)
The Heart of O'Yama (1908)
Ingomar, the Barbarian (1908)
Behind the Scenes (1908)
The Devil (1908) 
The Ingrate (1908)  
A Smoked Husband (1908)
Salome (1908) Vitagraph
The Reckoning (1908)
The Red Girl (1908)
Romeo and Juliet (1908) Vitagraph
A Wreath in Time (1909)
The Wooden Leg (1909)
The Winning Coat (1909) 
Two Memories (1909)
Those Boys! (1909) 
Tis an Ill Wind That Blows No Good (1909)
Trying to Get Arrested (1909)
The Slave (1909)   
The Sacrifice (1909)
Mrs. Jones Entertains (1909)
Mrs. Jones' Lover (1909)
The Note in the Shoe (1909)
The Peachbasket Hat (1909)
The Prussian Spy (1909)
The French Duel (1909) 
His Ward's Love (1909)  
Eradicating Aunty (1909)  
A Baby's Shoe (1909)
Eloping with Auntie (1909)
The Deception (1909)
His Wife's Mother (1909)
The Brahma Diamond (1909)
The Jilt (1909)
A Wreath In Time (1909)
The Drive for a Life (1909)
Jones and His New Neighbors (1909)
Jones and the Lady Book Agent (1909)

More films with Arthur V. Johnson, all of which have a viewer rating in IMDB:

The Feud and the Turkey (1908)
The Test of Friendship (1908)
The Day After (1909)
His Ward's Love (1909)
Tragic Love (1909)
The Trick That Failed (1909)
A Troublesome Satchel (1909) 
Tender Hearts (1909)    
One Touch of Nature (1909)
The Two Brothers (1910)

 

More films with Robert Harron, all of which have a viewer rating in IMDB:

The Valet's Wife (1908)
Billy's Stratagem (1912)

Here is a very efficient way to help Silent Hall of Fame:

Many major employers have programs that match their employees' donations to charitable organizations like Silent Hall of Fame. Such employers are big banks like Bank of America and US Bank, and large companies such as Chevron, Microsoft, etc. If you work for one of these employers and you donate to Silent Hall of Fame your tax-deductible contribution will be doubled and will go a long way towards helping your favorite silent star to receive better public recognition. Here is a list of Companies that Match Donations and/or Volunteer Hours.