Trim Tab Funding Circle

Small monthly contributions from the DSS CoHeArt Community, pooled and put to work on regenerative projects that the community proposes, selects, and celebrates.

What would you make, if the community believed in it enough to fund it?

Trim Tab Funding Circle

Start a monthly contribution →

Submit a proposal

A trimtab is the small flap on a ship’s rudder. Move the tab and the rudder moves; move the rudder and the ship turns. Fuller took it as his model for how small, well-placed effort shifts large systems. Call me Trimtab. — R. Buckminster Fuller

Propose

Contribute

How it works

Give

FAQ

HOW IT WORKS

Not a grant. Not a loan. The community funding its own work.

1ST OF THE MONTH

Pool

Contributors give automatically each month. Many small amounts become meaningful funding.

WEEKS 1-3

Contributors submit proposals. Three contributors, drawn by lot with a seat reserved for the Global South, choose what gets funded.

Select

END OF THE MONTH • NEXT MONTH

Fund & Share

Contributors give automatically each month. Many small amounts become meaningful funding.

GIVE

Give what fits
your context.

Open to current and alumni DSS CoHeArt members. Minimums are set by your country’s income level, not your personal income.

Start a monthly contribution

One-time or institutional gift

PROPOSE

Not a grant. Not a loan. The community funding its own work.

Any contributor who has given this month can submit during weeks 1-3.

Your proposal includes

  • What you’ll make, and how it supports regenerative work

  • The amount you need, for tools, materials, or project travel (not living expenses)

  • A concrete deliverable the community can see

  • The public community that benefits, and how it can access the result

Open the proposal form

If you’re selected

  • Submit the Distribution Eligibility Form with a W-9 or W-8BEN

  • Sign a contractor agreement; payments are taxable income, not gifts

  • Present your work at the Project Festival, or send a video

  • Finish before proposing again. If you can’t, tell the committee and unspent funds return to the pool

Distribution Eligibility Form

QUESTIONS

Quick answers.

  • Don’t assume so. Contributors can also receive funding, which may keep contributions from qualifying as charitable gifts. Tax treatment will be stated before launch; consult a tax professional.

  • Yes, through a one-time or institutional gift. Terms for institutional gifts are shared with contributors for a 14-day consent period first.

  • Yes. Levels can go up or down over time; the charter only asks that you stay in as long as you can.

DOCUMENTS

The fine print.

Community Charter

v0.2 DRAFT

Privacy MOU

REQUIRED

Distribution Eligibility 

REQUIRED

Administrative Procedures

APPENDIX A