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

How it works

Participate

FAQ

HOW IT WORKS

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

1ST OF THE MONTH

Pool & Submit

Contributors give automatically each month and those that wish submit proposals for funding. Many small amounts become meaningful funding.

WEEKS 1-3

A three member comittee, drawn by lot with a seat reserved for the Global South, choose what gets funded.

Select

END OF THE MONTH • NEXT MONTH

Fund & Share

Recipients are paid as contractors, then present what they made at the open Project Festival.

PARTICIPATE

Give at the level that fits your context.

Minimums are tiered by the economic context of the country you live in. You know your context best, and your level may change over time in either direction.

MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION

Become a participant

Open to any current or alumni member of a DSS CoHeArt. Contributions are collected automatically on the 1st of each month.

$25

standard, for higher-income contexts

$15

target average across the circle

No cap

higher contributions increase capacity

MONTHLY MINIMUM BY COUNTRY INCOME CLASSIFICATION

WHERE YOU LIVE

High income

Upper-middle income

Lower-middle income

Low Income

MINIMUM

$10

$5

$3

$1

Start a monthly contribution

ONE-TIME AND INSTITUTIONAL GIFTS

Support the circle from outside it

Foundations, aligned organizations, and external donors are welcome to contribute, including through matching arrangements.

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 at the beginning of the month.

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