The Founding Capital Campaign
Found the Foundation.
- Campaign
- Founding round
- Status
- Open, pre-incorporation
- Escrow
- Independent fiduciary
- If we fail
- Returned in full
What we are raising
A founding round between two and ten million dollars.
The Founding Capital Campaign is the one-time effort that carries the Foundation from an idea into an incorporated, operating nonprofit. It pays for the legal work of incorporation, the initial engineering to ship a safe v1, the safety and research infrastructure that has to exist on day one, and the first year of operations without compromising the charter.
The range we are targeting is two to ten million dollars, a number that is honest rather than precise. The upper end funds a full year of operations, a small core team, and a real research program. The lower end funds a narrower but credible version of the same thing. Either version ships without advertising, without data licensing, and without dark-pattern engagement loops.
We will publish the exact target, with a line-item budget, when counsel signs off on the Form 1023 filing. This page will be updated in place on that day.
What your gift does
Where the money goes, in the order it will be spent.
The founding round is budgeted publicly. These are the five categories the campaign funds, in rough order of when the spending begins.
Safety and clinical oversight.
The non-negotiable first line. Clinical advisors, safety engineers, the moderation playbook, the crisis pathway, and the independent review committee that signs off before the app ships broadly.
Engineering for the free core.
The companion, the communities, the connections, the circle, the wellbeing surfaces. A v1 that is simple, kind, and worth using, built by a small core team that is paid at market but not at founder-bonanza rates.
Research and evaluation.
Independent research on outcomes, a published research agenda, and the infrastructure to measure whether the work actually helps. We are committing, in the charter, to publish this on the record every year.
Programs and facilitators.
The community programs, the facilitator training, the first round of stipends for community hosts, and the Redcross partnership work already underway.
Operations and reserves.
Incorporation, audit, legal, the person who does payroll correctly, and six months of operating reserves so the Foundation is not one quarter from crisis in its first year.
What your gift does not do
Not paying for what you might assume.
Capital campaign money is not a founders’ bonus. Founder compensation is set at the going market rate for a nonprofit of this size and published in the annual Form 990. There is no sweat equity to cash out, because the Foundation is not a company with shares.
It is not an advertising budget. There is no paid growth strategy at the Foundation level. The .org grows through word of mouth, press, and the quiet gravity of the work.
It is not an acquisition fund. We are not rolling up existing wellbeing apps. The Foundation builds one thing, in public, patiently.
Giving levels
Named opportunities at the founding round.
For donors giving at higher levels, the Foundation offers a small set of named recognitions. These are honorific. None of them come with influence over programs, editorial, research, or product decisions. The charter forbids buying that kind of influence, and the board is structured to enforce it.
Founding Member circle ($10,000).
Ten-thousand-dollar founding gifts are recognized with lifetime Founding Member designation, listing on the Founders page for the life of the Foundation, and an invitation to the annual leadership roundtable.
Named research fellowship ($250,000).
A one-year fellowship in the Foundation’s research program, named for the donor or a person they choose to honor. The fellow’s research is independent and published openly, regardless of findings.
Named advisory seat ($500,000).
A non-voting advisory seat on the research and safety advisory council for a three-year term. Advisory seats are not board seats and do not confer governance authority over the Foundation.
Founding donor ($1,000,000+).
Recognition as a founding donor of the Foundation, with a named program or initiative at the donor’s election, subject to mission alignment and board approval. Full annual reporting on the program, published with the rest of the 990.
The pledge
Held in escrow until the Foundation is real.
Founding campaign gifts are held in escrow with an independent fiduciary until the Foundation receives its IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter. If the Foundation fails to receive determination within eighteen months of the first gift, the funds are returned to donors in full, with any interest earned.
We are saying this plainly because the alternative, which is to accept founding money into a not-yet-existing entity on a handshake, is how things go quietly wrong. Escrow is boring and it is correct. This is the version of the thing we want to be the rest of the time, as well.
Every founding gift is issued a pledge agreement spelling out the escrow terms, the return policy, and the recognition the donor elects. Nothing is done on trust alone. Everything is written down.
Why now
Because this is when the Foundation comes into being.
This is not a manufactured urgency. There is no clock on the page. There is no matching gift about to expire. We are fundraising now because this is the window in which the Foundation is being formed, and founding gifts will only ever exist once.
If it is the right time for you to be part of this round, the tier is there. If it is not the right time, the door for regular giving and membership stays open, indefinitely, at whatever level is comfortable.
A conversation, not a pitch deck
Talk to the founder before you give at the top of the range.
For gifts at the research fellowship level and above, we ask donors to have a direct conversation with the founder and, where relevant, the chair of the board. This is not a sales call. It is a chance for the donor to ask hard questions about the governance, the charter, and the plan before writing a large check.
Everything we say in those conversations we are willing to have on the record. If it would embarrass us in the annual report, we will not say it in the meeting.
Speak with the founder.
For gifts at the named-opportunity level, a direct conversation before the check. Hard questions welcome.