Donate
This quarter $0 to enter A 501(c)(3) nonprofit

We feature small creative businesses, pick one every quarter, and hand them money this community raised. Every dollar shows up in the ledger.

On the cover: the kickoff film

One maker a quarter. Paid in public.

On the cover: the kickoff film

If you make things: free to enter, one paragraph. Submit your business

If you want to back them: every dollar is in the ledger. Fund the next round

The first artist is almost here.

Every artist we feature gets a podcast episode. Austen sits down with them, asks how the work gets made, then tries to make it. It goes about as well as you would expect.

Episode one is already filmed, and we will announce the first artist soon. From the artists we feature, one is picked to receive the donation. Get your entry in now so you are in the pool.

Submit your business

Episode one filmed. Artist to be announced.

Two things keep good work invisible.

The first is the friend who swears they'll check out your shop and never opens the link. The second is the maker who won't post the work until it's perfect, which means never. Both of those are bullsh*t. Both are fixable.

We fix the first with a feature that puts your work where people can buy it. We fix the second by setting the bar at one honest paragraph instead of a pitch deck. You do not need a logo, a launch plan, or a good year behind you.

One business a quarter. Four rounds a year. All of it raised by this community, and it costs nothing to enter.

Four steps, one check.

  1. You submit

    Tell us what you make and why you started. One paragraph does it. Skip the deck.

  2. We read it

    A committee reads every entry each quarter. We weigh craft and honesty over polish.

  3. We feature

    Featured artists get a podcast episode. Austen sits down with them and has a go at their craft, on camera.

  4. One gets paid

    One featured artist is picked and the fund transfers to them. No equity, no repayment, no strings attached.

Built for the people who build.

If you make something with your hands or your head and you sell it, you belong here. Side hustle counts. One person counts.

Makers and craftspeople.

Surfboard shapers, furniture builders, leatherworkers, potters. Work you can pick up and feel the hours in. Your trade is worth more than a folding table at a weekend market.

Visual artists.

Painters, illustrators, printmakers, muralists. If you have been undercharging because people treat your rate as a starting offer, this is the fund for you.

Creative entrepreneurs.

Clothing designers, jewelers, zine publishers, ceramicists. One-person shops running on passion and shipping labels that cost more than they should.

Tell us what you make.

One paragraph about the work and why you started it. That is the whole bar. Entries are read every quarter and the best story wins, not the biggest brand.

Free to enter. Read by people each quarter, never an algorithm.

One paragraph is plenty.
It helps us see the work.

Every dollar, where it went, and the receipt.

The whole point of this foundation is that supporting a small business should not feel like a gamble. That standard applies to us too. Here is exactly how donations are handled.

Fund the next round

  • Verified businesses only.

    Before anyone is paid we confirm the business is real and operating: something you can actually buy, and a person standing behind it.

  • Direct transfer.

    Funds move to the recipient by bank transfer or check. No platform skim, no sixty-day hold, no conversion into store credit.

  • Public record.

    Every round posts here: collected, disbursed, to whom, on what date. No login, no email signup, no request form.

  • 501(c)(3) accountability.

    The IRS recognized our exemption on April 30, 2026. We file in the Form 990 series every year, and contributions are tax-deductible.

Our IRS determination

Public charity status
509(a)(2)
Exemption effective
April 30, 2026
Contributions deductible
Yes
Annual filing
Form 990 series
Accounting period ends
December 31

The ledger

Each expense carries its own receipt. Donations are listed one by one as they arrive, by date and amount only; no donor is named here. The annual Form 990 covers them. Ours reports on the year ending December 31, and the first one covers 2026.