About the Foundation

The Kindling Foundation is an ongoing experiment in building lifelong, inter-generational community philanthropy. We believe that engaging in charitable giving together with friends and family can bring new power to our individual urges to make social change and can more deeply bond us in friendship and community.

The concept of the foundation is unique but simple. Each year, the community chooses three of its members to comprise the Gifting Committee. Membership in this committee is both a responsibility and a privilege. The privilege is that this small group gets to choose the foundation's grantee for that year, magnifying many times the impact they could have as individual donors.

The responsibility of the committee is to choose a grantee in a way that inspires the participation and enthusiasm of the entire community. How this is done is entirely up to the Committee, though a handbook of past Committee experiences help to guide them.

Working hand in hand with the Committee, and also chosen each year from the community is the Kindling Board. The Board has an equally critical role in the giving cycle as they provide guidance and support to the Committee. Once a grantee is chosen by the Committee, the Board makes sure the organization fits the foundation's general criteria.

Thanks to this strategy, each member our community will experience deep participation in certain years, becoming a powerful philanthropist. In other years, the same member may simply provide insight and enthusiasm but be asked to do very little. In these giving cycles, members can sit back and enjoy the knowledge that they are part of something deeply impactful without having to commit a large amount of their time.

It is our goal to grow our community year to year, stopping when we feel we have reached the maximum size that allows for real interaction and inspiration. At that point, we hope to spawn other Kindling groups to magnify the philanthropic spirit in this community building model.