creatives.exchange

Grant Program

Paid members propose projects. Two funds can award them: the platform project pool, filled by half of every membership, and a tax-deductible fund run by Abiding Practice, a registered 501(c)(3). Every award from either fund is recorded on a public ledger. How decisions get made is spelled out below.

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By the numbers
Creatives
Communities
Active projects
Paid opportunities
Backed directly
Grants awarded

Live counts across the whole platform. Grants awarded includes every fund; the ledger below is one fund's.

By city

Locations appear here as members add a city to their profile.

How money works here
Direct backing

Back a creative's project directly. They get 90%. Not tax-deductible — this is person-to-person funding.

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Grant Fund (tax-deductible)

Donate to the fund through Abiding Practice, a 501(c)(3). They decide their own awards — every dollar that goes out is on the ledger below.

How it works

Two funds

The platform project pool is filled by membership dues — 50% of every payment — and by one-time contributions, of which 90% goes to the pool and 10% to the platform. Abiding Practice, a 501(c)(3), runs a separate fund through its own payment processor; gifts there are tax-deductible and never pass through this platform. The ledger on this page is Abiding Practice's fund; the project pool's ledger is at /fund/creatives-exchange.

Who can propose

Any paid member can submit a proposal to a fund: a title, a summary and an amount of $5 or more, optionally tied to a project they lead. One open proposal per fund at a time.

Who decides

Platform operators review proposals to the project pool and approve or decline them. Abiding Practice decides its own fund's awards. Approval and payout are separate steps: a grant exists only once it is recorded as a public allocation with recipient, amount and month.

Cadence and criteria

There is no fixed cycle or deadline yet. Awards are made by hand from the balance the ledger shows. Published criteria, a conflict-of-interest policy and community-run selection are not yet defined — they are on the roadmap, not in place.

Run a fund on these rails

Any approved community can have its own pool today, with its own public ledger and contribution button. A city program, a foundation or a nonprofit could publish its awards the same way. Percent-of-dues pledges to a community pool, award deadlines and host-run selection are planned, not built.

Ledger
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Common questions

Is my gift tax-deductible?

Yes. Abiding Practice is a registered 501(c)(3). You'll receive a receipt for your records.

How do creatives get grants?

A paid member submits a proposal to a fund. Platform operators decide proposals to the project pool; Abiding Practice decides its own fund's awards. There is no fixed cycle yet, and a grant is only a grant once it appears on the ledger above.

What's the difference between backing and donating?

Backing a project sends money directly to the creative (90/10 split, not tax-deductible). Donating to the Grant Fund goes to Abiding Practice, who decides its own awards — that's the tax-deductible path. Contributing to the project pool is a third option: not tax-deductible, 90% to the pool.