How to Get Started

 

Who Can Flow Fund?

Anyone can choose to become a Flow Fund Initiator and use the Flow Funding method to give money. Individuals, families, groups of friends, collectives of people with common concerns, and foundations have all been Flow Fund Initiators.

Selecting Flow Funders

If you want to become a Flow Fund Initiator and start your own group of Flow Funders, here are some suggested first steps:

1. Read the Downloadable PDF Article: “Intuition, Trust, and a Great River of Money” by Chet Tchozewski, Executive Director of Global Greengrants Fund 

2. Read stories of Flow Fund Initiators about how they began flow funding, like:


3. Read stories by members of The Flow Fund Circle.

4. Visit Where Did the Money Flow? which shares over 500 projects around the world that have received gifts through Flow Funding.


Project Casa do Boneco


5. If you are interested, seek advice or coaching about how to initiate your own Flow Funding group by visiting How to Find a Philanthropic Advisor/Coach.

6. Think about the people in your life who have been involved in caring for people and the earth, and who are in a position to discover people and situations where a financial gift could make a significant difference. Choose a few people you trust to give money in a helpful way. Ask them if they want to become philanthropists.

7. Send those potential Flow Funders:


8. Once people have responded to your invitation and questionnaire and you feel that they are a good match for your Flow Funding group, send them a Flow Fund Welcome & Acceptance Letter and give thems a specified amount of money per year for a specified number of years. Trust them to be inspired philanthropists. Expect them to have challenges and surprises.

9. Ask them to report on what they have learned from their Flow Funding experience. Share the Flow Fund Guidelines for Accountability & Reporting with them, so they know how to create a report for your Flow Funding group.


Trust and Intuition

Trust and intuition are key aspects to Flow Funding. Here are some testimonials from new Flow Funders:

“I had several challenges. Inner doubts: did I make the right decision? Will what I’m doing for them really help people? I was also nervous: Is the ‘fishing rod’ good?  Is it strong? Will it catch fish? How many people will benefit?  Will I be ashamed of my presents? It was also hard to work with strangers. I didn’t know what kind of people they were, will they be successful? It seems like I need to trust my instincts and my heart. Even if it seems that people I selected are nice and everything is going well, there’s still a worry about the outcome. Losing the money is not the biggest worry, it’s that this might be their only chance to overcome poverty. It’s a chance to change their lives!!!  It’s chance for them to fight for themselves and for their children and with hard work win a little bit of happiness. I want them all to succeed. It’s hard to imagine that something might go wrong for them…” ~ Bayan

“So much of philanthropy is competitive through the submission of proposals. Marion has taught us all to trust our intuition and our relationships as guides for making gifts.” ~ Fran Macy

“I’m a responsible and proud part of a big circle.  I trust that a person can make further steps.” ~ Aigul

Flow Fund Initiators also need to befriend trust and intuition:

“Money gets dammed up in different ways, through endowments, trusts, and inheritance that only pass to your own family.  Money and class are such a deep trance that we are hypnotized by. I had to break out of it. Those hypnotic patterns of not giving outside your family line and fear of losing control are so deeply ingrained in me: it’s what can keep my heart shut down.  I’ve learned that when I start to contract, that’s when I need to give more and take risks. Once I do it, it’s great.” ~ Marion Rockefeller Weber

 

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