Atlanta, GA, USA
A hack convening to unlock $250B in dormant DAF capital, transforming idle philanthropy into regenerative investments that build community ownership and advance SDG-aligned economic renewal.
1 - 6 months
$50,000.00
Last update: October 05, 2023
Over $250 billion in philanthropic wealth sits dormant in donor-advised funds (DAFs), while organizations best positioned to regenerate communities—Black-led CDFIs, inclusive fund managers, and regenerative intermediaries—remain severely underfunded.
This imbalance reinforces the racial wealth gap (median White household wealth ≈ $189 K vs. Black ≈ $24 K) and blocks progress toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 8, 9, 10, 11).
The root issue is not a lack of capital, but a lack of mechanisms, incentives, and trust connecting major wealth holders and their advisors with place-based intermediaries who can turn philanthropic intent into real-world ownership and equity.
Project Wellspring seeks to change this by convening the very institutions that influence how philanthropic capital moves — from foundations, SFOs/MFOs, and private wealth advisors to major DAF sponsors and fundraising consultancies — to co-design a new regenerative financial architecture.
Our Hack will function as a systems convening and rapid-prototyping lab—a “think + do” tank uniting the key stakeholders who steward trillions in philanthropic and private wealth.
Participants could include:
Bridgespan, Fidelity Charitable, National Philanthropic Trust (NPT), CCS Fundraising, Campbell & Company, Marts & Lundy, Graham-Pelton, Westfall Gold, J.P. Morgan Private Bank, Goldman Sachs Private Wealth, UBS, Morgan Stanley, Northern Trust, Bessemer Trust, and Beatrice Advisors.
Over two days, we will:
- Map barriers preventing DAF deployment into regenerative community investment.
- Prototype cooperative resourcing structures (e.g., pooled “DAF-to-Community” capital stacks blending grants, recoverable loans, and equity).
- Design incentive frameworks that align fiduciary duty, SDG impact, and client legacy goals.
- Create governance and data-sharing models to build trust between intermediaries and wealth advisors.
The outcome: a blueprint for new financial vehicles and cooperative capital models that intermediaries like Project Wellspring, CDFIs, and minority fund managers can implement immediately.
Traditional philanthropy disperses capital transactionally; Wellspring’s Hack reframes it as a regenerative ecosystem design process.
- Redemptive Ownership: Community members gain co-ownership stakes in assets financed by DAF capital.
- Regenerative Finance: Each dollar is structured to circulate — not exit — the communities it touches.
- Collaborative Prototyping: Wealth advisors, foundations, and intermediaries co-create the financial tools that lower risk and expand participation.
- Blended Capital Infrastructure: Models will be tested that combine catalytic DAF tranches, recoverable grants, and private-equity co-investment to accelerate wealth-building aligned with SDG metrics.
If DAF capital is re-engineered through regenerative, co-owned investment structures,
then it can flow into intermediaries that finance inclusive enterprises,
thereby converting dormant wealth into community assets and measurable SDG outcomes.
- Phase 1 (2026): Host the Hack Convening (Atlanta / DC) → prototype instruments → publish design brief.
- Phase 2 (2026-27): Pilot two vehicles through Project Wellspring’s platform and aligned intermediaries.
- Phase 3 (2027-35): Scale nationally via regional “Impact Collectives,” enabling local adaptation and DAF participation through policy and institutional adoption.
This approach creates a repeatable model for regenerative capital convenings — scalable across sectors (health, food, housing, climate) and geographies.
Rachel Wilson – ESG-certified impact strategist, fund-ops expert in blended capital and measurement.
Brooke Daniels – Tech-driven VC leader (ex-Salesforce Ventures), ecosystem architect.
Dia Simms – Founder, Pronghorn / corporateI investor bridging culture and capital.
Qiana Patterson – Managing Partner, Nayah Family Office Venture Studio; inclusive innovation strategist.
*Supported by partners including Living Cities, Southern Communities Initiative, AA Alliance CDFIs and Pronghorn.
Impact will be tracked using five-dimension and SDG-aligned metrics, measuring both financial flow and regenerative yield (how much value stays and grows locally).
Each prototype fund will report:
- % DAF capital activated,
- ownership units created,
- community equity retained,
- and social value generated (jobs, SMEs, housing, environmental resilience).
A community verification loop ensures the principle of redemptive accountability—that wealth built through this process restores rather than extracts.
By 2035, Project Wellspring’s convening model will have inspired a national regenerative capital network, channeling $10–15 B of DAF wealth into inclusive economic engines.
These networks will institutionalize redemptive ownership, where wealth is measured not only by return on capital but by return to community—a living example of how regenerative finance can heal the wealth divide and renew the moral imagination of capital itself.
Immediate Hack outcomes:
- A published “DAF Activation Playbook” co-authored by participants.
- Three prototype financial vehicles (e.g., regional DAF syndicate fund, recoverable-grant model, donor-collaborative impact cooperative).
- Commitment letters or MOUs from participating wealth firms to pilot capital shifts in 2026.
Long-term outcomes:
- 5 % of DAF assets ($12 B) redirected into regenerative vehicles by 2035.
- Measurable growth in ownership and income for underinvested communities.
- Creation of a Redemptive Capital Council sustaining ongoing collaboration and policy advocacy.
