A community foundation serves many overlapping communities. A person's giving can overlap the same way.
The question beneath it all: to what end does AVF exist? Depth, an amenity for LX. Scale, a platform. Or influence, a movement. We’re exploring the platform path, with LX as a first circle rather than the ceiling.
DepthScaleInfluence
Five stops: the circles model and a possible LX Community Foundation, the 5% election, the leadership to run it, the audience we built for, and a new product we’re announcing.
01The Model
From one circle to many
AVF works because it is built on community, not on assets under management. An LX member is never only an LX member. They are also a resident of a city and a champion of a cause. Each is a real community. Each is a circle AVF could serve.
Today
One community foundation
AVF serves LX today. Growth is capped by a single circle.
→
The concept
A platform of circles
AVF could be the foundation for many overlapping communities: relational, geographic, and interest-based. Every new circle is a growth vector.
Where a donor belongs
Relational, who you walk with.LX cohorts today. Tomorrow a team of athletes, a founders' group, a church.
Geographic, where you live.A Dallas donor gives alongside other Dallas donors, into Dallas needs.
Interest, what you carry.The cause on your heart, shared with others who carry it too.
A donor at the center. An LX member in Dallas who cares about foster care. One person, three communities, and AVF holds the fund that connects them.
The circle is a template, not a single group. Swap LX for athletes, a city, or a church, and the model is identical. That is how it scales beyond LX.
A proposal to explore
Could AVF be the platform, with LX as its first community foundation?
The idea: LX could become the LX Community Foundation, with AVF positioned as the platform beneath it. AVF becomes the shared infrastructure, and every community it serves could get its own named community foundation. LX would be the first. The next circle would launch as its own named foundation, a city or a cause, all running on AVF. This moves in two steps: first an AVF/AV discussion on the platform direction, then LX’s agreement to become the first community foundation on it.
Step 2LX Community Foundation
City Community FoundationNext
Cause Community FoundationLater
AVF · the platform
1Two steps. Step 1 — an AVF/AV discussion: is the platform of overlapping circles the direction? Step 2 — LX’s agreement: does LX agree to become the first community foundation on it?
02The 5% Election
Where the 5% goes
Each deposit directs 5% to collective giving, capped at $25,000 a year. Once a donor belongs to more than one circle, which circle gets it? Three ways to run it — our lean is a true donor election, with no mandatory floor.
A
Single home circle
The full 5% goes to one home circle, LX by default.
SimplestIgnores overlap
B
Donor-allocated split
The donor divides the 5% across their circles.
Our leanHonors belongingMore admin
C
Tiered
An optional floor to the anchor circle, and the donor allocates the rest. Not the recommended path.
Protects the flagshipMandatory floor
Model it live
Collective giving (5%)$25,000capped at $25K / year
Relational · LX50%
$12,500
Floor applied
Geographic · Dallas30%
$7,500
Interest · Foster care20%
$5,000
How many circles, and when
Circles are earned as assets and average fund size grow. At today's roughly $55K average fund, one strong pool works. More circles come later. The gate between stages is assets, not the calendar.
Now
~$1.3M
1 circle · the LX anchor
Deepen the anchor and land the first complex-asset gift.
Next
~$5M
2 circles · anchor + 1 test
Prove the template travels.
Target
~$20M
8 to 10 · ~$100K each
A self-reinforcing platform.
Horizon
$50M+
many circles
Complex assets, endowment, and reach.
2Do we run the 5% as a true donor election with no mandatory floor (model B)? A and C remain on the table.
03Leadership
Owner of Growth
Everything above, new circles, the kDAF, and closing the messaging gap, needs an owner. Today AVF's vision, sales, and offering development sit in one leadership role, and that is the main constraint on scale. The rule is to hire behind assets. The one exception is the role that creates them.
The hunter · this hire
Owns growth and offerings
Sales, conversion, donor relationships, and packaging offerings such as the kDAF and complex-asset and impact deals into donor-facing products. Entrepreneurial and high-A.
The steward · not this role
Owns the portfolio
Portfolio construction, IPS compliance, and fiduciary oversight. A different temperament that stays with the CIO and investment committee.
Reporting and funding. The role owns growth and offerings and reports into AVF leadership, with the CIO keeping fiduciary oversight. It is funded now as a growth investment with a defined runway. This is the catalyst that moves $1.3M to $5M, not a reward for reaching it.
3Do we fund a high-A Owner of Growth now, ahead of assets, as the catalyst for everything in this section?
04Audience
Who we’re talking to
We walked through this at the last board retreat, so this stop is a confirmation and a next-steps check. The bottleneck to growth is not a lack of interest. It is a messaging gap. We lead with DAF mechanics when we should lead with community and simplicity. Two clusters: people who do not know what a DAF is, and people who have one and do not realize what they are missing.
The Newcomer
Doesn't know what a DAF is.
The gap
We open with the vehicle, and the vehicle is unfamiliar.
How to close it
Open with the community and the outcome. Introduce the account second.
The Optimizer
Already has a DAF, chasing efficiency.
The gap
We compete on features against commercial sponsors.
How to close it
Show what a commercial sponsor cannot: giving together.
The Believer
Already generous, moved by mission.
The gap
We sound like a bank, not a movement.
How to close it
Lead with the mission and the causes they already carry.
The Skeptic
Wary of DAFs: idle money, distance.
The gap
We do not address the critique they already hold.
How to close it
Name it, then show our payout rate and our proximity.
4Audience. We aligned on this at the last board retreat. Does it still hold? Bring your thoughts and the next steps, and who in your network fits these archetypes.
05Announcing
The kDAF
We’re announcing and launching the kDAF, the first product built on the circles thesis. It opens an entirely new kind of giver: families. Live soon at theavfoundation.org/kdaf.
Kids Donor-Advised Fund. A giving account where parents guide and kids participate. No fees, easy online access, and hands-on experiences that turn generosity into a family tradition. At 18, the child takes full control.
1
Parents oversee the account. Kids get their own online access.
2
Kids choose causes and recommend grants.
3
Families track the impact and talk about the results together.
4
At 18, the child takes full control of the fund.
20%
Kids whose parents talk with them about giving are about 20% more likely to give throughout their lives, and role-modeling paired with conversation is the strongest predictor of all.
Sources: Ottoni-Wilhelm, Estell & Perdue, “Role-modeling and conversations about giving,” Journal of Adolescence (2014); Women Give 2013, IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.
The kDAF is a circle in miniature, the family. It makes generosity shared instead of solo, builds empathy and leadership early, and starts a lifelong, multi-generational relationship with AVF.
5We’re launching the kDAF. What are your thoughts and feedback? Where does it resonate most, and who in your networks should hear about it first?
