Join
Choose a monthly amount, starting at $20. Right now it is a waitlist only: no charge and no active membership.
How It Works
Pool it. Vote on it. Make it real.
Vote
Every member gets one vote, and paying more never changes that. Pick one request, then choose Spend it or Stack it.
Make It Real
If Spend wins, the top requests in the winning category are funded. We pay verified landlords, utilities, schools, suppliers and other vendors directly. Never cash to people.
Three categories. One pot.
Keep the Lights On
Rent, bills, medical, emergencies.
Make It Happen
School, tools, business, creative projects.
Wildcard
Anything else legal.
- Pick one request. Your vote counts for that request and its category.
- The category with the most votes wins. Inside it, the most-voted request is funded first.
- Ties are settled by a public coin flip on video.
Heads up: the single most-voted request on the site may not be funded if its category loses.
Example: the top Keep the Lights On request gets 35 votes, but Wildcard requests get 40 votes together. Wildcard wins.
Spend it or Stack it?
Vote or it stacks.
Spend or Stack is decided against all members, not just voters. Nonvoters count as Stack. At least half of all members must actively vote Spend; an exact tie counts as Spend. For an odd member count, Spend needs more than half.
- Spend wins: fund the winning request (never more than it asked for), then keep funding the next most-voted requests in that category until the pot can't cover the next one. A request bigger than the opening pot is allowed but skipped. Anything left returns to the pot and does not count toward the stack streak. Approved unfunded requests carry to the next vote with votes reset.
- Stack wins: nothing is funded. The whole pot rolls into the next vote. A Stack round picks no category.
- Streak cap: after 3 stacks in a row, the next vote must Spend.
The level ladder
The size of the pot when a round opens sets how often we vote. Stacked money is part of that pot. Each level starts at its lower number.
| Level | The pot | We vote |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000–under $10,000 | once a quarter |
| 2 | $10,000–under $50,000 | monthly |
| 3 | $50,000–under $100,000 | every two weeks |
| 4 | $100,000+ | weekly |
Below $1,000 there is no vote; the pot keeps building until it reaches Level 1. Level 4 stays weekly above $500,000.
Where the money goes
90%
10%
90% Community Pot · 10% Reserve. Each has its own account.
The pot reimburses actual operating costs only: card processing, ID checks, hosting, legal and accounting. Costs are itemized monthly, capped at 10% of that month's collections. The company pays anything above the cap.
Nobody at PHLERP is paid from the pot. We live on tips and the interest from the reserve.
The Reserve is held in US Treasury bills. The reserve protects the pot. The company keeps the interest it earns; the reserve itself is never spent on salaries. Tips are company income, separate from the pot.
What we don't fund
PHLERP never funds political or religious organizations or activity: candidates, campaigns, parties, PACs, lobbying, ballot measures, advocacy groups, churches, ministries, tithes, donations, mission trips or religious events. We can fund everyday services from any provider — including religious-affiliated hospitals, schools, daycares and landlords — when the money pays for the service itself.
The funding rules
- All categories share one pot.
- Be a member for two full rounds before voting. Applicants cannot vote in a round with their own request; household restrictions also apply.
- A request is only funded if the pot covers its full amount.
- Unfunded money rolls into the next vote.
- Ties are settled by a public coin flip on video.
- Requests and payees must be in the United States.
- No loans, no cash to people, no guaranteed assistance.
There is no live pool or voting yet. Dashboard pot, level and deadlines are examples. The request form currently uses a $1,000,000 placeholder cap.