Terms
Right now: collecting interest
PHLERP is a community-pooled funding social experiment. We currently collect waitlist signups and funding requests only. Joining the waitlist costs nothing, starts no subscription, and guarantees neither membership nor funding. No payments or live money are involved.
Who can request
Requests and payees must be in the United States. Submit lawful requests and accurate information. Do not upload information you are not entitled to share. We may reject incomplete, misleading, unlawful or unverifiable requests.
Participation, not a promise
Membership buys participation and a vote. It is not guaranteed assistance, a donation receipt, or an investment.
Every member gets one vote, and paying more never changes that. Each member picks one request per vote; that vote counts for the request and its category. The category with the most votes wins and its most-voted requests are funded first, so the single most-voted request may not be funded if its category loses. Each ballot also asks "Spend it or Stack it?" Vote or it stacks. This decision uses all members: nonvoters count as Stack. Spend requires at least half of all members to actively vote Spend; an exact tie counts as Spend. Stack funds nothing and rolls the whole pot to the next vote; after 3 stacks in a row the next vote must Spend. Spend funds in vote order, never more than requested: skip requests larger than the opening pot, then stop when the next request cannot fit. Leftovers return to the pot without adding to the streak; approved unfunded requests carry forward with votes reset. Stack selects no category. Opening pot size, including stacked money, sets the level: $1,000 quarterly, $10,000 monthly, $50,000 every two weeks, $100,000+ weekly. Below $1,000 there is no vote. Members must complete two full rounds before voting; applicants and households cannot vote in rounds with their own request. Category and request ties are settled by a public coin flip on video. Future funding goes directly to verified vendors or creditors, never cash to applicants. No loan or financial return is promised.
Request review and publication
Only admins can see applicant contact details, payee details and private documents. If approved, a request's title, category, amount, explanation and optional public photo may appear publicly. Keep personal, medical, contact and payee details out of your public explanation and photo. Approval is not a promise to fund a request.
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 pot, Reserve and company income
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.
Tips are optional and never change voting rights. For now we record your chosen tip only; no money is charged.
Documents and data
We use waitlist information to assess interest and plan the service. We do not sell your data. Admins delete private documents after review or, where they are needed to verify a funded payment, after funding verification. See the Privacy page for details.
Before launch
These draft terms need legal review before paid membership or live funding begins. Final terms will explain eligibility, rounds, cancellations, disputes and payment procedures. This draft is not legal advice.