Built in Brooklyn,
for the way Brooklyn gives
Chai 18 Fund started with a simple observation: our community gives constantly — and the tools haven't kept up.
The observation
Think about a normal week. The pushka on the counter. The collector at the door on Tuesday night. Three appeals in the mail before Shabbos. A dinner journal. Maaser to track in a notebook, or in your head, or not quite at all.
The giving is beautiful. The record-keeping is not. Cash disappears without a trace, receipts pile up in a drawer, and come tax season — or come a quiet moment of "how much did I actually give this year?" — nobody has a good answer.
We're building the answer: one account where funds are set aside once, gifts happen the moment they matter, and every dollar's journey is on record. Not instead of the way we give — in step with it.
Chai means life, and in gematria it equals eighteen — the number our community has always given in. It felt like the right heart for a platform about giving: every gift a wish for life, counted in chai.
What we believe
Giving is personal
Technology should serve the mitzvah, not flatten it. Hand-to-hand giving stays hand-to-hand — we just make it count.
Clarity is kindness
You should always know what you have, what you gave, and where it went. No fine print, no black boxes, no surprises.
Trust is earned slowly
We'd rather launch one feature that works perfectly than five that almost work. Anything involving your money waits until it's right.
Where we are, honestly
Chai 18 Fund is in active development. The account and online giving come first; the Giving Card and Certificate Book follow once the right partners and approvals are in place. We're not a charity and we don't hold funds today — when that changes, the structure, the entity, and the receipts will be published plainly, here, before anyone adds a dollar.
Come build it with us.
Questions, ideas, a mosad that should be on the directory — we read everything.