Donate Equity
Unlocking generosity before the exit by letting founders give equity to causes they love, today.
Donate Equity makes complex giving simple. Its software platform and expert team help nonprofits receive early-stage equity gifts from donors — founders, small-business owners, and early employees who want to give a slice of what they're building long before any sale. We are investors in Donate Equity, and our own AV Foundation has been an early user of the platform.
Why we invested
Most of a founder's wealth is tied up in a company that hasn't sold yet andso the traditional advice is to wait. Give after the exit. But that means the causes a founder cares about wait years for support, and the founder misses the chance to give the most tax-efficient asset they have: equity itself.
Donate Equity flips that timeline. It lets a founder donate equity now, years earlier, with less effort and, often, greater tax advantage (avoiding capital gains and unlocking a larger deduction) and also gives nonprofits the tools and expertise to accept a gift they'd otherwise have to turn down. That is a deeply one-pocket idea: it dissolves the artificial wall between building a business and doing good, letting the two happen together. As one founder told the Donate Equity team, "entrepreneurs and philanthropy can absolutely align…we just needed someone to show us how."
What Donate Equity does
Donate Equity meets each side of the transaction where it is:
For nonprofits and ESOs — turns existing relationships with business owners into a clear, credible ask for major gifts, backed by a team that handles the complexity.
For foundations — helps grantees accept complex gifts with confidence, making equity donations simple and accessible across a region.
For donors — lets founders, owners, and early employees give equity before a sale, creating real impact and meaningful tax benefits, and celebrating that impact early.
The core insight is simple: equity is what many donors actually have to give today. Donate Equity turns that latent generosity into real funding and no one has to wait for the sale.
Why it matters to us
This one sits close to home. As a foundation that champions "going beyond the grant" and lives out a one-pocket philosophy, we've experienced firsthand how Donate Equity can unlock a gift that didn't seem possible yet. It expands the universe of generosity by inviting entrepreneurs to give from what they're creating and aligning wealth-building with purpose from the very beginning. Backing it, and using it, is how we help make that a norm rather than an exception.
Our role: Investor and an early adopter through the AV Foundation
Type: Philanthropic technology platform for early-stage equity gifts
Focus: Helping nonprofits, foundations, and founders give and receive equity donations before a business is sold
