Offering
Two hours of social media strategy from our communications director
An animal shelter
Communications director
Communications director
Marketing
- Format
- Video call
- Time
- 2 hours
- Credits
- 2 credits
Free for charities · Opening in stages
The sector's expertise, shared.
Charities trade skills, hour for hour. The animal shelter that runs brilliant social campaigns helps the money-skills nonprofit with marketing, and that nonprofit's volunteer accountant closes the shelter's books. Nobody pays cash. Everybody gets stronger.
No cost, no catch. Golden Hint is run by a 501(c)(3) foundation.
Who are you?
Pick the closest. Each path explains what Golden Hint offers you, and what to do next.
How the Exchange works
Three steps. No money changes hands.
- 1
Offer what you're great at
Every charity is good at something: a sharp newsletter, tidy books, a board that works. List it as an offer, in hours or as a fixed task.
- 2
Earn credits
When you help another charity, you earn one credit for each hour. Credits are a record of what you've given, not money.
- 3
Spend them on what you need
Use your credits for an hour of help from anyone else on the Exchange: a grant review, a policy check, a coach for your new director.
The noticeboard
Offers and requests, between friends
The Exchange opens to verified charities in the next phase. These examples show the kind of help that will be on offer.
Looking for
Help setting up bookkeeping in QuickBooks
A youth literacy charity
Volunteer treasurer
Volunteer treasurer
Finance
- Format
- Video calls
- Time
- 3 hours
- Credits
- 3 credits
Offering
Our volunteer CPA will help close your books for the year
A financial literacy nonprofit
Volunteer CPA
Volunteer CPA
Finance
- Format
- Document review
- Time
- Fixed scope
- Credits
- 4 credits
Looking for
Someone to review our volunteer safeguarding policy
A neighborhood food pantry
Pantry coordinator
Pantry coordinator
Legal
- Format
- Document review
- Time
- Fixed scope
- Credits
- 1.5 credits
Offering
A webinar on writing your first grant, for up to 20 charities
A community health clinic
Development director
Development director
Fundraising
- Format
- Group workshop
- Time
- 90 minutes
- Credits
- 0 credits
Looking for
A board chair who has been there, to mentor ours for three months
A refugee welcome network
Board chair
Board chair
Governance
- Format
- Mentoring
- Time
- 1 hour a month
- Credits
- 3 credits
Examples for illustration. No real organizations are shown.
Thirteen kinds of help
Golden Hint Credits
One hour of help earns one credit. One credit buys one hour of help.
Every charity's time is worth the same here, whether it's an accountant's hour or a designer's. Verified charities start with 5 credits, and new founders with 10, so you can ask for help before you've given any.
Credits have no cash value. They can't be bought, sold or turned into money.
Start a Charity
The honest guide to starting a nonprofit
Seven stages, from your first idea to your first hire, with checklists, templates, real fees and the mistakes to avoid. It starts with a fair question: is a new charity the right move at all?
Resources
A library for every hard part
Guides, templates and checklists organized by the thirteen things charities most often need help with. Plain English, dated, and checked against official sources.
Telling your story so the right people hear it: social media, newsletters, press, and the words on your website.
Finding the money to do the work: grants, individual donors, events, and partnerships with local businesses.
Keeping the books straight: bookkeeping, budgets, financial controls, and getting ready for a review or audit.
Staying on the right side of the rules: state registration, annual filings, contracts, and policies.
A board that helps: recruiting members, running good meetings, and knowing who decides what.
Tools that save time: websites, donor databases, spreadsheets, security, and free software for nonprofits.
Looking after the people who do the work: volunteers, staff, policies, and safe recruitment.
Making the everyday run: space, supplies, schedules, deliveries, and the systems behind them.
From the newsroom
October 14, 2026
Introducing Golden Hint: the sector's expertise, shared
A new, free platform where charities trade skills hour for hour, from the Rouben Malian Memorial Foundation. Here's what's live today and what comes next.
October 14, 2026
The founder pathway is live, and it starts with an honest question
Our guide to starting a US nonprofit is open to everyone: seven stages, checklists, templates, real fees and five free tools. First, though, it asks whether you should.
October 14, 2026
Why an hour is an hour: the thinking behind Golden Hint Credits
An accountant's hour and a designer's hour earn the same single credit. Here's why we chose time, and how we're keeping credits clearly separate from money.
Who's behind this
An initiative of the Rouben Malian Memorial Foundation
Golden Hint is created and fully funded by the Rouben Malian Memorial Foundation Inc, a New York 501(c)(3) foundation formed in 2018 in memory of Rouben Malian. He kept his word, refused to give up, and backed people before the world did. Golden Hint is that habit, shared with the whole sector.
- IntegrityHis word was his bond.
- TenacityObstacles were puzzles, not stop signs.
- Big betsBack people before the world does.
Be there the day the Exchange opens
Join the waitlist. We'll write when membership opens, and not before.
Join the Exchange waitlistRouben Malian Memorial Foundation Inc