Tuscaloosa, Alabama · Est. 2025

Making
Philanthropy
Casual
Again.

Philanthropy is more than charity — it is the love of others, an ethic and culture we are building together in Tuscaloosa.

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$4,200

First Grant Awarded

1,000

Our Community Goal

2025

Year Founded

Our Mission

A Seat at
the Table

Through our partnership with the Community Foundation of West Alabama, we bring thoughtful students and intentional business leaders together to pool their resources, energy, and ideas toward Tuscaloosa's greatest needs.

Every participant has a seat at the table — because your intellectual contribution to the conversation is just as valuable as your financial one. That's what it means to inspire philanthropy.

"Thank you, Zachary Goldman, for setting a great example for our young people. When we say our mission is to encourage charitable giving, we understand that applies to all ages."

— Glenn Taylor, President & CEO, Community Foundation of West Alabama

How It Works

The Model

01

Gather

Students, faculty, staff, and community leaders come together to hear directly from local nonprofit leaders about Tuscaloosa's most pressing needs. Every voice in the room matters.

We hold events at unique spaces across Tuscaloosa — not just on campus. We want members to explore and genuinely connect with the city they're giving back to.

02

Give

Attendees contribute whatever they feel moved to give — any amount. Every gift is pooled through the Community Foundation of West Alabama and is fully tax-deductible.

There is no minimum. A gift of $5 and a gift of $500 carry the same weight in the room. The '1,000' in TP1K is a community goal, not a price of admission.

03

Vote

Together, the community votes on which nonprofit receives the pooled funds. Your presence in the conversation is every bit as important as the size of your donation.

Recipients are chosen democratically — by every person in the room. The donors themselves direct where the money goes, creating a direct conversation between givers and the communities they serve.

Latest Impact

Our First Award

$0000

Inaugural Award · 2026

The House Tuscaloosa

A literacy center, community bookstore, and afterschool program for middle schoolers — The House Tuscaloosa was our community's first choice. Their federal funding was frozen in early 2025, making this award especially timely.

Ready to
Contribute?

Contributions made outside of a TP1K event serve as matching funds during our next gathering — and every dollar is always directed toward the greatest community need. Want a direct say in where your money goes? Join us at an event.

1

Visit donorbox.org/support-cfwa — or click Donate above
2

Enter your donation amount and payment info
3

In the "Write us a comment" field, type: Tuscaloosa Premier 1000
4

Submit — you'll receive a tax-deductible receipt from CFWA

Give Now →

About TP1K

Inspiring
Philanthropy
in Tuscaloosa.

Bringing every voice to the table — because who we listen to matters as much as how much we give.

Our Mission

Philanthropy is more than just charity; it is the love of others — an ethic and culture we hope to instill in Tuscaloosa. Through our partnership with the Community Foundation of West Alabama, we aim to make philanthropy casual again by bringing thoughtful students and intentional business leaders together to pool their resources, energy, and ideas.

Tuscaloosa Premier 1,000 is a giving circle — a community of individuals invested in Tuscaloosa's growth, convened to discuss the city's most pressing needs and act together. We believe in inspiring philanthropy: every person has a seat at the table, because your intellectual contribution to the conversation is just as valuable as your financial one.

The "1,000" in our name isn't a dollar amount. It's a people goal: 1,000 individuals united in a shared commitment to this community — students, faculty, business owners, neighbors — anyone who cares about Tuscaloosa belongs here.

"We want to be able to pass this off once we graduate and have it continue to grow."

— Zach Goldman, Co-Founder

🤝

Our Fiscal Partner

All donations to TP1K are processed through the Community Foundation of West Alabama — a four-star Charity Navigator–rated public charity serving West Alabama since 1999. Every gift is fully tax-deductible.

The Origin

TP1K was born in the Randall Lab at UA’s Honors Hall — a place where, as Zach put it, “conversations always turn into actions.” Zach had grown up watching adults run giving circles with friends — small groups pooling money, debating causes, and deciding together where it would go. He wanted to bring that model to a campus that had never seen it.

To build it right, he and Raeed sought out the people who knew philanthropy at scale. They sat down with Bob Pierce, Vice President for Advancement, and Bobby Prince, Associate Vice President for Development — the leadership team behind the Rising Tide 2.0 campaign, the most successful higher education capital campaign in Alabama history, which surpassed its $1.8 billion goal fifteen months ahead of schedule.

With support from the Division of Community Affairs, Zach and Raeed presented TP1K on an “entrepreneurship panel” at the Division’s Board of Advisors annual meeting. Afterward, they sat with Dr. Samory T. Pruitt, Vice President for Community Affairs, to think through scaling. It was Dr. Pruitt who offered the reframe that became central to the mission: rather than treating “1,000” as a donation minimum, think of it as a people goal — 1,000 members united by a shared commitment to Tuscaloosa. No price of admission. Just shared purpose.

In Spring 2025, they launched. By 2026, Rylen Dempsey — a civic leader with deep community development experience — had joined as co-director, and the inaugural giving event had awarded $4,200 to The House Tuscaloosa. The long-term goal is a permanent community fund: growing deeper roots in Tuscaloosa before growing wider ones anywhere else. Every year, the community decides where the money goes.

“There isn’t really a student-led giving circle in Tuscaloosa, nor many philanthropic initiatives with this much flexibility. The donors themselves can vote and have a discourse with each other about where they want the money to go.”

— Raeed Kabir, Co-Founder

Leadership

The Team

Three University of Alabama students building a new model for community philanthropy in Tuscaloosa.

Zach Goldman

Co-Founder & Co-Director

UA Outstanding Junior '26

Physics major, Mathematics minor — University of Alabama, Class of 2027
Randall Research Scholars Program — neurogenetics & biophysics research on Drosophila seizure models
Co-Founder & Executive Director, Bama Fundravers — a DJ-driven nonprofit fundraising collective that raised over $110,000 for student organizations and nonprofits across 3 university campuses in 2025
Finance & Fundraising Head, UA Médecins Sans Frontières — led $16k+ fundraising campaign for a 30-student India medical outreach mission
UA Seed Grant recipient (with Raeed Kabir) — Whitfield Program
Volunteer, Habitat for Humanity and UA Medicine and Community
Worked as a pharmacy manager at a rural free clinic in high school, learning firsthand the role of grant writing and fundraising in delivering community care

Raeed Kabir

Co-Founder & Co-Director

UA Outstanding Junior '25

Mathematics & Economics double major, pre-medicine track — University of Alabama
Randall Research Scholars Program
UA Seed Grant recipient (with Zach Goldman) — Whitfield Program
Research with UA and Harvard professors on how uncertainty affects philanthropic giving and the role of empathy in shaping public policy
Counselor, UA Student Government Association Judicial Board — connected the SGA network with charitable causes across Tuscaloosa
Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholar — one of 120 selected nationally; research internship at NOAA's Low Earth Orbit Group on environmental health economics
Research collaborations at Harvard Business School, University of Chicago, and Harvard University — behavioral economics experiments, public policy, and causal inference

Rylen Dempsey

Co-Director

Shelby Scholar

Interdisciplinary Studies — University of Alabama, Class of 2027
Chief Administrative Officer, UA Student Government Association
Blackburn Institute Fellow
Intern, Walker Area Community Foundation — rural economic empowerment and community asset mapping
Intern, Tuscaloosa County Industrial Development Authority
Director of Youth Engagement, Mayor Randall Woodfin re-election campaign (Birmingham)
Digital staffer, President Biden's Inaugural Committee
Birmingham native committed to talent retention and investment in Alabama

Ready to
Contribute?

Contributions made outside of a TP1K event serve as matching funds during our next gathering — and every dollar is always directed toward the greatest community need. Want a direct say in where your money goes? Join us at an event.

1

Visit donorbox.org/support-cfwa — or click Donate above
2

Enter your donation amount and payment info
3

In the “Write us a comment” field, type: Tuscaloosa Premier 1000
4

Submit — you’ll receive a tax-deductible receipt from CFWA

Give Now →

2026 · Inaugural Award

$0000

Inaugural Award · January 2026

The House Tuscaloosa

The House Tuscaloosa is a literacy center, community bookstore, and safe haven for young people. Founded six years ago, it has partnered with the Blackburn Institute on a middle and high school book club, participated in the annual Tuscaloosa City Schools "Battle of the Books," and developed a beloved afterschool program for middle schoolers.

When federal funding was frozen following an executive order in early 2025, The House faced an immediate gap. Our community voted to make them our first recipient — directing $4,200 toward sustaining their programs and keeping their doors open and accessible.

Literacy & Education Youth Programming Community Access

TP1K's grant recipients are chosen democratically by every attendee at our community giving events — students, faculty, business leaders, and neighbors alike. Future awards will be announced following each gathering. The community decides.

Ready to
Contribute?

Contributions made outside of a TP1K event serve as matching funds during our next gathering — and every dollar is always directed toward the greatest community need. Want a direct say in where your money goes? Join us at an event.

1

Visit donorbox.org/support-cfwa — or click Donate above
2

Enter your donation amount and payment info
3

In the “Write us a comment” field, type: Tuscaloosa Premier 1000
4

Submit — you’ll receive a tax-deductible receipt from CFWA

Give Now →

Event Gallery

Photos

Co-Director Zach Goldman addresses the room at the inaugural TP1K giving event

Zach Goldman and Raeed Kabir with The Giving Effect feature article

TP1K team and community members at the inaugural giving event

CFWA partner and co-director presenting at the event

Raeed Kabir leading a community discussion at the whiteboard

Raeed Kabir addressing community members

Community leader speaking at the TP1K event

Nonprofit representative presenting to the giving circle

Attendees listening to nonprofit presentations

Name cards for inaugural TP1K giving circle event

The venue set up for the Love Tuscaloosa giving event

Two attendees at the TP1K inaugural event

Press Coverage

In the News

The Crimson White · 2026

TP1K Makes First Community Award to The House Tuscaloosa

UA's student newspaper covered TP1K's inaugural community giving event and $4,200 award to The House Tuscaloosa — a literacy center and youth program whose federal funding was frozen in early 2025. Co-Director Zach Goldman spoke on impact over dollar amounts.

Read the Article

Ready to
Contribute?

Contributions made outside of a TP1K event serve as matching funds during our next gathering — and every dollar is always directed toward the greatest community need. Want a direct say in where your money goes? Join us at an event.

1

Visit donorbox.org/support-cfwa — or click Donate above
2

Enter your donation amount and payment info
3

In the “Write us a comment” field, type: Tuscaloosa Premier 1000
4

Submit — you’ll receive a tax-deductible receipt from CFWA

Give Now →

Tuscaloosa Premier 1,000 (TP1K) is a giving circle based in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. We bring students, faculty, staff, and community leaders together to hear from local nonprofits, pool our resources, and collectively decide where that money goes. Every event is a community conversation — about needs, values, and what Tuscaloosa deserves. The goal is to make philanthropy accessible, democratic, and genuinely impactful for everyone at the table.

It represents a community goal: 1,000 people united in a shared commitment to Tuscaloosa's growth. We want to build a circle of 1,000 individuals — students, educators, business owners, neighbors — who believe collective action is more powerful than individual charity. There's no membership fee, no minimum gift, and no barrier to participation. If you care about Tuscaloosa, you belong here.

All donations are processed securely through the Community Foundation of West Alabama (CFWA), our fiscal partner. Here's exactly how to give:

Go to donorbox.org/support-cfwa — or click the Donate button at the top of this site
Enter your desired donation amount and complete your payment information
In the "Write us a comment" field, type: Tuscaloosa Premier 1000
Submit — you'll receive a tax-deductible receipt from CFWA

Every dollar goes directly toward Tuscaloosa nonprofits chosen by our community. Questions? Email us at zagoldman@crimson.ua.edu.

Whatever feels right to you — truly. We believe in open, unrestricted giving because philanthropy should feel accessible, not transactional. Your presence, perspective, and engagement matter just as much as any financial contribution. The spirit of TP1K is that everyone who shows up is contributing something meaningful.

At each TP1K event, we invite a curated group of local nonprofit leaders to present their work directly to the community — organizations addressing Tuscaloosa's most pressing needs across different areas of civic life. After hearing from them, everyone in attendance votes on which organization to support that cycle. The whole community decides where the money goes.

Anyone. University of Alabama students, faculty, and staff are our core community, but TP1K is open to all — business owners, neighbors, community leaders, anyone who cares about Tuscaloosa. We have held events with University officials, nonprofit directors, and first-time volunteers in the same room. That diversity of perspective is exactly the point.

Yes. Because TP1K operates through the Community Foundation of West Alabama — a 501(c)(3) public charity — all donations are fully tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. You will receive documentation from CFWA for your records.

The Community Foundation of West Alabama (CFWA) is TP1K's fiscal and administrative partner. Founded in 1999, CFWA is a public charity that manages permanent charitable funds for individuals and organizations throughout West Alabama. It holds a four-star Charity Navigator rating. By partnering with CFWA, TP1K ensures your donations are handled with full accountability and transparency while we focus on building community.

We are always looking to connect with nonprofits doing meaningful work in the Tuscaloosa area. If your organization would like to present at a future TP1K event, please reach out directly at zagoldman@crimson.ua.edu or rakabir@crimson.ua.edu. We prioritize organizations addressing community needs where flexible, pooled funding can make a tangible difference.

We hold one major fundraising event per year, supplemented by community-engagement opportunities throughout — tours of nonprofits we've supported, monthly spotlights on members and causes, and informal gatherings. We intentionally hold events at unique spaces around Tuscaloosa, not just on campus. A big part of our mission is getting UA students genuinely connected to the city, so you might find us at a local restaurant, a community art space, or a neighborhood venue with its own Tuscaloosa story.

Yes — we welcome contributions from businesses, university departments, civic organizations, and community groups. Institutional gifts go through the same secure CFWA channel, and we offer different forms of recognition for organizational donors. If your organization is interested in partnering with or sponsoring TP1K, reach out to any of our co-directors to start the conversation.

Your gift is held securely by the Community Foundation of West Alabama and rolls over to the next event — which we schedule promptly and always with a confirmed backup date. We would never postpone without giving members a new date immediately. Your money is safe with CFWA, always tax-deductible, and always earmarked for Tuscaloosa nonprofits.

Partnership &
Sponsorship
Inquiries

Are you a business, university department, or civic organization interested in partnering with TP1K to help shape Tuscaloosa's next generation of philanthropic leaders? We welcome co-sponsorship of events, mentorship of our student directors, donor matching, and other collaborative arrangements. Reach out to any of our co-directors to start the conversation — or connect with us through the Community Foundation of West Alabama.

Why Join

TP1K isn't a membership organization with dues or tiers. It's a community of people who care about Tuscaloosa — and who believe that showing up, listening, and contributing what you can actually changes things. The conversation is the point. A dollar and a voice carry equal weight in the room.

We especially welcome first-time philanthropists and anyone who has ever thought “I wish I could do more.” You can — and you don’t need wealth or experience to start. Research shows the most consistent donors are people who gave for the first time when they were young. We are here to be that first step.

Attendance at our giving events is by personal invitation. We reach out to people whose work in the community we admire — because we want everyone at the table to know they were chosen to be there. If you haven’t received an invitation yet, join our mailing list. We’ll reach out when we think you’d be a great fit.

Contributions made through our website or outside of a live event are used as matching donations during our next gathering — amplifying the collective impact of the room. Every dollar is always directed toward the greatest need identified by our community. If you want a direct voice in where your contribution goes, we encourage you to reach out about attending an upcoming event and joining the conversation in person.

"This is a great opportunity for students who are active, involved, and passionate."

— Zach Goldman

Join Our Mailing List

Fill out our short form to get on the TP1K mailing list. We’ll be in touch about upcoming events, grant cycles, and ways to get involved.

Join the Circle →

You’ll be taken to a short Google Form. We’ll only reach out about TP1K updates — never spam.

Ready to
Contribute?

Contributions made outside of a TP1K event serve as matching funds during our next gathering — and every dollar is always directed toward the greatest community need. Want a direct say in where your money goes? Join us at an event.

1

Visit donorbox.org/support-cfwa — or click Donate above
2

Enter your donation amount and payment info
3

In the “Write us a comment” field, type: Tuscaloosa Premier 1000
4

Submit — you’ll receive a tax-deductible receipt from CFWA

Give Now →

Making
Philanthropy
Casual
Again.

A Seat at
the Table

The Model

Our First Award

Ready to
Contribute?