A community rewards program, without the hand-waving.
GiveFlow issues Flow — a closed-loop reward — to residents who contribute to their town, and lets them spend it at participating local businesses. It's not a cryptocurrency and it's not a gift card. Here's the whole thing on one page.
Earn. Send. Redeem. Expire.
Earn
Residents earn Flow for peer thanks, verified civic actions (fire response, cleanups, poll working, board attendance), and a 100 Flow sign-up grant.
Send
Any resident can send Flow to any other resident, one thank-you at a time. Small transfers, capped, always visible.
Redeem
Local businesses offer their own Flow-denominated discounts. Residents redeem in-store; GiveFlow settles the ledger.
Expire
Every Flow expires 12 months after issuance. That keeps the reserve honest and prevents hoarding.
What keeps it honest.
The reason community currencies and rewards programs usually fail is one of three things: no verification, no cap, or no expiry. GiveFlow fixes all three at the database level.
No self-attestation
A verifier cannot approve a reward where they are the beneficiary. Enforced by a database trigger, not a UI check.
Issuance caps
Per action, per member, per month. Configurable per program. Auto-throttle when the reserve dips.
12-month expiry
Every issuance carries an expiry. Unspent Flow returns to the reserve. No perpetual liabilities.
Live reserve health
Anyone with admin access can see exactly what's outstanding, what's redeemed, and what's about to expire.
Full audit trail
Every issuance and redemption is logged and exportable for grant reporting and municipal review.
Closed loop, by design
Flow doesn't leave the network. Not an exchange, not a security, not a token you can trade.
What people ask on Google, answered plainly.
How does a community currency work?›
A community currency is a token that circulates only within a defined local network — usually a town, county, or affinity group. It rewards contributions or purchases that align with local values and redeems only at participating local businesses. GiveFlow implements this as a closed-loop reward called Flow: issued for civic actions, spendable at opted-in merchants, expiring after 12 months. It is not a cryptocurrency, not an exchangeable asset, and not a security.
How does a community rewards program work?›
A community rewards program credits residents for participation — response, volunteering, event attendance, verified purchases — and lets them redeem those credits for something of value. GiveFlow adds three things most community-rewards programs miss: verification at the database level so credits can't be gamed, per-action and per-user caps that keep the reserve healthy, and merchant-funded discounts so the town doesn't have to underwrite everything.
How does a resident earn Flow?›
Three ways. Peer thanks: any resident can send a small amount of Flow to another resident to recognize help. Verified actions: officers or program leads issue Flow when someone completes a rewardable action (a fire call, a park cleanup, a poll-worker shift). Sign-up grants: every new resident starts with 100 Flow to seed the network.
How does a resident redeem Flow?›
At any local business in the network. Businesses set the Flow-denominated discount on their own offers (say, 50 Flow off a haircut, or 200 Flow for a free coffee for a month). Redemption happens in-store, GiveFlow settles the ledger.
What stops abuse or inflation?›
Four guardrails. (1) Issuance caps per action and per member. (2) No-self-attestation enforced at the database — a verifier cannot approve a reward where they are the beneficiary. (3) 12-month expiry on every Flow issued. (4) Live reserve health so towns and sponsors can see exactly what's outstanding.
Is Flow taxable?›
Flow is a closed-loop discount reward, similar in structure to a merchant loyalty program. For most residents and most actions, no filing is triggered. Departments and towns should still consult their own tax counsel for their specific programs — GiveFlow provides the export they'll need.
See it running for your community.
The fastest way to understand GiveFlow is to try the demo — or book a 20-minute walkthrough tailored to your town, department, or nonprofit.