Stewardship
What we promise the people who give
Donors give where they trust. So here is exactly how this is built, in plain words, with nothing held back for the fine print.
Our promises
- Built to be tax-deductible
Odysseus Network has applied for recognition as a 501(c)(3) public charity. Once granted, every gift will be fully tax-deductible, and we will say so plainly here.
- Debt-free by design
Houses are purchased with cash. No mortgages, no leverage, no lender ever between the mission and its homes.
- Built for the long term
Resources are stewarded under a board-adopted investment policy with a generational horizon. We are building an institution, not running a campaign.
- One family of charities, transparent by design
Odysseus Network is organized as a Type II supporting organization of Odysseus Foundation, which runs the campus communities, and Odysseus Lyceum, which writes and teaches the curriculum. The same board governs all three, the Network funds the other two through documented grants, and all three file public annual returns.
- Students are protected
Background checks and safeguarding training for everyone who serves in a house. Insurance is in place before the first event is ever held.
- You’re welcome to look
Financials are available on request, and donors are invited to visit, share a dinner, and see the work with their own eyes.
How it fits together
One family of charities
- Odysseus Network
- Raises and stewards the resources behind the work: the houses, the dinners, the retreats, the mentors, the teaching. It holds them for the long term, and it is organized as a Type II supporting organization of the two charities below.
- Odysseus Foundation
- Runs the campus communities: the houses near campus, the host families, the weekly table, and the retreats.
- Odysseus Lyceum
- Teaches live online classes to students ages 5 to 18, trains and pays the instructors, and writes the curriculum read around every Odysseus table.
The Network funds the Foundation and the Lyceum through documented grants, and all three file public annual returns.
You’re welcome to look
Financials are available on request. Sponsors and major donors are invited to visit the houses, share a dinner with students, and watch the mission at work. Few gifts anywhere offer this much to see, touch, and taste. We would rather you came and saw it than took our word for any of this.