Founding Business Alliance
Fifty Whatcom County businesses funding land that stays affordable — permanently.
Whatcom County 2026–2030 Five-Year Homeless Housing Plan · Whatcom County Health & Community Services · Sources available on request
The county is doing well and building too little.
Whatcom County needs 4,998 more affordable homes by 2030 and has roughly 2,700 federally subsidized units today. Local organizations asked for about $27 million in housing funding for 2027. Around $14 million is available — some 20 percent below 2026.
median household income
median home sale price
of renters pay 30%+ of income
The need is documented and rising. The public funding behind it is contracting. That gap is where private support does work that nothing else can.
Land bought once, held for good.
A community land trust acquires land, holds it permanently, and ground-leases it to the people who build and operate housing on top. Land is the fastest-appreciating part of housing cost. Taking it out of the market permanently is what makes affordability durable instead of temporary.
Acquire
Alliance membership is the equity that unlocks 1% deferred state land loans.
Hold
The land is never resold. It leaves the speculative market permanently.
Lease
A 99-year ground lease to a housing operator, with covenants the trust enforces.
We will show you the arithmetic.
Modelled, not forecast. Assumes the full fifty-sponsor cohort.
gross at full enrollment
net of film production
a year to the Land Acquisition Fund
into permanent community ownership each year
That is a modest number, and it is more land than the Foundation holds today. The first parcel is the ground beneath a Whatcom County home — a deed, inside the first cycle.
$500 to $5,000 a year
Every member is equally part of the founding cohort. What changes between levels is what we can show.
| Community$500 | Impact$1,000 | Leadership$2,500 | Founding$5,000+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Professionally produced film shot at your business, licensed back to you |
— | 30 seconds |
90 seconds |
3 minutes |
| Interviews included | — | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Permanent member number | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Certificate and window decal | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Recognition on our website | Group | Individual | Individual | Featured |
| Social media recognition | Group post | Individual post | Individual post | Individual post |
| Newsletter feature and plaque | — | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Annual meeting with Foundation leadership | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Annual acknowledgment for tax purposes | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Anonymous membership is available at every level. Memberships are unrestricted charitable contributions to a 501(c)(3).
A film about your business, and why you did this.
Every membership above $500 includes a professionally produced short film, shot on location at your business by a videographer. We publish it on our channels — and we license it back to you to use however you like.
- Shot at your premises, on your schedule
- Your people on camera, in their own words
- Published by the Foundation and licensed to you
- Yours for your website, socials, and recruiting
This is also a business problem.
When the people who staff a county cannot afford to live in it, employers carry the cost — in vacancies, in commute attrition, in turnover, and in candidates who accept an offer and then cannot find somewhere to live.
Affording a median-priced home here now takes a household income around $180,591, against a Bellingham median near $66,755. That gap is structural, not cyclical. It reaches teachers, nurses, first responders, trades — and the people your own business is trying to hire.
There is also a practical reason this programme asks businesses rather than anyone else. Business money is unrestricted, and unrestricted money is the only kind that can hold a parcel of land before there is a project on it.
of people counted as homeless in Whatcom County last held a permanent address here.
These are not people who arrived for services. They are this community’s own residents, who lost housing in it — and in many cases, people who worked here while doing so.
What your support builds, and when.
We publish the timeline rather than implying a faster one.
Forming the land trust. Enrolling the founding cohort.
Charter cohort closes. Membership will not reopen.
First parcels acquired and placed permanently in trust.
Ground leases to operators. Housing built on land that cannot be resold.
Fifty places. One county.
registered nonprofit
federally recognized
governed by resolution
governance documents published
How it works
- Get in touch — use the form, or call. No commitment.
- Take a meeting — thirty minutes, at your business or ours.
- Choose your level — and whether you want the film.
- Confirm — complete your contribution, receive your acknowledgment.
- Recognition begins — member number, certificate, decal, and the film shoot scheduled.
Fifty businesses. Closing April 2027.
The founding cohort will not reopen. Your organization can be one of the fifty.
Want to think about it?
Take the brief away and read it properly. We are glad to answer questions with no expectation attached.