Chair / Founder
Jacob Thomas Raab
Interested seat — recusal rules apply
Signs every filing and approves every payment personally. Does not vote on his own compensation or on any matter where he has a personal interest.
Governance & transparency
Read how we are governed before we ever ask you for a dollar.
How the DBATR board is structured, how conflicts of interest are handled, which gifts we accept or decline, and what we publish — posted before any charitable solicitation. Nobody seeking help is ever charged, and no gift changes who gets served.
Policy set: Draft 1.0 — Adopted in draft — August 2026
Board structure
At least three seats, with a majority independent — not employed by the organization and not related to anyone who is. Every seat is unpaid. The board meets at least four times a year and minutes are written and kept permanently. No automated system holds a seat, a vote, or an ownership interest.
Independent seat 1
Open — recruiting
Independent seat
Reserved for someone with lived recovery experience. Unpaid, like every seat.
Independent seat 2
Open — recruiting
Independent seat
Reserved for finance or audit experience. Receives whistleblower reports.
Independent seat 3
Open — recruiting
Independent seat
Reserved for clinical or legal experience. Chairs conflict reviews.
Before any charitable solicitation: 4 steps left
We do not solicit charitable gifts until every line below is true and checkable. Until then, the work is funded by earned revenue streams, and the free services stay free.
- Governance policies written and published in plain language — complete
- Gift acceptance rules published, including the gifts we decline — complete
- Public reporting policy and records-request address published — complete
- Human-signature and human-approval gates written into the documents — complete
- Formation documents filed and accepted — not yet complete
- Independent majority seated and first board minutes recorded — not yet complete
- Separate charitable bookkeeping and bank account opened — not yet complete
- Charitable registration in place where required — not yet complete
The three policies, in short
Board Governance & Conflict-of-Interest Policy
How the board is formed, how it votes, and what happens the moment a board member has a personal interest in a decision.
- The board: The board is made up of at least three people, and a majority of them are independent — meaning they are not employed by the organization and are not related to anyone who is. Board seats are unpaid.
- What counts as a conflict: A conflict of interest is any situation where a board member, an officer, a staff member, or one of their family members could personally gain from a decision of the organization.
- Disclosure and recusal: Everyone covered by this policy signs an annual disclosure statement. Conflicts that come up between statements are disclosed immediately and in writing.
- Related-party transactions: A transaction with an interested party may proceed only when the board finds it fair to the organization, documents an alternative that was considered, and approves it without the interested party voting.
Gift Acceptance Policy
What we will accept, what we decline, and the promise that no gift ever buys influence over who we serve.
- Standing commitments: We do not charge a person seeking help. We do not solicit charitable gifts until incorporation, the board, these policies, separate bookkeeping, and public reporting are all in place and verifiable.
- Gifts we accept: Once solicitation begins, the following are accepted without special review:
- Gifts that require board review: These are accepted only after board review, because they carry cost, risk, or restriction:
- Gifts we decline: We say no, plainly and without hard feelings, to:
Public Reporting & Transparency Policy
What we publish, how often, and how anyone can ask for a record — including the mistakes.
- What we publish: On a public page, kept current:
- Schedule: Program and assistance numbers are refreshed at least quarterly. Financial summaries are published annually within 30 days of board approval. Policy changes are posted within 10 days of adoption, with the prior version kept available.
- Privacy comes first: We report totals, never identities. No names, photos, addresses, diagnoses, or case details of the people we serve appear in public reporting. Nothing is published that could identify a family, and no family is ever shown on their worst day.
- Records requests: Anyone may request a governing document, a policy, or a published financial summary by email. We respond within 10 business days at no charge. If we cannot release something, we say why.
Nonprofit policies (PDF)
These are the written policies we are building the nonprofit side on. They are published in draft so anyone can read them before we ever accept a charitable gift. Download, print, or hand them to a lawyer and tell us what we got wrong.
Draft 1.0 · Adopted in draft — August 2026
Board Governance & Conflict-of-Interest Policy
How the board is formed, how it votes, and what happens the moment a board member has a personal interest in a decision.
Gift Acceptance Policy
What we will accept, what we decline, and the promise that no gift ever buys influence over who we serve.
Public Reporting & Transparency Policy
What we publish, how often, and how anyone can ask for a record — including the mistakes.
Want all three in one file? The complete packet is what we hand to a prospective board member, a sponsor, or anyone who asks how the money is governed.
Ask for a record
Request any governing document, policy, or published financial summary at Money@dbatr.com. We answer within 10 business days, free. If something cannot be released, we say why. Reports of a concern can be made anonymously and go to an independent board member.
Where the money comes from
See how we are funded and the full policy texts