Frequently Asked Questions | Catylst

Question 1

What is Catylst?

Accepted Answer

Catylst is the transparent matching and diligence platform for faith-aligned donors, churches, foundations, and advisors who move DAF capital to ministries and nonprofits that fit their convictions. We match across ten dimensions, provide a diligence workspace, and prepare a compliant grant package for your custodian. (See how matching works: /how-it-works)

Question 2

Is Catylst a DAF custodian?

Accepted Answer

No. Catylst never custodies funds, never executes grants, and never holds any money. We prepare grant recommendation packages that you hand off to your DAF custodian (Fidelity Charitable, Schwab Charitable, National Christian Foundation, The Signatry, Vanguard Charitable, and others) for authorization and disbursement. (See the hand-off flow: /how-it-works)

Question 3

Is Catylst only for Christians?

Accepted Answer

No. Catylst is faith-aware but not faith-exclusive. Our launch focus is faith-aligned Christian giving, and our taxonomy names Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, Non-denominational, and Interdenominational traditions. The ten-dimension engine still works with faith disabled, so secular foundations use the same infrastructure without activating the faith dimension. (Read our about page: /about)

Question 4

How does matching work?

Accepted Answer

Every match cites the donor profile field and the organization profile field that produced it, reasoned across ten transparent dimensions: mission, faith alignment, cause, geography, grant size, funding type, outcome, population, trust verification, and urgency. There is no composite score and no paid placement. (Read the full methodology: /how-it-works)

Question 5

How much does Catylst cost?

Accepted Answer

Catylst offers seven tiers from a permanent Free plan through Enterprise. Individual donors pay $39-49 per month; Professional and Professional Plus advisor tiers start at $199 per month; Team, Foundation, and Enterprise tiers scale by seat and feature set. Organizations claiming a profile pay nothing. (See pricing in full: /pricing)

Question 6

How does Catylst protect my data?

Accepted Answer

Catylst enforces TLS 1.3 in transit and AES-256 at rest, with row-level security on every table and consent-gated access to GDPR Article 9 faith data. All access is logged to a hash-chained append-only audit table, and you can export or delete your data at any time. (Read our security posture: /security)

Question 7

Does Catylst sell placement?

Accepted Answer

No. Organizations cannot pay to appear higher in your match feed. Order is determined by your profile, the organization's profile, and the ten-dimension engine. Trust badges are earned through documented verification, never sold, and the same rule applies to every search and discovery surface on the platform. (See trust verification: /how-it-works)

Question 8

Is Catylst financial or tax advice?

Accepted Answer

No. Catylst is a recommendation preparation tool, not a financial, tax, or investment advisor. Please consult a qualified professional for personal financial guidance. Every grant package ships with a non-removable compliance disclaimer on every page so your custodian has the context they need. (Review our terms: /terms)

Question 9

Can I use my existing DAF custodian?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Catylst works with any DAF custodian, including Fidelity Charitable, Schwab Charitable, National Christian Foundation, The Signatry, Vanguard Charitable, and the major community foundations. You hand your custodian a compliant recommendation package and they execute the grant on their own rails. (See the donor experience: /for/donors)

Question 10

Is faith alignment required to use Catylst?

Accepted Answer

No. Every faith field is optional and skipping any layer has zero penalty to match quality. “Prefer not to specify” is always the first option, and if you do opt in, your faith data is classified as GDPR Article 9 special-category with accelerated deletion on withdrawal. (Read the faith-data posture: /privacy)

Question 11

Who can see my donor profile?

Accepted Answer

No one outside the people you explicitly invite. Your profile is private by default. Organizations never see your contact details unless you open a deal room and invite them in, and your faith data is hidden from organizations until you authorize a specific grant package. (Review our privacy policy: /privacy)

Question 12

Will matches be worse if I do not share my faith?

Accepted Answer

No. The ten-dimension engine runs on the other nine dimensions when faith is blank, and the explanations we show will tell you so directly. You trade a single alignment signal for the remaining nine, which is still plenty of signal for a high-quality match feed. (See the ten dimensions: /how-it-works)

Question 13

Is there a minimum DAF balance to use Catylst?

Accepted Answer

No. Catylst has no minimum DAF balance, no minimum grant size, and no asset-based fees. Your DAF custodian may have its own minimum grant threshold (often $50-250), but that is between you and your custodian. Catylst charges flat, transparent subscription pricing only. (See pricing in full: /pricing)

Question 14

Does Catylst affect my tax deduction?

Accepted Answer

No. The charitable deduction is triggered by your contribution to the DAF, not by how you recommend grants from it. Catylst never touches the tax pathway. We prepare recommendations; your DAF custodian executes grants and issues any tax confirmations on its own standard timeline. (Review our terms: /terms)

Question 15

How long does a grant package take to prepare?

Accepted Answer

A simple grant can move from match to custodian-ready PDF in under an hour. A full diligence cycle with a deal room, AI-assisted document review, and a shared committee typically runs one to three weeks, depending on the organization's responsiveness and the depth of review you want to run. (Walk a sample deal room: /how-it-works)

Question 16

What does Catylst cost for individual donors?

Accepted Answer

The Free tier is permanent, includes unlimited profile matching, and never asks for a credit card. The Individual tier adds three concurrent deal rooms and unlimited grant packages at $39-49 per month. There is a 30-day money-back commitment on every paid plan. (See pricing in full: /pricing)

Question 17

Does Catylst favor a denomination?

Accepted Answer

No. Our taxonomy names Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, Non-denominational, and Interdenominational traditions without ranking them, and we never score doctrine. Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox congregations get the same matching rigor, the same badges, and the same deal-room experience with no hidden preferences. (Read our faith posture: /about)

Question 18

Does Catylst support congregation-level giving?

Accepted Answer

Yes. A missions committee opens a shared deal room, invites elders and staff with role-based access, runs diligence collaboratively, and hands the final package to whichever DAF or church account authorizes the grant. Individual members can also keep their own donor profiles separate from the committee workspace. (See the church experience: /for/churches)

Question 19

Can pastors keep pastoral notes private?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Deal rooms support private notes visible only to specific roles. Pastors, elders, and staff can share diligence findings with the broader committee while keeping sensitive pastoral context (e.g. relationships with a grantee's leadership) to a smaller circle with an audit trail for every access. (Review our privacy policy: /privacy)

Question 20

Does Catylst support ministry approval workflows?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Deal rooms include a ten-stage workflow stepper and role-based permissions (Owner, Contributor, Viewer) so your committee can formalize a multi-step approval process. Every transition is logged to an append-only audit table so the history of every grant decision is preserved. (Walk a sample deal room: /how-it-works)

Question 21

Can a small church afford Catylst?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The Free tier is permanent, supports unlimited profile matching, and never asks for a credit card. Small churches with committee-led missions can run diligence on the Individual tier at $39-49 per month, and we offer a team plan if you need more than three concurrent deal rooms. (See pricing in full: /pricing)

Question 22

Can my whole missions committee share one workspace?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Team and Foundation tiers include shared seats so every committee member logs in with their own credentials, owns their own notes, and sees the same deal rooms without sharing a password. Role-based access keeps contributors, viewers, and owners correctly scoped throughout the workflow. (See team pricing: /pricing)

Question 23

How does organization verification work?

Accepted Answer

Verification is a documented checklist across seven badges: financial transparency, board governance, impact measurement, audit history, operational transparency, data practices, and reference checks. You upload evidence, our team reviews it, and the badge is awarded. Each badge has published criteria and never expires without review. (See the verification criteria: /how-it-works)

Question 24

What documents do I need to claim a profile?

Accepted Answer

At minimum: your EIN confirmation letter, most recent 990 filing, and a current board roster. Additional documentation (audited financials, impact reports, program evaluations) unlocks higher-tier trust badges. You upload everything once and reuse it across every deal room that requests it. (See the organization flow: /for/organizations)

Question 25

Is claiming an organization profile free?

Accepted Answer

Yes, always. There is no tier that gates your profile visibility, your trust badges, your engagement dashboard, or your deal room participation. Optional paid add-ons exist for larger organizations that want advanced analytics, but they never affect your match ranking or discoverability. (See the organization experience: /for/organizations)

Question 26

How will donors find my organization?

Accepted Answer

Donors discover you through the ten-dimension match engine based on alignment with their profile, not a leaderboard. When your profile is complete and verified, you appear in the match feeds of donors whose mission, cause, geography, and giving preferences align with your work. No paid placement exists. (See how matching works: /how-it-works)

Question 27

Is Catylst SOC 2 certified?

Accepted Answer

Catylst is pursuing SOC 2 Type II certification. Our current security posture, control catalog, RLS model, audit logging, and the timeline for SOC 2 completion are documented publicly. Advisors reviewing us during security questionnaires can download the current posture snapshot from the security page. (Read the security posture: /security)

Question 28

How does Catylst isolate advisor clients?

Accepted Answer

Row-level security enforces strict isolation across every client relationship. No client can see another client's deal rooms, notes, or profile; no advisor can see clients they are not assigned to. Every access check is verified at the database layer, not the application layer, so bypass bugs cannot cross tenants. (See the advisor architecture: /for/advisors)

Question 29

Can advisors white-label Catylst?

Accepted Answer

Yes, on the Professional Plus tier and above. Your firm's name and logo replace Catylst branding on grant package covers and client-portal views. The non-removable compliance footer remains on every page of every grant package so your custodian still sees the disclaimer it needs. (See advisor pricing: /pricing)

Question 30

What does Catylst cost for advisory firms?

Accepted Answer

Professional starts at $199 per month for solo advisors; Professional Plus is $399 per month and adds white-labeling and the client portal. The Team tier (five seats) runs $399 per month, and the Foundation tier (ten seats) scales to $799-1499 per month. Enterprise agreements start at $30K per year. (See advisor pricing: /pricing)

Question 31

Does Catylst help with regulatory compliance?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Every grant package ships with a non-removable compliance footer, a full audit log of diligence steps, and a cited match explanation. Catylst itself does not provide legal or tax advice, but the documentation it produces is structured to satisfy the recordkeeping requirements most fiduciaries need. (Review our terms: /terms)

Question 32

Is it easy to onboard existing advisory clients?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Clients log in through Google Workspace SSO or an email magic link and see a read-only view of the deal rooms you share with them. They cannot see your other clients, your firm's internal notes, or any data you have not explicitly scoped to their relationship. (See the advisor experience: /for/advisors)

Question 33

Is there a client-facing portal?

Accepted Answer

Yes, on the Professional Plus tier and above. Clients access a firm-branded portal with read-only views of the recommendations you prepare for them, the match explanations, and the final grant package. You retain full control over what is visible and when it is shared. (See advisor pricing: /pricing)

Question 34

Does Catylst support multi-seat foundation teams?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The Foundation tier includes ten seats with role-based access across program officers, program directors, and the board. Enterprise agreements scale to unlimited seats with custom role definitions. Every team member logs in with their own credentials and has an individual audit trail. (See foundation pricing: /pricing)

Question 35

Can foundations customize workflow stages?

Accepted Answer

Yes, on the Enterprise tier. The standard ten-stage deal-room workflow suits most foundations out of the box. Enterprise agreements include custom workflow definitions, custom role permissions, and custom approval routing so your committee process is reflected exactly as it operates today. (See the foundation experience: /for/foundations)

Question 36

Does Catylst produce board-ready reporting?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Foundation and Enterprise tiers include portfolio-level reporting, six and twelve-month outcome tracking, and exportable board packets. Reports aggregate across every grant made through Catylst and include the cited match explanations and trust badge states at the time of each recommendation. (See the foundation experience: /for/foundations)

Question 37

What does Enterprise cost for foundations?

Accepted Answer

Enterprise agreements start at $30K per year and include custom seats, custom workflows, custom integrations, a dedicated success manager, and a service-level agreement on response time. Pricing scales with seat count, integration complexity, and the support tier you need. (See foundation pricing: /pricing)

Question 38

Can Catylst integrate with our grant management software?

Accepted Answer

Yes, on the Enterprise tier through custom integrations. Common integrations include Salesforce, Blackbaud, Foundant, Fluxx, and internal accounting systems. We also support SAML-based single sign-on, SCIM-provisioned seats, and webhook-driven exports on the Enterprise tier. (See the foundation experience: /for/foundations)

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