The Dancing Tides Foundation is a family foundation started by Pete Muller, who has used his math and finance skills to make money in the financial markets. Pete still has fun making money, but he also enjoys giving it away wisely.

In addition to his financial pursuits, Pete enjoys surfing, snowboarding, whitewater kayaking, mountain biking, poker, and creating crossword puzzles. He is also a singer/songwriter with two self-released albums. His interests and philosophy form the basis of our giving.

Things we believe in:

1. Capitalism works almost all the time in allocating scarce resources. It breaks down when the true societal cost of certain actions (polluting, not educating our young well) are not realized. The function of government is to make sure those true prices are reflected, for example, by taxing noxious emissions, regulating development, or creating parkland.

2. Non-profits need to be run efficiently and held accountable for results.  We don’t like charities that spend significant amounts on publicity or direct mail.

3. We avoid partisan politics and most politicians whenever possible.


The Dancing Tides Foundation focuses its giving in the following areas:

1. Health and Human Services
The Robin Hood Foundation does an excellent job of this in New York City, allocating to over 100 charities and monitoring their effectiveness. Almost all of the Foundation’s giving in this area is done through Robin Hood.

2. The Environment
We are passionate outdoor recreationalists who are motivated to protect the environment we live and play in. Kayakers can help save rivers. Surfers can help clean up the ocean. Hikers and mountain bikers can help preserve parkland. We want to preserve beautiful places and encourage others to enjoy them in a sustainable way.  The Trust For Public Land has the right idea.  Our Mission statement:

3. Education
In order to get better teachers, we need to pay them more, especially in competitive fields like math and science. Math for America is an example. Well run charter schools are another example. Educated people (usually) make better decisions for our future.

4. Music
Music is a great source of happiness and well being to performers and audiences. Governments in other parts of the world spend a great deal of money subsidizing musicians. We should do more in the US. In the absence of government funding, individuals should do more. We are most interested in helping ease some of the financial burdens that developing musicians face in pursuing their craft, and helping make sure music is taught well at early levels of schooling.


At the present we are not accepting unsolicited requests for grants.