Referred to as ‘crowdfunding’, this organization, Lucky Ant, allows people to pledge an amount of money to a business in their community.  So every week, there will be a new business featured, with a funding goal that they need to achieve in order to take on a new project, like transforming a useless backyard into a useable terrace for a bistro.  In return for their pledge, donors receive some sort of reward in ‘kind’, say a discount for a period of time, a free item with purchase, a plaque on the wall…

Perhaps it seems a little self-serving to say that I think that this is such an interesting and brilliant idea… but I do, and it is.  I have long been a supporter of micro-lending (like Kiva), and I have recently seen some more local examples of how small ‘donations’ from large volumes of people can make a huge difference in projects, like the donations collected by my friends for various Holiday projects, and also a friend who is producing a short film, called Life Doesn’t Frighten Me and through a simple online campaign, they got people to donate money to meet their budget goal.

As I said in my post about the Holiday donations, there is something really gratifying about ‘collective’ giving.  And the thing is, I realize that it is almost counter-intuitive to ask people to ‘donate’ money to a business, who’s goal it is (ostensibly, that is…) to make a profit.  But what I think this whole Lucky Ant shows is the true spirit of your small, local business.  It is about your customers and their families and their pets and your staff and their friends and your neighbours and your community.  It’s also about things like bad weather, and ridiculous city taxes, and unforeseen problems and the day-to-day that often does not allow for anything that is just a tiny bit outside of your tight budget.  And banks don’t LOVE small business.  They may say they do, but they really don’t.  So often, for small businesses, doing something new and innovative and possibly a tiny bit ‘risky’ is simply not realistic.  So… I don’t know… call me crazy, but this really seems like a cool idea.

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Cool Stuff, Tuesdays with Marnie by Marnie