PUREFUND
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PUREFUND is a mechanism to crowd-source the funding of PUREPROJECTS, which are projects that use creativity and innovation to support a more sustainable future (please see PURESTANDARDS for more details). Micro-funding is rapidly proving to be one of the most powerful mechanisms for supporting and catalyzing great ideas and initiatives. Why? 1. Micro-funding rapidly expands the ability for large numbers of people to support a project. 2. By expanding a projects support base, the projects support can grow exponentially through a decentralized network of project evangelists. 3. Micro-funding is a more secure funding model because the loss of one funding source has a smaller effect on the stability of the project. 4. Small contributions are often much easier to attract. 5. Technology provides us w/ the tools to leverage social networks to read large numbers of people in a very short period of time. Inspiration for PUREFUND has come from many sources, namely: 1. Kiva (http://www.kiva.org/) -loans that change lives -Kiva has made over $100 million in micro-loans in 4 years, changing millions of lives and raising thousands out of poverty. 2. Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/) -a new way to fund ideas and endeavors -Launched in 2008 and focusing on the creative community, Kickstarter has supported hundreds of successfully funded creative ventures. 3. Charity:Water (http://www.charitywater.org/) -bringing clean & save drinking water to people in need -Leveraging the power of networks and social media, Charity:Water has funded over 1200 water projects globally. They are masterful and communicating their message and showing the results of their work. 4. Slow Money Alliance (http://www.slowmoneyalliance.org/) -a grassroots, non-profit seed fund supporting small, local, and sustainable food enterprises. -While just getting started in 2008, this is now being touted as the 'Slow Money Movement' from the likes of NY Times. 5. Ideablob (http://www.ideablob.com/) -a open & publicly voted upon competition for entrepreneurs that offers $10k prize. -Over 40% of ideas fall in the social innovation space and offers powerful platform to offer advice on projects. 6. Obama Campaign (http://www.barackobama.com/) - Obama's will is largely due to massive grassroots support, leveraging millions in small micro-donations. These 6 powerful projects and a handful of others demonstrate the tremendous power and success of concepts like micro-funding, crowd-sourcing, and social media. Our goal is to integrate these concepts and lessons from others that have come before us to create a powerful tool and platform to fund, support and catalyze a world of PUREPROJECTS. The PUREFUND platform will offer 3 primary means to activate PUREPROJECTS: loans, pledges, and barter. Every project has a different set of needs and cercumstances. Some projects are looking to raise donation money for their own competition and for this need, the pledge mechanism is ideal. Others may be looking to begin a for-profit social venture, and for these the loan mechanism is likely the best match. Yet for some projects, such as a non-profit ice cream shop to fund at-risk-youth programs, they may need legal advice or an accountant. By using the barter mechanism they can offer 'ice cream for a year' in exchange for these needed services. In addition to these 3 key features, project supporters will be able to offer comments and advice on individual projects. Projects will be wigitized so they can be shared across other websites. One key aspect to the platform will be that all projects must set clear funding amounts and deadlines. This will not only encourage project originators to powerfully promote their PUREFUND campaign, but also lend credibility to the viability of the project to be fully activated. |
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