Loomio
Tue 26 Jul 2022 3:03PM

The ‘crowd-fund the future’ project

OS Oli SB Public Seen by 160

This is an idea for a collective experiment: Could we crowd-fund and collectively invest in a regenerative future?

We could start small, with an initial target of say £5k, or £10k, and encourage people to chip in to a pot on Open Collective which, when we reach the target, we will collectively decide how to invest. The purpose being to help kick start a / some worthwhile project/s which need funds to help bring them to scale. The winning project, or organisation, would have to be aligned with / working towards The Open Co-op vision of a collaborative, regenerative economy in some way ... and anyone who chips in to the pot (which would be clearly detailed on Open Collective, as long as they don't contribute anonymously) could make a proposal for how to invest the funds. We could allow a certain time for proposals and debate, (say 1 or 2 months) and then decide here on Loomio with a vote. If it worked well we could iterate and run the whole experiment again, possibly crowd-funding a bigger fund which could have more impact... £10k first time, £50k next time, £100k next... and see what happens. At the very least it would be a fascinating experiment in crowd-funding and collective decision making! ;) If we don't try some new ideas to manifest change it seems like our children will be living in a much less hospitable world than we inherited... so, what have we got to lose by trying?

What do you think?

G

Graham Fri 29 Jul 2022 10:49AM

For those that don't know it, Platform 6 Development Cooperative was set up with a very similar approach in mind - at least in part. The focus was/is about funding cooperative development in particular, and we've recently agreed our first significant project, which is about the creation of an online version of an effective diagnostic tool used by people working in cooperative development. That tool will go live this year, and the development cost, relatively modest as it is, was funded primarily through membership fees of the Platform 6 cooperative. The model is very simple and follows what's already been outlined here in large part, with the difference being that people make a modest regular contribution to the fund simply by being a paid up member of the cooperative (this is how the Solidfund scheme works). Anyone can pitch an idea or potential project to be funded, and the members collectively decide which projects they want to support, and to what level. I think all of the infrastructure to support this process is already in place.

We have an open Loomio community that everyone can join free of charge. Within this there is a subgroup for members only. And you can sign up to be a member on our website at https://platform6.coop which also contains other useful information, links and resources. Personally I'm a fan of trying to integrate and synergise projects and initiatives where it makes sense to do so, rather than reinvent wheels and dissipate energy.

Platform 6 also acts as a fiscal host on Open Collective where we support multiple cooperative projects.

BS

Billy Smith Sat 30 Jul 2022 11:37AM

This is true in the UK as well.

When i was running a Limited Company, there was a LOT of resources/funding available.

The same resources can be available to co-operatives, if you approach it properly. :D

YK

Yasuaki Kudo Fri 29 Jul 2022 10:15AM

Sorry I have been so busy hard to catch up - another one I learned just recently is, as we are starting a worker coop in Japan, I started to participate in Chamber of Commerce events, etc. Oh man do they have money and subsidies!

When we walk into these scenes as worker cooperatives, as part owners and managers, we will automatically get what has been held from the working people!

'Capitalism' is an illusion only for the workers - the owner class live off the State subsidies and gravy trains 😄

I

Ivana Sat 30 Jul 2022 11:38AM

Thank you for the link @Billy Smith

BS

Billy Smith Sat 30 Jul 2022 11:09AM

This also fits in with the Sensorica approach towards designing Open-Source HardWare. :D

https://www.sensorica.co/ventures

I

Ivana Fri 29 Jul 2022 9:23AM

OK, about crowdfunding the future - inspired by the gitcoin bounty story that worked out for Murmurations... What about finding a way to propose small tasks, doable by one or two people in a few days, or a couple of weeks and funding those from the Fund for the Future (if that is what we want to call it)? That approach would require smaller amounts to be paid out at a time and it would make it easier to keep track of - are they done? not done? Why? I think it might also provide more opportunities to learn, more experimenting etc... and allow more people to start something rather than only supporting those who already exist and are up and running?

That would also marry nicely with the needs and offers project... which is a separate think to think through.

BS

Billy Smith Sat 30 Jul 2022 11:18AM

When it comes to hardware and workshop spaces, there are a few examples that spring to mind.

So around £5K - £10K is not an unreasonable amount to gather. :D

I

Ivana Fri 29 Jul 2022 9:17AM

OK, I looked through it a bit and tried to understand what could be done with it - ie what would be the user stories or a possible business case? Because people need to make living somehow, so if they are suppoed to be doing something there has to be a way to make at least some modest living from it. The need for marrying the needs and offers does exist (I think that is safe to say) - there are a lot of people out there thinking - but what can I do? And I think at least some of them mean -how can I help, rather than just put your plastics in the yellow container and the paper in the blue one and switch the light off when not in the room. Anyway... will start new thread for that.

I

Ivana Thu 28 Jul 2022 2:17PM

It does, thank you. Will take some time to digest.

OS

Oli SB Thu 28 Jul 2022 1:59PM

Yes, there's quite a lot more! You're right, it helps people map, or list any kind of entity, using decentralized, interoperable 'profiles' (meaning, these profiles can be hosted anywhere, not just on one site, or server) and these profiles can feed data into multiple maps or directories... thereby creating a many-to-many relationship between profiles and maps (or, more accurately 'aggregators' since Murmurations is not just geographical data). E.g. for the 'offers' and 'needs' data which Matt mentions, we're developing an 'Offers and Needs' schema, which would enable the aggregation of offers and needs data within AND between communities... see the "Decent E-bay / Offers and Wants" example here... I hope that helps explain it a bit more!?

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