What I’d like to see too is more €6,000-ish grant schemes like the level 1 awards made by Social Entrepreneurs Ireland each year. I was one recipient of such a grant last year and it gave me the opportunity to invest a lot of time getting my project off the ground.
Keith Kennedy is after announcing on Twitter that he is to receive a level 1 award through this year’s scheme. And I know that’s going to make a big difference to him in terms of the commitment he can give to his project idea.
In some ways there’s not a lot you can do with €6k but in other ways there is. As many other alumni of Social Entrepreneurs Ireland have proven over the last few years. And access to the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland network alone is invaluable.
I often wonder why us Tuesday-pushers don’t create a similar but crowdsourced grant scheme using Pledgebank or other crowdfunding service to fund (non-social) business ideas IQ-prize style by the group of people donating to the fund… and I do mean donating.
We could then provide advice / feedback / mentorship on an on-going basis in the same way Social Entrepreneurs Ireland do, through an on-line forum / network / twitter. I for one would be happily pledge €60 to such a fund as I’m sure would 100 others canvassed through Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and so on. In fact I’d be happy to make such a donation every couple of months. Anyone want to help make it happen?
11 Jun 13:53
Count me in, it's a good idea.
On a related note I see Kiva.org are now offering micro-loans to US citizens. So not just for 3rd world people. Lending money to friends/co-workers is a stressful process but Kiva could provide the social lube that makes it acceptable and workable.
(I think you are right though that the initial idea is a donation, not a loan.)
11 Jun 16:25
Ya, @conoro noted on Twitter that the day after I posted my big bright idea Kiva got major exposure on TechCrunch. But as you note Paul, the key difference here is *donation*, not lending.
There are a number of services out there like Pledgebank which also hold the donated amount in escrow and only release it when the target amount has been achieved. So the donators could rest easy in the knowledge that their donation could only be 'cahsed-in' when a target is reached.