Community-funded micro-grants

I first learned about this type of funding effort in the beginning of 2010 when a new monthly event was created in Detroit, called Detroit SOUP (www.detroitsoup.com). Every month, community members show up and pay a modest $5. In return, they are served a meal, during which people from the community pitch ideas for creative projects that would have a positive impact on the community. At the end of the dinner, after hearing all of the presentations, you cast a vote for which project you feel should get the funds. The project with the most votes walks out with all of the money raised during the evening, often between $600 and $900. It brings neighbors together, face-to-face, to talk about issues facing their community and how they can influence change. That in itself can have enormous social impact. Those ideas that resonate the most with people in the community, those likely to have the greatest social impact, get a needed financial boost that doesn’t need to be paid back. Soup events are now popping all over the place. (There’s even one in Pittsburgh! Check out www.sundaysoup.org to see the international network of these events.) Although not appropriate for many larger social ventures, I have been fascinated with this growing movement. Funding mechanisms like this can help small, community-based projects that just need a small infusion of capital to get started. It builds their credibility and can help demonstrate to other potential funding sources that they have the community’s support.

So, how can we improve this model? I think that collecting more follow up information could increase the benefit for the community. For example, tracking the progress of funded projects, measuring their social value to the community, and soliciting feedback from those who have been impacted by the project could help engage more people and make those funded more accountable to the community.