Wishing banks supported your social business? Today, that wish has come true for Australian social entrepreneurs.
Crowdfunding platform StartSomeGood has partnered with ING DIRECT to launch ‘Dreamstarter’, which helps entrepreneurs raise additional funds for their projects, provided by ING DIRECT.
Once a month, a Dreamstarter panel made up of representatives from StartSomeGood, ING DIRECT, and the School for Social Entrepreneurs will select projects on the StartSomeGood platform to fund if they reach a “tipping point”, which is the minimum funding needed for a project to kick off.
Tom Dawkins, cofounder of StartSomeGood, said that the partnership breaks new ground in the corporate social responsibility area.
“Crowdfunding is a participatory model that democratises corporate philanthropy. The projects that will succeed are those that have a genuine mandate from the community,” said Dawkins.
StartSomeGood launched last year to provide people with social change projects the opportunity to raise funds using crowdfunding.
For ING DIRECT, who is a pioneer in branchless banking and focuses on online delivery, it is an opportunity to tap into the crowdfunding model.
“At ING DIRECT we strongly support innovative projects that address real community needs,” said Vaughn Richtor, CEO of ING DIRECT. “Leveraging ING DIRECT’s customers, employees and the general public’s support benefits all involved.”
To begin, ten social ventures by graduates from the School for Social Entrepreneurs Australia will launch on Dreamstarter. The first businesses to go live include a project that connects remote Aboriginal entrepreneurs to new markets via an online store and one that helps rural communities in Malawi achieve greater self-sufficiency.
“The Dreamstarter Campaign is a fantastic way for start up social ventures to raise their profile, attract critical seed funding and inspire others to create change in their communities,” said Celia Hodson, CEO of the School for Social Entrepreneurs Australia.