Crowdfunding for social good

The Social Venture  Network has launched a campaign to fund scholarships and support services to women and minority social entrepreneurs on  Indiegogo, one of the world’ s largest crowdfunding  platforms.

The campaign,  called “Triple the triple bottom line” ,  works to level the playing field for women entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs of color, who often don't have access to the connections and resources to help their social enterprises thrive and grow.

Supporting these women and minorities  makes good business sense. Today, women are starting businesses at twice the rate that men are. In the last decade, the number of women-owned firms has grown by 28.6%, compared to a 24.4% increase for all U.S. businesses. The Social Venture  Network also  found that on average  women-led social enterprises generate  15 percent more revenue than male-led start-ups, but  they are 40 percent less likely to be funded.  Similarly, minority-led firms are 35 percent less likely to receive venture capital financing than non-minority business owners. 

The goal of the campaign is to raise $25,000 but as a “flexible funding” campaign, all funds will go to SVN even if it doesn’t reach its target.  So far $11,000 has been raised with 24 days  left before the end of the campaign.