Dear Reader
In the last blog, you read about the plans for the bardominium. Just to remind you: we will reconstruct a barn on a dilapidated Michigan foundation, using ancient and current technology, and convert it into residential housing for the Permaculture Incubator Program trainees.
I had always assumed that I would pay for the bardominium out of my own pocket. But this week, I read an article in the NYT that has changed my thinking. In order to curb inflation, the Federal Reserve is raising interest rates.
What the Fed’s Rate Hike Means for Mortgages – The New York Times (nytimes.com)
I don’t want to be saddled with a big, high-interest mortgage. So now I and the CCPP brain trust are thinking about options. Those that we have considered so far include:
- Public donations – A Paypal link could be set up on the website for donations.
- Crowdfunding – Similar to donations but you may consider offering something in return for different amounts of funding.
- Fundraisers – Getting members of the board through their network and connections to raise funds for the project.
- Partnerships – Pitch to companies or industries to help you build the Barndomium. It could be a donation of materials or equipment loan etc. This would be their “corporate social responsibility”.
From the options listed above, the one toward which I am leaning is crowdfunding. It seems that a lot of people (perhaps myself included) are starting to experience climate anxiety and PRE-traumatic stress disorder.
How Climate Change Inflicts a Toll on Mental Health – The New York Times (nytimes.com)
The pitch would be: if you have anxiety about climate change and you want to do something, but don’t know what to do, give a small donation so that Russon Family Farms can construct residential housing for the Permaculture Incubator Programme.
It is recommended that crowdfunding campaigns offer an incentive for people who make donations. Instead of a t-shirt or a mug, my thinking is that, for donations that exceed a certain threshold, we would make a one-time purchase, in their name, of personal carbon offsets.
https://terrapass.com/product/personal-carbon-offset-grouped
The value proposition would be: you donate, say, US$500. We will use that money to build residential housing for a cadre of gender and ethnically diverse farmers who will be trained in regenerative agricultural techniques that will reverse climate change.
AND
We will make a one-time purchase of personal carbon offsets to neutralize your personal carbon footprint by funding carbon reductions.
Incentives are not the only thing that one needs to run a successful crowdfunding campaign. We also need to develop a network that will help us to launch the campaign.
Dear reader, I am appealing for your assistance. When we go live, a donation would be welcome. But more importantly, I request that you kindly consider joining our launch network. How can you do that?
Click on “Join the Fight”. You will be asked to provide your name and contact information. When the time comes we will contact you and ask you to disseminate information about the crowdfunding campaign to your personal networks.
I realize that in this day and age of privacy incursions many people, myself included, are wary of sharing personal information. I promise that we will not use your information for any other purpose, other than that which I have described above. Scout’s honour.
Thank you for your consideration and for anything that you can do to help us to save the planet.
