You have the power to support locally-owned businesses in need. Help your community rebuild in the wake of COVID-19 by contributing to a campaign below.
Vital Communities is a nonprofit organization that cultivates the civic, environmental, and economic vitality of the Upper Valley.
We leverage the power of crowdfunding to cultivate a stronger ecosystem of investors, service providers and local economy champions in the Monadnock Region.
Imagine a world of Tenderness, Lovingkindness and Care. Imagine how we can express that vision by caring for everyone in our community. Imagine how we can ensure this ethic of caring continues beyond these uncertain and chaotic times. The archeologist tells us that culture is made up of the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves. Now is the time to imagine and embody a new story together—a story of caring.
The purpose of TLC 4WARD is to help rural communities recover more quickly and more completely from this crisis. The initiative is based on TLC’s recent SBIR research, funded in part by the National Science Foundation. The research concluded that the TLC crowdfunding platform is an effective tool for stimulating financial and social capital in the communities that use it.
In response to the economic crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic, TLC developed 4WARD—a crowdfunding-based initiative that can be rapidly deployed in communities to support recovery. 4WARD enables residents to contribute to local businesses and organizations through online transactions. It is also a repository for important information and resources for rebuilding.
By Michael H. Shuman
Local businesses are the key to community prosperity. In normal times, community initiatives that support and stimulate these businesses are the essence of successful economic development. In the COVID-19 era, when literally millions of local businesses are in danger of bankruptcy, such initiatives are essential for rapid community recovery. This paper summarizes the case for these initiatives and suggests some of the forms they are now taking. Perhaps their biggest virtue is that they facilitate a culture of local purchasing and local investing that can significantly boost a COVID-challenged economy.
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