Community Way

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= Community way is a fund raising program that connects business, community groups,and people within a community.

URL = http://www.communityway.org/ ; http://openmoney.org/cw/index.html

Description

1.

"Community way is a new tool for locally based fund-raising and economic development. Donations in community way dollars (cw$) connect non-profits and businesses in a mutually beneficial support cycle.

Any individual or group can readily initiate this fund-raising program, which is designed to recover all start-up costs. It will work best when many local businesses and organizations participate, but it can also finance a single project or cause.

good for business, good for community

For business, this is a simple and cash-free way to increase sales, strengthen the local economy, and secure customer recognition and loyalty. Since the cw$ are as good as cash at participating businesses, people can help without losing purchasing power, and by shopping locally, they vote for the community they want. http://openmoney.org/cw/

Beyond the immediate benefits, community way is the recommended strategy for initiating community currencies and open money systems in urban settings."


2. Dave Pollard:

"Another method, called The Community Way by its inventor, Vancouver Islander and LETS system founder Michael Linton, is created when businesses in a community (like Vancouver) ‘donate’ the community currency into existence, issuing the local currency to non-profits who then sell (exchange) it to citizens in return for fiat currency. The citizens can then use the community currency in the issuing local businesses to acquire local goods and services. It serves the purpose of keeping the flow of economic value within the community, but it is often a challenge convincing local businesses to accept it, and overcoming fears that, without a bank or other wealthy authority standing ready to redeem it for ‘real’ currency, it may suddenly lose its value and leave the holders ‘holding the bag’. So it’s essentially a process of persuading the community to trust each other, which in today’s cynical society can be quite difficult." (http://howtosavetheworld.ca/2013/08/09/enough-to-go-around-the-case-for-community-currency/)

More Information

A community way trial project using smart cards in the Comox Valley was successfully completed in 2001 - please email/skype for details.

  1. [email protected] / mwlinton
  2. [email protected] / ernieyacub
  3. or call +1 250 338 6873
  4. The Open Money Blogtalk Radio has podcast presentations on the project

See also

Community Prosper - a project to launch a Community Way system in Portland, Oregon.