Small Change News Linkage

Here are some things I’ve been wanting to write into the Small Change News record for some time. You will recall that Small Change was about market-type exchanges of information (stories) and resources (including funding), between “little individuals,” toward positive impact. So these are interesting new markets and new kinds of giving and sharing:

Prosper.com – A market for small-scale loans. Think eBay for money. People post stories, have reputation scores (credit ratings), and others can loan money and make interest. The future of banking?

Kiva.org – Another micro-lending site, this one for small business entrepreneurs in developing countries. As far as I can tell, these are no-interest loans, so the interest we give up by lending here is another form of charitable giving.

GrassCommons.org – is publishing information that helps consumers make ordinary purchasing decisions in line with their values and the common good. we become what we buy. spend smart!

GoodNewsNetwork.org – Geri Weis-Corbley calls GNN “news that reflects our values”. This comes pretty close to the original vision for sCNN. Lots of little individuals out there doing good things.

Pledgebank.com has been mentioned here before, but is another one that fits with these and is very much in line with the sCNN vision. Needs can be posted and funding pledged. No payments charged until the project is fully funded.

Glad to see these kinds of markets springing up, especially the loan markets.

Meanwhile have been talking with Phil Cubeta last week about the next generation of Giving Conference. Raising the four core questions that came out of the sCNN work: What do we want? Have? Need? And what will we Do? …in that conversation and in C3 conversations this past weekend. I know the GrassCommons and GNN folks through RecentChangesCamp, a Giving Conference spin-off, so our Giving Conference and sCNN work just keeps going, and growing.

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