Introduction Both rewards and crowd investing offer a wide range of advantages over traditional business financing. With benefits ranging from a wider pool of potential investors to more nimble fundraising options, crowdfunding is going to continue to evolve into a more popular, and more powerful funding method for startups, local businesses, and inner-city real estate development. Though funding is almost … Read More
The 4 Types of Crowdfunding Explained
Introduction To Crowdfunding Crowdfunding is a new form of capital aggregation that using the internet to build an excited and engaged crowd of followers that buy into a shared vision of a project. Crowdfunding at its essence is a large group of people funding a large project with small dollar amounts. The major difference in crowdfunding is how these small … Read More
Investment Crowdfunding Drives Community-Led Economic Development!
Introduction Why would community developers build housing in communities cut off from good schools, jobs, transportation, parks, and the resources that people need to thrive and succeed? If we are trying to build safe, healthy, and prosperous neighborhoods simply building affordable housing is not the answer. To be resilient and sustainable, housing must be more than affordable. It must connect … Read More
Investment Crowdfunding is a Solution for Black-Owned Businesses
Introduction So many of the problems and issues that plague inner-city communities are poverty-based and many of them stem from government policies such as redlining and urban renewal. If foundations change their relationships in these communities from charity and began the process of providing location-based impact investment into these communities to fund local businesses, real estate development, and wealth-building initiatives … Read More
The Role of Philanthropy In Black Business Finance
Introduction According to the 2018 Annual Business Survey the most recent data available Black-owned businesses accounted for only 2.2 percent of the almost 6 million businesses that operate in the United States. That number is well below the 13 percent of the population represented by Black people in the United States. Another unique feature of Black business ownership is the … Read More
Crowdfunding Is The Answer to The Small Business Marketing and Funding Dilemma
Introduction To thrive in the modern business world it’s important to understand how to market your small independent business and this is going to be even harder in the post COVID-19 crisis small business environment. A recent survey shows establishing customer relationships through marketing and promotion is the second largest concern among independent business owners after securing access to capital. … Read More
Investment Crowdfunding and Black Founders
Introduction In my last post, I laid out the dismal economic situation the Black community in the United States faces on a daily basis. There is an immense racial wealth gap that continues to widen driven by unrelenting policies that are steeped in systemic bias and racism. The current data demonstrate that a lack of access to capital in multiple … Read More
Investment Crowdfunding is Vital to Closing the Racial Wealth Gap
Introduction The Small Business Administration has decreased its loans given to Black-owned businesses by 84% since peaking before the Great Recession, according to research by the Cleveland Business Journal. Across the country, cleveland.com’s sister company, The Business Journals, analyzed lending and demographic data and found small businesses in majority-Black census tracts have less access to bank loans than locations in … Read More