Community Shares Scotland's new Community Crowdfunding Programme

3rd June 2014

Crowdfunding offers both commercial and non-commercial ventures the opportunity to raise a sum of money by offering shares to people who put forward small amounts of money. Community Shares Scotland connects not-for-profit groups and investors looking to provide money for social good. People buying shares in the projects promoted through the site will recoup their investment through improvements to their community rather than profit. Although social businesses can offer interest to be paid on the shares if the profit from trading is sufficient.

The recent growth in crowdfunding is thought to be linked to the difficulty start-up companies are finding accessing funds from traditional lenders such as banks. Community Shares Scotland hopes it can provide organisations such as community groups looking to save a local shop or start a local food scheme with access to funds.

The programme is scheduled to run for three years and its partners include the Plunkett Foundation, Co-ops UK and Rocket Science. It is funded by the Big Lottery Fund and Carnegie UK Trust through an award of £800,000.

A series of Community Shares Scotland road-shows will take place across Scotland providing local groups with more information about how to get involved.

Details are available from the http://communitysharesscotland.org.uk/