Funding for small businesses and social projects will no longer be hard to find. That is because of the growth of a new crowdfunding initiative called Accra SOUP.
It is the local response to the global SOUP movement started in Detroit.
The process of being a part of the Accra SOUP is simple as all it takes is just to be at the dinner, pay a minimum donation of GHC 5 at the gate and they get soup and a vote.
During the sit down, the attendees listen to four people pitch an innovative idea to improve Accra. Pitchers do all their presentations within four minutes and without PowerPoint. The presentations are followed by four questions from the audience.
The ideas that are presented range from art, urban agriculture, social justice, social work, education, technology and more. In fact, any brilliant idea that can change Accra.
After the presentations, delicious soup (light soup) is served; Ghana style. The audience is encouraged to come along with their own foods as well to add to it and share with others; i.e. Potluck style. But this is optional.
At SOUP, attendees eat, meet, talk, share resources, enjoy art and most importantly; VOTE.
What are they voting for?
After listening to the four presenters and what they want to do, the audience determines whose project they liked the most in a truly democratic process.
At the end of the night, the money and the votes are counted. The idea with the most votes gets to take home all the donations taken at the door and use it to fund their plan, with the promise that, they will come back in three months to report on their progress. No agreements are signed and winners do not need to possess grade (A) financial knowledge.
Accra SOUP’s organizers are independently funded and do not take a percentage of the money collected at the door. The pot of cash goes directly to the winning project to carry out their project.
So the people of Accra identify problems and ways to solve them, then the people collectively contribute to fund the solution to these problems.
Submissions are currently open for all social projects and start-ups based in Accra to send in their submissions for the third Accra SOUP dinner scheduled for February 2016. To send in a submission, head over to the Accra SOUP Facebook page and Twitter account and a link will direct you to the free online form.
The saying; put your money where your mouth could not have been any clearer.
Source- Richard Agyei Agyapong
