Help me remember the name of this donation scheme
February 26, 2019 7:35 AM Subscribe
Years ago (5+) I remember reading about a group of friends that pledged a monthly amount of money. And then each month they gave that money to a person (artist, musician, activist, whatever) for them to do as they pleased.
They developed a basic set of rules for doing this. People in other cities or places started doing the same, following those same rules.
This 'movement', if I may, has a name and even a website. I swear I even read about it here, but my google-fu is failing.
Please, help me remember.
They developed a basic set of rules for doing this. People in other cities or places started doing the same, following those same rules.
This 'movement', if I may, has a name and even a website. I swear I even read about it here, but my google-fu is failing.
Please, help me remember.
Not sure if there is a specific US-based organization you are thinking of. But this kind of credit club has been super common in working class communities in the Global South for a long, long time... Long before someone came up with an app for it, or even before apps existed!
A group of neighbors or family members agree to pay in a certain amount each month and then each month it's one person's turn to have all the money. They take turns either based on a schedule, or on immediate need. So if you have ten people participating, each pays $10 a month into the pot and they take it in turns to get $100 out of the pot.
Requires social trust, but if its based on your immediate neighbors or family members, then the trust is backed up by the pressure of your dad or next door neighbor coming round to 'have words' if you don't pay your share.
For an old school anthropological take on these, The Comparative Study of Rotating Credit Associations and here's a more recent example.
posted by EllaEm at 8:20 AM on February 26, 2019
A group of neighbors or family members agree to pay in a certain amount each month and then each month it's one person's turn to have all the money. They take turns either based on a schedule, or on immediate need. So if you have ten people participating, each pays $10 a month into the pot and they take it in turns to get $100 out of the pot.
Requires social trust, but if its based on your immediate neighbors or family members, then the trust is backed up by the pressure of your dad or next door neighbor coming round to 'have words' if you don't pay your share.
For an old school anthropological take on these, The Comparative Study of Rotating Credit Associations and here's a more recent example.
posted by EllaEm at 8:20 AM on February 26, 2019
For a fictional take, there's the Daughters of the Daily Special in Tom Robbins' book Jitterbug Perfume. It's a group of waitresses who chip in to support their non-waitressing aspirations.
It wasn't a huge part of the book, but I thought it was a great idea. I'd forgotten all about it until this question! I'm really glad to hear that it's more than just a fictional thing.
posted by Gray Duck at 8:37 AM on February 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
It wasn't a huge part of the book, but I thought it was a great idea. I'd forgotten all about it until this question! I'm really glad to hear that it's more than just a fictional thing.
posted by Gray Duck at 8:37 AM on February 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
These are often called Giving Circles, if you're looking for more examples. Like EllaEm says, they have been around for a long long time.
posted by matrixclown at 9:14 AM on February 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by matrixclown at 9:14 AM on February 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
I'm an Awesome Grant recipient! It's a great program.
For more examples, a good key word to search on would be "tontine".
posted by ITheCosmos at 9:32 AM on February 26, 2019 [2 favorites]
For more examples, a good key word to search on would be "tontine".
posted by ITheCosmos at 9:32 AM on February 26, 2019 [2 favorites]
I beloeve there’s a group called One Hundred Women that doe nlocal chapters. They meet monthly, hear a proposal and vote as a group whether or not to fund it. Everyone contributes periodically.
posted by wenestvedt at 11:40 AM on February 26, 2019
posted by wenestvedt at 11:40 AM on February 26, 2019
In a similar vein but not about money, there was a neat book The Necklace about a group of women who purchase a $37,000 diamond necklace as a group purchase.
posted by eglenner at 5:06 PM on February 27, 2019
posted by eglenner at 5:06 PM on February 27, 2019
This thread is closed to new comments.
They started in Boston with a group of friends and now are all over the world.
posted by ugf at 7:42 AM on February 26, 2019 [5 favorites]